HEROIC WORK

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 149, 28 June 1929, Page 10

HEROIC WORK

REPAIRING THE WIRES

TELEGRAPH MAINTAINED

(By Telegraph.—Press Association.) NELSON, 27th June. "What difficulties would have been encountered in getting the refugees away from Murchison if the telegraphic communication had not been kept open cannot be imagined, as life depended on the wires remaining intact. The task, however, was a very severe and perjlous one, and the telegraphic linesmen, with many workers in other directions,. have made history for New Zealand during the past ten days. The earthquake cut off all communica-. tion with Murchison, 'and it was not until Mr. B. P. Spiers, somehow or other,"made the perilous journey to Glenhope on the actual day of the occurrence and reported so that the outside world would know what had happened immediately. A party of telegraph linesmen was organised to restore communication. The party consisted of T. H. Jenkins, line foreman, of Nelson, and the following linesmen:—o. J. Kerr, B. Constable, C. Nicoll, and P. Holland. The members of the party pay tribute to the heroic work of the rescue parties in the valleys. Before describing their own experiences, Mr. Jenkins said it was amazingly remarkable how well matters had been arranged at Murchison, and how splendidly those who had entered into the work of one kind or another had acted. Early on Tuesday morning Mr. Jenkins and party were ■well along the B'uller road to the Owen, when they found 'the biggest break in the wires. The Owen River Hotel was a wreck, and no food or accommodation was available, and they had to make headquarters at Rao's house. After hard work on lines nearly all day they repaired to this shattered house to sleep, 1 but sleep was impossible with continuous 'quakes and rolling hillsides* all round, to the accompaniment ox falling hillsides and trees above them. It seemed useless to keep a weather eye open to get away

from falling slips. The best course was to push the work through quickly and get away to a safer place, but no sooner had they got one section clear than another was broken by falling trees, earth, ana rocks. By 10 o'clock, however, communication -was restored, but by 4 in the afternoon it had gone again. Following the line along they found some trees had smashed three spans of line completely. There was no sleep again that night, with wet clothes and no iires. i On Wednesday morning it was found that the slip had broken the lines again. This was two miles from the- Owen, and a considerable amount of rock and slush came down with the trees, causing much damage to the line. Poles had to be tied back oii to trees, and strutted up in various ways. Communication with Murchison was restored at 3.30. MANY ORDEALS. Mr. Jenkins proceeded: "We then went back towards Glenhope, and found a big slip had occurred on Brown's cutting, causing four poles to be completely pushed forward. After digging tons of earth away from the poles we were able to straighten them up to allow the wires to be joined again. At one time we were on top of a pole when a particularly big shake came along which nearly shook us off. Communication was again restored by 5 o'clock in the evening (Wednesday). That night we were again a-t Rae's ost/nsibly for sleeping purposes, but no one got any sleep, due to continuous detonations and shakes, with noise of falling hillsides all around. On Thursday the rain was still falling, and slips coming down on the line caused a considerable number of contacts all along. Contacts and earths were too numerous, to count. Clearing these occupied pretty well the whole of the day, and it was not until long after dark that we reached Rae's for the night. On Friday we had numerous contacts to attend to, but this was an easy day as things were going at that time. Only light rain fell on Saturday, and the lines generally were 0.X., and we left for Nelson in the afternoon, but on Sunday we were sent back to Murchison, as all communication had been cut off. We arrived at Glenhope at 1.45, and proceeded to Murehison, restoring the lines as we went. A welcome meal was served us at tho refugees' camp, and we slept on-the floor of Mr. Mann's house, which was a complete wreck. AGAIN" CUT OFF. "On Monday communications had af;ain been cut off and we set out for Glenhope. When we got to Doctor's (reek we found we could not cross the river owing to the bridge being tipped, so leaving our lorry we clambered up the tipped-up bridge xand slid down to the other siije, pushing along on foot for two miles with' heavy rain falling all the time and with slips sliding in front of us till we got to the Staircase) where we found a whole gully had been blocked, caused.by the top of the big hill at the head of the gully coming down. Somehow or other, when the flood waters broke huge trees were brought down, blocking the road. It was just like the Buller Biver itself in flood, but with big masses of timber being hurled about in all directions. We waded across up to our thighs in mud and slush, and managed to give communication on a Morse wire only. It was not possible to stay any longer, owing to the danger of .the whole hillside siiaing. As a matter of fact, wo could see the sides near the rushing waters sliding all the time. ' "We returned to Mangarata and warned Murehison of the danger, and later went back to Murehison. By evening, however, all communication had gone again. '' On Tuesday morning our unwelcome news -was that all lines had gone. We left Murchison at 6.30 and clambered over tl^e-tipped-up bridge at Doctor's Creek and footed it to the Staircase, the scene of the recent washout. We found that the huge trees which were there the previous night blocking the road had been shifted like matchwood right on to the bed of the Buller River, and leaving four times as much newlyfallen timber and mud on the road. We clambered through the mud and slush up to our waists, and were able, with the aid of insulated wire, to give communication. The wires which had been there previously had been completely washed away. I left Lineforeman G. Arnold (station foreman at Murchison) at the scene of the break with a telephone, so as to N be in communication with both sides in the event of anything occurring again until the last of the refugees had got safely over the slip. "All the lines have since held up. Yesterday (Wednesday) the lines were all 0.X., and after, a trying experience the men were returned to Nelson." TRYING JOURNEY. Mr. Jenkins then joined the chief engineer's ' party, which consisted of Messrs. A. Gibbs (Chief Telegraph Engineer), J. M'Dermott (District Telegraph Engineer, Wellington), and A. D. Baggs (Nelson). They had come through to the scene of the earthquake to ascertain requirements. ! The engineers did not return to Nelson until 10 o'clock last night. The journey out was a very trying one, with great flashes of lightning and loud thunderclaps overhead, and detonations, rumblings, and earth shakes underneath. .'"■.. On Tuesday morning men from ■ the refugee camp organised by .Messrs. M'Connochie and Prank M'Wha went to Doctor's Creek to erect a temporary bridge, the felled trees making two stringers, and placed sufficient decking on it to allow cars to cross. At the' Staircase they split a tree in half, placed it across the gully, and dug a track round the siding. By this means they got the refugees over safely and then went on to the clay bank where the bridge had been washed away. They dug a track down the gully and made another temporary^ bridge with one tree, which was squared. They then put on a little hand-rail for safety, then they made a track up the hill to the road agian, where cars met them on the other side. Thus the final lot of refugees reached Nelson safely. One of the remarkable features of the earthquake disaster at Murehison has been the way the situation has been handled by the people themselves. The Minister of Education (the Hon. H. Atmore) and the Hon. J. G. Coates, who spent some time in the township, and all other visitors have been greatly impressed with the way this small community rose to organise itself, to collect all its people, and to evacuate all over a long journey fraught with considerable peril. In the township almost before sufficient time had elapsed to enable the people to collect their wits after their awful experience, a committee of public safety came into existence, and from the very commencement there was evidence of wise guidance, ready response to calls for assistance, and a strong, determined effort. A community which has so excellently extricated itself from its difficult position will not fail before subsequent problems. '