TAUPO EARTH TREMORS.

Evening Star, Issue 18021, 15 July 1922, Page 2

TAUPO EARTH TREMORS.

TO THE EDITOR. Sir, —I am directed by the Rotorua Chamber of Commerce to solicit the privilege of space in your columns to correct erroneous ideas, all too prevalent, in regard to associating Rotorua with reports of earth tremors in the Taupo district. This misconception lias probably gained ground through Press telegrams being headed “Rotorua.” As a matter of fact, no shakes whatever have boon felt _in Rotorua throughout the whole period covered by the Taupo disturbances, which aro confined to a fo\v square miles, aud distant about fifty miles from Rotorua. At first ridiculous reports about “ earthquakes in Rotorua” were treated by residents as a good joke. Letters from correspondents living in various parts of the dominion and Australia, imploring friends and relatives to leave this “awful place” were retailed by the receivers with great gusto, as examples of unintentional humor. Later, laughter gave place to seriousness, As the days passed the number of visitors arriving grow lees and less, until at the present time tourist traffic has almost reached vanishing point, And why? Just because the average human appears to glory in the sensational (and I might say oven newspapers are not altogether free from this weakness); because a tale retold becomes embellished witli ornamental decorations, even as a snowball gathers volume; and because our boasted facilities for universal education appear to bo ineffective so far as tire science of geography is concerned. When Rotorua is regarded by a large proportion of the general public of the dominion as being identical with Taupo, one ceases to wonder when American papers refer to Aew Zealand as part of Australia. Permit mo to repeat that reports asd rumors about earthquakes in Rotorua aro all unadulterated moonshine. Anyone doubting tins statement is cordially invited to visit Now Zealand’s Wonderland and personally verity the assertions now made by the Chamber of Commerce.-—! am, etc., J. N. M’Lea.v, President. Rotorua, July 11.