WIDESPREAD DEVASTATION.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 22 June 1929, Page 5

WIDESPREAD DEVASTATION.

ORDINARY MIND CANNOT PICTURE DAMAGE. LATEST FROM STRICKEN REGION (By Telegraph —Press Association.) NELSON, This Day. Mr May, district engineer of the Public Dorks Departbent of Nelson, stated this morning that the section of the Glcnhope-Murchison railway line under construction had suffered no damage at all. The objective in railway location was to seek out and utilise solid country wherever possible. The Nelson-Westport Main Highway had suffered very little damage until two miles beyond Gowanbridge. From the're, progressing southward, the darfiage gradually intensified. In many cases between Gowanbridge and Murchison the outer edge of tciraces along which tlm road had been formed were shaken off i.y the quake. Practically all fillings had sunk, a transverse fissure forming where the filling joined solid country. Fissures had formed along a length of the read and the Department’s efforts .were concentrated on maintaining communication between Glenhcpe and Murchison. Southward of Murchison the ordinary mind cannot picture the damage dome The Bullet River had been completely blocked by |wo landslides, one on each side of the river about a quarter of a mile up-stream from O’Sullivan’s Bridge. The- iand slide which occurred on the left bank was about half a mile in length and was formed by the whole end face of a spur shooting forward and sliding down at the same time. Tliis slide reaches to a height of about 1000 it., and consists mainly of fracture rock. The slide on the right bank was of somewhat lessor size. These two slides meeting completely dammed the river and evidence showed that the river had been ponded to a height of about 50 feet before the water trickled over and commenced to cut out a new channel. The cutting down process has been gradually progressing and unless further slides take place no danger from this need be anticipated. Tliis phenomenon is general to the majority of rivers and creeks in the district. \

The Matakitaki river is blocked by landslides from the left bank at a point about 21 miles beyond Murchison. Tim blockage is about half a mile across and has blocked the river over a length of three-quarters of a mile. It is estimated that the height of the blockage at its lowest point is about ,500 feet above the normal liver level. This blockage lias formed a lake estimated to hold about 15,000,000 feet of water.

Public Works Engineer Visits Murchison Area ACTION NOT VOLCANIC. RICH FLATS FOR MFD BY SIMILAR ACTION AGES AGO. NELSON, Last Night. Mr. F. W. Furkert, engineer-in-duol ot the Public Works Department,- and Mr. L. May, resident engineer at Nelson. returned to Nelson this evening after an inspection of the- damage in the Murchison district. On Wednesday night, Mi’. Furkert readied Nelson from Pietou and left after a few hours’s rest for Murchison, where Mr. May was awaiting him. The engineers made' an inspection of the damaged area and slept last evening in an abandoned house in the Bulier gorge.

On being interviewed this evening, Mr. Furkert said the damage to the road from Glenhope to Murchison was notning to worry about, but the damage south of Murchison was ’ tcrrilic. Slips had come down from mountains 1500 to 2000 feet in height and were half a mile long.-' The whole face of the countryside had been changed. Hill Spurs Shaken Off.

A very strange thing was that tho end of the spurs had been shaken off. The only way to get an idea of what, had happened in the locality. was to pur a magnifying glass oh ordinary hill side slips.' There were also cracks in the ground w'luch could be followed over the hills for long distances. In some instances, tho difference in levels on the sides of the cracks was as much as 3 feet (5 inches. The chief engineer said all that could be done at present w r as to make track to get people out. No work could be done in this locality till tho shocks stopped and enough rain had fallen to bring down all that was likely to fall very easily. <»■ In reverting to the shaking off of the spurs of tho 'hills, as against the slips which usually occurred on the sides of a valley, Mr. Furkert referred to the quick movement of the end ball when a number of billiard balls in a row were flicked. 200 Railway Workers on Job. He said it was evident there would be no road to the coast for many, many months. At the present time, 200 men on railway works had been transferred to the Glenhopc-Alurcliison road. There, only minor damage, comparatively speaking, had occurred, and they were only holding tho road open. Even this part of the highway would prove a costly undertaking, for most of the soft filling on tlio sides had crashed and would fall off' with heavy rain. Present needs, said Mr. Furkert, showed tho wisdom of the Highways board in having a'good credit balance at its disposal. He paid a tribute to tho good work done on the GlenhopoAlurchison road and to the initiative of Air. Ilnsoll, the engineer in charge on tho railway works, who made his way to Alurchison on the afternoon of the occurrence and quickly organised work on the road. It was initiative like that which was worth a lot. A-ction Net Volcanic. Mr. .Furkert added that the earthquake “bangs” wore due to the ends of layers say, 2000 to 3000 feet thick, sliding up against one another. Tho shakos came from the concussion of the t'aith movement underneath. There was nothing volcanic about it. It was evident that several ot the rich plains in the district had been formed by similar action countless ages ago. only on a much larger scale. There

was no doubt that at some future time, generations to come, -would find the lakes now forming in the Matakitaki and Maruia rivers had silted up and rich flats -would be left. He was of opinion also that Lakes Rotoroa and Eotoiti had been formed in a similar manner countless ages ago. Values Not Affected. The earthquakes have not affected the value of the lands in the Murchison district to any great extent, except peril apa in the minds of people and if he wore a young man, he would take {u;\antago of the panic and buy up the best of the laud at any sale—that was his opinion of the prospects on the flats. FEWER SHOCKS.

(Ev Telegraph—Press Association.) WELLINGTON, This Day. The Acting-Secretary-General of the Post Office received the following information from the postmaster at Murchison: “lOj a).m.. —All streamy still maintaining flow. Matakitaki dam has fallen one foot. Fairly easy night, wi! h a sharp shock near midnight' and minor ones. Detonations are now easier and less frequent than the previous night. The roads are still slipping, I nf are being kept open by the Public Works Department. ’' SYMPATHY AND RELIEF. l f'v TeWrnnh—Press A isolation.') WELLINGTON, This Day. Messages of sympathy continue to leaeli the Premier. To-day’s include Ihe South Australian Premier and Mr Gough, of Brisbane, on behalf of the bowlers there of New Zealand birth. New Zealand Breweries’ message is accompanied by a cheque of £IOOO as a donation <o the funds. The Anglican Boys’ Home at Lower Hutt offers free accommodation to ten boys, eight to twelve years of age irrespective of denomination. Contributions to the relief fund include Bing Harris and Co., Ltd., £IOO, Levin nd Motors £IOO, CadbuVy-Fry’s 50 guineas.