What Happened at Mr Hazard's House.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XX, Issue 144, 18 June 1886, Page 2

What Happened at Mr Hazard's House.

At the inquest on the Hazard family, Mr Blythe deposed : — I am a Government road surveyor in the field. I remember the night of !>th inst and morning of 1 (Ith. I was at Wairoa, Lake Tarawera. staying with the Hazard family as was my custom. We went to bed at the usual hour, and I was awakened about ten minutes to 2 by Miss Hazard asking me if I felt tho shock. The house was then shaking. I got up in ton minutes' time. I found Miss Hazard's two sisters dressed. Mr Hazard was also dressed. We went on to tlie verandah and saw an immense volume of smoke in an eastern direction, charged with what seemed to me to be electricity. The edge of the cloud was framed with flame. There was then a loud roaring, which continued some time. I then saw on

the northern end of Tarawera lake some red lights, which I thought were Te Ariki natives coming from Rotomahana. MiHazard proposed to light a fire in the drawingroom and we would all go in there. It was now about 3, and the noise outside was tremendous, and there was a great rattling on the roof as of stones falling. There were shocks of earthquake every 10 minutes. We all kept in the centre of the room, thinking that its ridge was the strongest part to resist the stones. Mr Hazard and myself kept walking to the windows to see if we could make out what the trouble was. It was very dark, and we could see nothing but the lightning. We felt that the door was being pressed out of shape inwards, and we noticed some dirt at the bottom of it. About the last thing I remember was when there was an earthquake shock at half past three. lam sure it was that time, as I looked at my watch. Without any warning the roof fell in. The last I saw of Mr Hazard and family they were in the middle of the room. I have forgotten to mention Mary Tc Monti, Mrs May's servant, The last I saw of her she was leaning against the doorpost of Mr Lumsden's bedroom. I was between the organ and the door as shown in the plan. I then heard Lumsden call out, " Who is there ?" He was in the corner with myself and Mrs Hazard. He kicked out the window with his foot. During this time I found Miss Hazard alongside of me. The ceiling was pressing on my head and shoulders, so that I could not stand up for the weight. Mr Lumsden then dropped Miss Hazard out of the broken sash, and I called to him not to forget me. He reached up and pulled mo through the sash, and asked if I was hurt. I said, "No ; make for the old house." A great quantity of blue clay was falling, and it was very dark. We got into the old house and stood in the doorway. [The remainder of Mr Blyth's evidence related to the finding of the bodies, and simply corroborates accounts we have already published.] The bodies recovered were — Charles Albert Hazard, aged 17 ; Adolphus Charles Edward Hazard, 10 years : Edna Winifred Hazard, (i years ; Mona Ivia Hcnni Hazard, 5 years ; the nephew, Chas. Sutherland Barford, 5 years.