TOWN EDITION. Nelson Evening Mail. FRIDAY, JUNE 18, 1886

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

TOWN EDITION. Nelson Evening Mail. FRIDAY, JUNE 18, 1886

The outgoing San Francisco mail will convey , to the Home country the particulars — the bare facts have doubtless b-en telegraphed many days ago — of a terrific convulsion of Nature which has occurred in that portion of the colony best known to tourists, whose numbers have of late been rapidly on the increase— the Hot Lakes District. Those who have seen the country which has just experienced so awful a visitation will hardly be surprised to hear of what has- happened, for probably — nay, certainly— they have never seen any other place like it io (he world. Of geysera and boiling springs there was a surfeit; the eartb reeked with steam, which in some parts streamed upwards if only a post hole eighteen inches deep were dug, aud, indeed, as has been well said, the whole locality was but " terra firma on sufferance." There was abundant proof that communication with the lower regious was but too easy, and now that the communication has been opened we have had indisputable evidence that the contents of these lower regions are of an exceedingly disagreeable character. They may be summed up in three words — fire, steam, mud. The flames, we are told, shot skywards to the amazing height of 1000 feet above the top of the mountain which Nature selected as her chimney for the occasion ; the steam is still rolling upwards in vast clouds ; the mud has been shot out with such amazing force that it has overlaid an area of 200 square miles. Fertunate indeed was it that the district was not a thickly populated one, otherwise we should have been called npon to chronicle a tremendous loss o! life. As it is, tho result in thi3 respect is bad enough, for some 90 Maoris and six Europeans have been hurried into eternity— either by being smothered in mud, or crushed beneath falling houses which were unable to bear the tremendous superincumbent weight of the contents of the volcano which poured down upon the roofs. The injury to property, too, is very serious considering the limited amount of settlement in the neighborhood. The village of Wairoa, which owed its existence mainly to the tourists who flocked to the district every summer, is completely destroyed, the whole of the houses being either crushed or buried in mud, while all the pastures around are so thickly coated with dust or mud as to prevent the stock getting at the herbage, and the consequence is that cattle, horses, and sheep are dying of starvation. The scene on the morning of the outbreak, as described by eye witnesses, was awful in its grandeur. Lightning of the most remarkable description, nnd brilliant beyond conception, played uhout the summits of the mountains, while from tbe volcano not only did tbe flames shoot upwards in a huge mass, but fireballs wero ejected with fearful violence, and set fire to houses ten miles distant. And all tbia was accompanied by the pealing of thunder, heavier and louder thon is heard even in the worst of tropical s orm?, while the volcano itself kept up a tremendous cannonade, at though salvos of the heaviest artillery were being fired in quick succession. Then c.imo a change which was enough lo make the [ stoutest h<**art quake. The explosions conj tinued with deafening force, but the lurid j glare with which the whole of the surrounding country was lighted up was quickly succeeded by the blackest darkness. The air wi s filled wiih clouds of dus'_ and mud so dense as to obliterate the flames, to shroud from view the brilliant "electric light" of which nuntion is made by seme of the eye witnesses, and to completely nullify the effect of the bright balls of fire which a few seconds before had been seen to shoot outwards from the crater's mouth in hundreds. When it ia remembered that not many miuutes had elapsed since tho frightened spectators wcro roused from their beds by a violent shock of earthquake, and that in thafc very brief time they had gazed upon these wondrous sights following one another in rapid succession, and were almost stunned the while by the awful sounds thafc came from earth and sky, and were so tremendous in their effect as to be heard nearly 400 miles away, and to cause windows to rattle in their frames --as was the case here in Nelson— at a distance of 260 miles as the crow flies, ifc is not to be wondered afc if they were completely dozed, and thought, as many of tbem did think, that the end of all things was afc hand. Bat, gloomy though the pictuie is that is sketched in the full accounts of the occurrences ol that trying morning, itis not all dark. The shadows are deep indeed, but there aro lights as wall which go far towards imparting some brightneas to ifcp otherwise sombre hu*-. Acts of heroism are recorded that njust make every ma» foci jiroud of those

who performed them, be tbeir skin dark or i white. Standing prominently forth among J his fellows in this respect is Mr Mcßae, fche j landlord of the principal hotel in the village, j He ami his party, numbering altogether j nearly a dozen, after going outside to lock ; upon fche magnificent scene that revealed itself on their rieing from their beds, weie driven back iuto the house by the pitiless shower of stones rind mud thafc poured down upon them. Ttio bombardment continued until the house was brought down about their ears, and then they sallied forth to seek some other place of shelter. Becoming separated in the murky darkness, only two of them reached the goal for which they were making, aud. Gliding thiß, Mcßae started out again, regardless of fche missiles thafc were hurtling through the air, and would not return uutil he had found them, | all but one who was never seen alive again. This was a feafc with which mosfc men would have been satisfied, bufc not so Mcßne. In a distant part of the village there was living an English family who might need his assistance, and he was determined thafc they should nofc be wanting iblong. Improvising a lantern with which to guide his footsteps through the blackness of such a night as few men bave experienced, and through the mud which now covered the roads and tracks to the depth of mauy inches, he went) out again into thab death-dealing shower. He was " knocked down three or four times by the falling stoneß," bub to hie stout heart these incidents were bufc trifles that he would nofc suffer ta deter him from tbe mission of mercy on which he was bound, and from which he would nofc be turned back until the task he bad set himself was accomplished. Are there any who think thab heroes are to be found only on the bat tli field? If so, let them convince them* selves to the contrary by reading of the gallant conduct of thafc noble fellow _>Ic.Ri*». Then ag'ain there is the Rev Mr Fairbrofcher's pathetic account of what befel the native Mohi and his young wife and family. Frightened by the alarming rattle of the stones, which were falling thick as hail on the wooden house in which they were, the wife insisted upon their leaving- and seeking shelter at a Maori whare. The father carried one little boy, aud tho mother the other, and eventually they reached the hut in safety. But the roof was not strong enough to resist the weight that was gradually accumulating upon it, and was soon smashed in. The father's thoughts were all for his- little son. Wrapping him in a shawl and laying him on the floor, he knelt over him, and resting on his hands and knees formed a protection for the child from the mud which was now descending in masses, while close by his side was his wife trying to save the infant of whom she had taken charge. There is a limit, however, to physical strength and endurance, and in a short - time the burden of mud and pebbles became too great for even that brave back to bear. Picking up his boy, he rose and said to his wife " let us go from here." But the mother and her little one had already gone — gone to that bourne from which no traveller returns. The falling mud had formed their shroud, their coffin, and their grave ! Would it be possible to conceive , greater parental devotion than that displayed by these two poor children of Nature to their loved ones / Before concluding — as we have good reason to believe thafc this issue of the paper, together with the supplement by which it is accompanied, will be despatched to all parts of the world — we would say a word or two to readers at a distance, for whom principally ! these lines have been penned. Don't for a moment suppose that the colony as a whole j has suffered damage by this eruption. New Zealand extends from the 31th tu the 48th parallel of south latitude, and from longitude 167 to 179. The part immediately affected is a little spot containing not more than 15 miles square, and had it not been for the sound of the explosion?, which travelled to a great distance, and the telegraph wires, which quickly spread the news of what had occurred, no one in the rest of the colony would have known anything about the outbreak on the next day. True, the country has suffered a very severe loss in the shattering of the beautiful Pink and White Terraces at Rotomahana, of which every New Zealander was so justly proud, but in no other respect has the colony as a whole been in any way affected. Cases of individual hardship in'the immediate neighborhood there have of course been, but, except in the very limited locality where the eruption took place, nofc a single settlement has sustained the slightest damage, nor is there any reason whatever for believing that there is likely to ba a repetition of the disturbance there, or any probability of its extending to other parts of the Island. In justice to New Zealand it is only fair that a report of what has happened should be accompanied by this explanation.