EARTHQUAKE.

North Otago Times, Volume XXXV, Issue 979, 19 November 1901, Page 2

EARTHQUAKE.

OF PROPERTY.

.BYTELEGRAPH. ' ' November 13; v Jhe, Secretary .of.the General Post Ufflce receired the following telegram 1 iromthe, postmaster at Cheyiot this 1 morning at 8.40: 'SeVeral ' additional shocks of earthquake were /eltlast nigtt. One, at about 10.35 last night, was of si ;exceeding!y were nature, and has had a Terjalinnlbff effect upon the in•abitanta.;'-: >Th»-vr«cirreno9:' of: : these ahbcks has ; pr«Tented-the; people from •ntering their dwellings, and'last : night women againsl«pt inthe'ope'a airr'ltii JW?"$?;to Wtimatethe here, Mt the investigations of represeniatirea •'Mwspaperslead'Bo'to>conoiad» ; tnat m»ny ; people; arei'rnlaed,Vand^.that:an MO>inoWi)uia:et'iiiioM7: : .wlll:b»jl«[idr(id ; to malajsgodd therlosseirrAt 9.3oa;mi : oconrred ; a{';9"o'olookthisß6rning,al- i most ,et(uai;tp' shdbk-of Satur-, I day." A panio haa.sat in, and people are : i S;Mr.iHpgben||:;insrVotor-Qeneiral*oi i Schools, who 'i»-iicha^o l of,oWoftie i two sensitiTe aeismologioalffinsttaineilS 1 imported ,by; .the GoTernmeiit,-hi ?«»&*• i i i

vibratloni lasted for two minutes The shock began without any warning at 7 antl the Vibration wbicb cob - atttutedthe earthquake proporwent on or Of rainutea. Large tremors went oil fer.7l minutes. Small tremors were going on all Saturday night up till 10 at night, when Mr Hogben out. the record paper. The solid block of stone on which tbo soismometor stands was slightly tilted towards the west. MrHogben says that if the tilt were general through the colony, which he thinks improbable, it would ineaathat the west coast would sink six inches and the oast coast wouldfbo raised three inohes. The postmaster at .Cheviot t«le< • graphed at,7,30 to-night: "Regret to report two of the sovorest shocks sinco Saturday morning, The people are in a stato'pf depression, and hare again taken to tents," , At a meeting of the Cabinet to-night the estimato of the damage done at Oboviofc.was considered by Ministers. It was. derided to repeat Mr Hall-Jones who is at present in Christohuroh, to proceed to' Cheviot to-raorrowmorning an,d investigate affairs. When his report is made Ministers -nil take action. It is probable that extensive relief measures willbe at ouee instituted by the Government. . _ Oiieisiohoroh, November 18. It is impossible at present to eve give an estimato of the enormous damag done by the earthquake in the Ohevio ■ district. Every house has suffered, and ' some an utterly wreoked.. Mr A. 0. ' Bellwood, storekeeper and general i agent, .estimates his loss at L3OO. His < shop is twisted, his windows are gone, ; and the stock is ruined. Mr J. S. ■ Jenkins, draper, had bis Christmas Bteok on hand, and estimates the damage bet !.. tweenL3ooandL4oo, Mr F, A, Cook's 1 grocery store has been most i unmercifully. He estimates his damage i at ovor L3OO. The damage to the i Cheviot News' office is L2OO, and the i M'Kenzie boardinghouse, bwned'by Mr > E, Moffat, also suffered extensively, and ' has been shifted from the foundation, i Mrs Brownlee's drapery store' suffered i to almost is great an extent/and HubI bard and Hall's premises have been I temporarily divorced from%ir found*. ; ,tiohs, Thereare dozens o£ other bail • ; ings which are in the same condition, 1 but those comprise the most important • businesses ia M'Kenzie. The private i residences of Mr James Entt and Dr > liglis, two of the best houses in Cheviot, i are more or less mined and oiinhabitr able The stations north erWaiauaeim r to have suffered equally with the rest of . the Cheviot country.. The damage at f Mr Eutkerford's fine homestead is estlr mated at over L2OOO.

In addition to tho. damage it has dou

to M'Kenzie the earthquake has played tome Strang* pranks with tb» landsoap . A road in the vicinity has subsided tow feet into a creek, and roads all round are cracked and fissured. The townspeepla m only now begi»niig to reooT«r from demoralisation, and to take an interest in the surronadiigs, Women and obildren are still camped in the gardens, but some attempt is being.made to get the least damaged of the houses into habitable condition. ~ut ! :

Yesterday afternoon, outside the post; office, a solemn service o( conducted by the Anglican and Presbyterian clergymen, was held. It was an impressive scene. The people gathered bareheaded in the open streets, and, snrronnded by the rains e[ their houses, - offered up fervent.and heartfelt thanksgiving to the Almighty for thVpresemv tion of their lives tbroughoutthe mighty struggle between the forces of Nature beneath and around them. _ A drive to Port Robinson from M'Ken- ; ; zie jnstnowisonly accomplishednnder peculiar and exciting conditions/.Qb i: the Bluff road the upheaval had been : stupendous, and millions of feet of rock v hare been hurled frem the high bluffs ' above to the road below, burying' ft '-* undw 10 feet of debris, The county engineer estimates that it will take »' year to olear the'road again.

One cannot cease to marvel at the wonderful escapes from death which occurred oa every hand. At Got* Bay there was a most realistic instance in an accommodation house. When the first I shook took place the family were at ■" breakfast in the kitohen, a room lined with to'ngned and grooved roof. Tie high ohimney, standing 15 feet above the roof, crashed headlong into the , room, smashing in the iron aad'splintei!- . ing the lining to matchwood, and filling the room three feet deep with galvaiised iron, broken boarding, and bricks and mortar, Yet no one was killed, and only one M had his ankles braised. After survey it is even new almost in-. credible that anyone could hare escaped the death trap. Another extraordinary ' instance occurred at the residence of i laborer, named Kay. He 'has a family of some eight or nine yonng children, and they were all asleep in the house, a three-roomed cob,whare, The initial shock lerelled it to the ground,' left it, in fact, a heap of day and debris. Yet all those children escaped unhurt. These are not singular instances, for many such are recorded in the settlemeat. One of the shook's felt'at Ohevfol last r iightwaY almost as severe n the main one felt at Onristcanroa onSatnr"day morning."- " '

According to telegrams, daylight 1 more demoralised thai | 1 ever. The resideits were in the open " j air all night, and there wen several f more shocks, This morning there was a , general exodus of women and children to ,' Ohristohnrch, Waipawa, and other , places, The strain proved too aioh for i them, and many were hysterical. From ! the districts round Cheviot news eontjnues to be received of devastation aid loss. A tremendous shook, at sine ' o'clock tMs morning, pakse'd a'paaiff. t and people are preparing to leave ii large numbers,.' The shook threw people. of their feet, No farther damage is Mr parted, bat painful scenei are being . witnessed {n the township, and smaller ■ shocks and earth tremors are felt every ' few minutes;. intermingled severe convulsions, ; The position is be- ' coming alarming, and fresh oraoks and Assures "are continually opening up the J& '' > ia oironlatioa, - M ': '-"- r ."*r".",'" MmiM' s i asking the {nsuraacecoaii>»u.vu I. , tie settlers,' and an appeal t« the Govern- - ' . meat is suggested,: ' , -? Settlers from ffaiau report that then - -' are cricks two feet wide ia the .pad- ,;;' are fnil;:bf twater, Tie '*";* river presented a strange spectacle on Z""' <r Saturday morning, and as the shock pro*' ', h gresied great 'oracka opened iaite bed, / intd'which water - 1 -" i ' crackftolosed;; shot I *'< *K rolue of,waters hundred feet into the "' O f'Another-slight shook-of 'oartbauak* '<•§ was;felt here,justbeforei,B o'olKk to-- v"- 1 * .. . : m l*p-Jones "£& to-night; and will w ; on:toftkovlot.-'-- *■ :"»*$ fcpfifeHills; ; vw;?wreflke(l. ,9ie;«4l 'had harrow pi| pUnton RiTer.yn the Tioiaity of Uw->}MJlt misdammcdbislipsland has forawd## ! M'Ppediwa'y^ real cause for a|ari at; Ha^rJpiiiK^M

the hill' side* among the llf-M.'ineii'g tenisf;.'''. v; . ; ■•"'•"■■ ■ | of the Lyttelton Times to Mr W. 'T, Robinson, e.l'SKßlieTiot,' asking it the collection of funds §f™£ ■ fortlwimmediate relief of the sufferers ?f< p !>£ the «arihqoake would he accepted, K o':an'a?received.this reply: "Fow cases <fe;^rgenH?' ; Mquire\ help, and though we V tlo-what m ean locally the coof our. Ohristchuroh friends It : *Wil 'be ■■ vory • acceptable.'- Several, : ? £f have' lost..- their, homes and practically all their belongings, and are f;^Bbsblateiydestitute. The Government ffev:V-mtist, :; 'of 1 course, assist us in pnWto ? : -B.' works, snoti as roads and bridges, but ~ -■, that will not reaohthe whole of the dis- '^: ■ v 'tress. "' It is difilonlt at present to esti•v;:. ''Mate "the extent:of this, but at least '■; '" ! 13000 is required to restore the means jj- of traffic and communication, ft is imX: 'v' perative that the Port road bo put in y -v; order without a moment's unnecessary ;•' ;." delay. -There was a Tory large exodus -, ■••'■■ of wemen and children to-day, but as far '■'- as I understand allacegoing to friends.'