ADDITIONAL PARTICULARS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 11824, 29 November 1901, Page 2 (Supplement)

ADDITIONAL PARTICULARS.

FURTHER SHOCKS.

WONDERFUL ESCAPES FROM

DEATH.

CffRiSTCHUBCH, November 18.

It is impossible at present to even give an estimate of the enormous damage done by the earthquake in Cheviot district. Every house has suffered, and some have Deen utterly wrecked.

Mr. A. C. .Bellwood, storekeeper and general agent, estimates his loss at .£3OO. His shop is twisted, the windows are gone, and his stock is ruined. Mr. Jas. Jenkins, draper, had his* Christmas stock on hand, an- estimates his damage between £300 and £100. Mr. F. A. Look's grocery store has Deen smashed most unmercifully. He estimates his damage at over £300. The damage to the Cheviot News oflice is estimated at £200.

MoKenzie's boardinghouse, owned by Mr. R. Moffat, also suffered extensively, and has been shifted front its foundations.

Mrs. Brownlee's drapery store suffered to almost a greater extent, and Hubbard's Hall promises to be temporarily divorced from its foundations.

There are dozens of other buildings which are in the same condition, but those mentioned comprise the most important businesses. In McKenzie, the private residences of Mr. James Butt and Dr. Inglis, two of the best houses in Cheviot, are more or less mined and uninhabitable. The stations north of the Waiafi|seem to have suffered equally with the' rest ol Cheviot country. In addition to the damage that has been done to McKenzie, the earthquake has played some strange pranks with the landscape. A road in the vicinity has subsided 4ft into a creek, and roads all around are cracked and fissured. The townspeople are only now beginning to recover from their demoralisation, and to take interest, in their surroundings. Women and children are still camped in their gardens, but some attempt is being made to get the least-damaged of the houses into p. habitable condition. Yesterday afternoon outside the post office, a solemn service of thanksgiving was conducted by Anglican and Presbyterian clergymen. It wan an impressive scene. People gathered together bareheaded in the open street and surrounded by the ruins of their homes offered up fervent and heartfelt thanksgiving to the Almighty for the preservation of their lives throughout the mighty struggle Detween the forces of nature beneath and around them.

A drive to Port Robinson from McKenzie just now is only accomplished under peculiar and exciting conditions. On the .bluff Road the upheaval has been stupendous. Millions of feet of rock have been hurled from the high bluffs above to the road below, bringing with it 40ft of debris. The count}' engineer estimates it will take a year to clear the road again. One cannot cease to marvel at the wonderful escapes from death which occurred on every hand. At Gore Bay there was a most realistic instance in an accommodation-house. When the first shock took place the family were at breakfast in the kitchen, a lined room, with a tongued and grooved roof. The high chimney, standing 15ft above the roof, crashed headlong into the room, smashing in the iron, splintering the lining to matchwood, and filling the room 3ft deep with galvanised iron, broken boarding, bricksi and mortar. Yet no one was killed. One lad had his ankle bruised.

After a survey it is even now almost incredible that anyone could have escaped alive from such a death-trap. Another extraordinary instance occurred at the residence of a labourer named Kaye. He had a family of some eight or nine young children, and they were all asleep in their house, a three-roomed cob whare. The initial shock levelled it to the ground and left it, in fact, a heap of clay ana debris, yet all these children escaped unhurt. These are not singular instances. Many such are recorded in the settlement. One of the shocks felt at Cheviot last night was almost as severe as the main one felt in Christchurch on Saturday morning. According to the latest telegram daylight, found Cheviot more demoralised than ever. Residents remained in the open air all night. Several more shocks occurred this morn-

ing There has been a general exodus of women and children to Christchurch, Waipara, and other places. The strain was too much for them, and many were hysterical. From the districts round Cheviot news continues to be received of devastation and loss. A tremendous shock occurred at nine o'-> clock this morning. It caused a panic, and people were preparing to leave in large numbers. This shock threw people off their feet, but no further damage is reported. Painful scenes are being witnessed in the townships. Smaller shocks and earth tremors are felt every few minutes, intermingled with more severe convulsions. The position is becoming alarming. Fresh cracks and fissures are continually opening up in the ground. A petition is in circulation asking insurance companies to assist the settlers, and an appeal to the Government is suggested. Settlers from Waiau report that cracks opened up two feet wide in the paddocks, and were full of water. The river presented a strange spectacle on Saturday. As the shock was progressing a great crack opened in its bed, into which the water poured. Presently the crack closed suddenly, and shot a volume of water a bundled feet in the air.

ACTION BY THE GOVERNMENT. EXTENSIVE RELIEF MEASURES PROBABLE. Wellington, November 18. At a meeting of Cabinet to-night the question of the damage done at Cheviot was considered by Ministers. It was decided to request Mr. Hall-Jones, who is at present in Christchurcb, to proceed to Cheviot to-morrow morning and investigate affairs. When his report is made, Ministers will take action. It is probable that extensive relief measures will be at once instituted by Government. ANOTHER DISTRESSING NIGHT. Christchurch, November 19. A number of earthquake shocks occurred at Chevoit last night after a heavy convulsion at eight o'clock, which caused a mild panic. Up to eleven o'clock this morning there had been no tremours to-doy. The Hon. Hall-Jones left this morning for Chevoit and Sir Joseph Ward is expected to arrive there at daylight to-morrow.

FURHTER MINOR DISTURBANCES. NO ADDITIONAL DAMAGE. The earthquake at ten minutes to eighto'clock on Monday night, which caused further apprehension at Cheviot, was felt at Waiau, and was considered to be the most severe since Saturday morning. The shock very much upset the women folk, some of whom had not had their clothes off since Saturday morning. At live minutes to eleven there was another shock, and at twenty minutes past two a.m. there was a third, which caused a commotion in the hotel. At about seven o'clock there was another, hut slighter quake, and during the rest of the morning there was quietness. At five minutes past four o'clock this afternoon a sharp shock was felt at Waikari. At a meeting of the Cathedral chapter to-day. it was decided to at once take down the damaged portion of the cathedral spire. 'Die question of reconstruction was left over for further consideration. 'lab Hon. W. Hall-Jones, Minister for Public Works, in his report to the Premier from Cheviot, says the chief sufferers are men with small holdings up to 20 acres. Their houses are completely destroyed, and they will require some financial assistance.

He is getting tents from the Government works at Waipara to lend them. the larger holders will, lie thinks, get along. Two of ttie bridges are badly damaged, timber 12in by 12in being broken through. Repairs to these should be put in hand at once. With the exception of the Bltifi Road, which he had not yet seen. At the time of telegraphing the roads were not much ; damaged, it no further shocks occurred the people would soon settle down. Christchupxh, November 21. Renewed shocks of earthquake at Cheviot have rearoused the apprehensions of the residents, about 40 of whom left this morning. The Hon. W. Hall-Jones arranged for them free passes on the railway. . The bridges damaged will be repaired by the Government, and the Crown Lands Ranger will spend several days in the district ascertaining the damage to settlers' houses and to roads. Yesterday a gathering of over 100 settlers interviewed the Hon. W. Hall-Jones at Cheviot in connection with pushing through the railway, and the opening up of the Port Road." The Chairman said completion of the railway was of vital interest to the place, and" the longer it was delayed the longer would settlement be kept back. Mr. Jones, replying, said the Cheviot people had passed through an experience which no men or women in New Zealand had ever gone through. His present visit would be productive of good Hi the way of hastening the construction of the railway, and any course decided on by him and his colleagues regarding the Port Road would be in"their best interests. He hoped it would not be many days before assistance would be accorded those who had suffered by the earthquakes.

Wellington, November 21. The postmaster at Cheviot telegraphed to the Secretary of the Department this morning that several sharp shocks had been felt since one a.m., the last at four minutes to eight a.m. The effect has been to renew the apprehensions of the people. Telegraphing at a-quarter past 10, the Cheviot postmaster says the recurrence of shocks lias revived the panic. Over 40 men, women, and children left this morning by coach. Christchtjrch, November 24. At a meeting of the Education Board it was reported that the damage to the schools in North Canterbury by the earthquakes amounted to about £1000. The Premier telegraphed that he was of opinion that an emergency of the kind required special consideration, and he would bring the matter before Cabinet. November 25. Mr. Collins, an architect, and Mr. Otley, a builder, who returned from Cheviot to-day, state that the newspaper reports, so far from being exaggerated, did not adequately describe the dnmase done. They state that it will cost £2000 to repair the Mansion House, and a number of settlers' houses will have to be rebuilt.