SURVEY OF DAMAGE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20288, 22 June 1929, Page 14

SURVEY OF DAMAGE.

MR. FUBKEET'S VISIT.

CHANGE IN COUNTRYSIDE.

t BUtIER GORGE"ROAD.

CLOSED FOR MANY MONTHS.

ESCAPE OF FLAT LANDS.

CnY TELEGRAPH.—PRESS ASSOCIATION.] NELSON. Friday.

The engineer in chief of the Public Works Department, Mr. F. W. Furkcrt, anil 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 Mr. Furkert reached Nelson from Pifcton,

and left, after; a few hours' rest, for Murchison, where Sir. May was, awaiting him. The engineers made an inspection of the damaged area, and slept last evening in an abandoned house in the Buller

Gorge. > Interviewed this evening Mr. Furkert said the damage to the road from Clonhope to Murchison was nothing to worry about, but the damage south of Murchison was terrific. Slips had come down from the mountains 1500 ft. to 2000 ft. in height, and half-a-milo long. These occurrences showed how scores in the face of the country had been made in the past. The wholo face of the countryside had been changed. A very strange thing was that the end of spurs had been shaken off. There were also cracks in tho ground, which could be followed over the hills for long distances. In some instances the difference in levels on the sides of the cracks was as much as 3ft Gin.

The engineer said all that could bo clono at present was to make a track to 'get the peoplo out. No work could be done in this locality until the shocks stopped and enough rain had fallen to bring down all that was likely to fall very easily. , Transfer! of Railway Workers. Reverting to the shaking off of tho Epurs of hills, as against 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. . It w*as evident there would bo no road to the coast for many, many months. At the present time 200 men on railway works had been transferred to tho Glcn-hope-Murchison Road. There only minor damage, Comparatively speaking, had occurred, and they were only holding the j road open. Even this part of the highway Would prove a costly undertaking, for most of the soft filling on the sides had crashed, and would fall off with heavy rain. Tho present needs, said Mr. Furkert. showed the wisdom of . the Highways Board in having a good credit balance at its disposal. Continuing, ,he paid a tribute to the good work done in the Glenhope-Murchi-son Road, and to the initiative of Mr Ensoll, engineer in charge of the railway works, who made his way to Murchisou ou the afternoon of the first great shako nnd quickly organised work on the road. j It" was initiative - like that which was Worth a lot. , Earth Movement Underneath. Referring to the earthquake, Mr. . Furkert added that the "bangs" were due to the ends of layers, say, 2000 ft. to 3000 ft. thick, sliding up against one another. The shakes came from the concussion of the earth movement underneath. There was nothing volcanic about it. It was evident several of 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 tho lakes now forming in the Matakitaki and Maruia j Rivers would have silted up and rich flats be left. He was of opinion also that Lakes Rotoroa and Rotoiti had been J formed in a similar manner ages ago. The earthquake had not affected the level lands in the Murchison district to any great extent, and if he were a young J man he would take advantage of the panic and buy up the best of tho land > s>i any sale. That was his opinion of the prospects of the flats.

YEOMAN SERVICE. /' HELPING THE UNFORTUNATE. FINE WORK IN MURCHISON. [BY TELEGRAPH. —OWN CORRESPONDENT.] KELSON, Friday., / A fine feature of the way Murehison met its disaster was the rapid organisation effected for coping with the situation. Where so many have rendered yeoman service, a full list of those who have distinguished themselves would be lengthy, but there is a general consensus of opinion that Murcliison owes a deep debt of gratitude to Mr. E. B. Spiers, his sons and his staff, for the way his whole fleet of trucks and cars has been devoted ' ever since the 'shake to the transport of passengers and stores entirely without fee or charge, the whole staff working 16 Jiours or more a day. Immediately after the shake Mr. Spiers, and Mr. Moreland, of the postal staff, made a seven-hours' journey to Glenhope to establish communication with outside, climbing telegraph posts at intervals en route to discover the nearest point to which the line was workable. Mr. David Mann, cook at the Commercial' Hot el, has run the open-air dining table at the community camp, and as near I as could be computed had supplied 1000 meals up to this morning, having hot food ready for all who come in at any hour of the day or night. At regular meal hours ho provides an excellent threoconrso dinner. Mr. A. Tom, secondary assistant at the * high school, has had charge of the camp and the billeting, looking after each party of refugees as they came in, and seeing that they were given necessary supplies. 'As occasion demanded Mr. Ji. McWha has led the relief parties and organised their despatch into the outlying valleys to ascertain how the settlers have fared ■ and to bring out those who desired to get away. / ; Mr. H. Patterson, the postmaster, and his staff, have worked night and day, and well deserved the commendation given them by tho .Postmaster-General. Mr. Hugh Eraser, the county clerk, has been the informal chairman of the impromptu organisation and the friend and adviser of .all and sundry since the shake.

|s TAKAKA STILL SHAKEN. 38EE0BArH.---PB;ESS. 'ASSOCIATION.] WELLINGTON, Friday. at Takaka reports to'Sl - i e4 , r thquake shocks continued , 3™l Ut th ® * A severe shake |> " ntm ccd at 6.50 o'clock this morn-