PLIGHT OF SETTLERS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20869, 11 May 1931, Page 8

PLIGHT OF SETTLERS.

STORM FOLLOWS EARTHQUAKE

HOUSES NOT WEATHERPROOF. FREQUENT TREMORS OCCURRING. [by telegraph.—own correspondent.] GISBORNE, Saturday. A cold southerly storm has added to tho discomforts of the settlers of Tiniioto, 42 miles south of Gisborne. The district is still experiencing sharp earthquake shocks at comparatively short intervals. A peculiar feature of the disturbance is that practically every person in t!!io district is suffering from sickness with each heavy shake.

. Residents have had little sileep since 2.30 a.m. on Thursday, and are suffering from nervous tension. They have not changed from the clothes they then hastily donned. One man describing the situation in a telephone conversation said; " We arc all looking complete wrecks." Tho hotel is still sheltering a large number of people, but others have returned to their homes, which are leaking badly from the strain of the severe earth movements.

The main need at the moment appears to be cooking apparatus. People are afraid to light fires for fear that tho embers might be thrown tbout during the progress of a tremor, while chimneys in their present battered condition are by no means safe. A few portable kerosene stoves are in the district.

Gaping holes in the roofs through which chimneys have fallen are letting rain into some of the houses, while many others are so badly strained as to rnako them completely ineffective in keeping out the rain and cold wind.

Last night only about five appreciable earthquakes were felt, but three were quite substantial. One at about 11.15 brought peoplo out of their beds. A slip came clown on tlie road between Tiniroto and Greys at Hangaroa last night, completely blocking traffic. YOUNG WOMAN'S LUCKY ESCAPE. BED WRECKED BY BRICKS. But for the fact that she dashed out into the open when the shock commenced, a young woman sleeping on the verandah of her house in a Gisborne suburb would have been severely injured, if not killed, in last week's earthquake. One chimney of the house was dislodged, and fell on to the roof of the verandah, which collapsed. Roof and chimney crashed down on to the bed below, which had just been vacated, and the weight of the bricks completely wrecked the bed.

WORK FOR PAPERHANGERS. OVERFLOWING OF CISTERNS. Damage caused by last week's earthquake at Gisborne was not confined to cracks in brickwork and the toppling of chimneys, paperhangers being provided with plenty of prospective work by the overflowing of open cisterns in roofs. In several instances these cisterns threw parts of their contents over the ceilings of papered rooms, with consequences that can well be imagined. Tanks were rocked on their foundations, and in some instances sprang leaks, while in other cases the stability of their foundations was affected.