FIFTY YEARS AGO

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22468, 11 July 1936, Page 10

FIFTY YEARS AGO

TARAWERA ERUPTION CONTROVERSY OVER EFFECTS Following the great Tarawera eruption of June 10, 1886, when the Pink and White Terraces were destroyed, a controversy arose as to the area of the North Island affected by the disturbance. "Dr. Hector says t-he eruption of Tarawera was purely local," reported the New Zealand Herald on July 12, 1886. "Ruapehu, Tongariro and Ngauruhoe were unaffected, and the eruption completely disproved the existence of any underground connection between the different sources of volcanic energy. Colonel McDonnell, on the contrary, says that Tongariro was so decidedly affected that its shape is quite altered —the top and one side of the cone having apparently fallen in, reducing the size of the mountain by one-fifth or one-fourth. He also sayi that when he was there on Sunday week, Ruapehu, which never showed signs of activity before, was emitting steam and smoke, and jets of fire. We know that White Island was also unusually active, and as these statements are clearly incompatible, it is hoped that further investigations will be made, with the view to clearing up these disputed points."