THE EARTHQUAKE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20781, 29 July 1929, Page 10

THE EARTHQUAKE.

SEVERE SHAKE AT WESTPORT. PEOPLE BECOMING HARDENED. SURVEY OF COAST TO BE MADE. (Pee United Press Association.) WESTPORT July 28. Westport experienced a very severe earthquake at 2 a.m. to-day. It would have caused people to run outside had they not become hardened to shakes great and small in the last six weeks. Captain Buckley, accompanied by Corporal Smith, arrived in a Moth aeroplane from Christchurch at 11.10 a.m. to-day, taking two hours 15 minutes for the journey. It was au excellent trip. A survey is to he made of the coastal steamer routes by Captain Whiteford, of the Marine Department, Wellington, covering the coastline from Greymouth to Farcwel! Spit. A survey is also to he made of the back waters of the Karamea River by Mr V. Johnson, Public Works engineer. Photographs will also be taken of the fault line running from the Buller River north to Murchison.

DISTRIBUTION OF RELIEF. A CONFERENCE PROPOSED. (Per Uniter Press association.’ WESTPORT. July 27. At a meeting this afternoon of the Buller Relief Committee it was resolved after a discussion that correspondence from the Central C unmittee be received. In connection with the application forms the committee was of opinion that the details which were asked for, and to which objection had been taken, should not be required in the case of applications where the sum applied for is not more than £SO.

t A letter was received from the GranitvAgakawau Committee asking the Duller Relief Committee “to convene a, meeting of delegates from all the other district relief committees to discuss the proposed method of dispensing relief with a view to arriving at a pniform system of restoration throughout the area affected by the recent earthquake.” The meeting endorsed the suggestion and favoured- holding a conference in Westport. Shocks at irregular periods' are still being experienced here, many of - them being of a jolting nature. THE EXPLOSION THEORY. v NO SUPPORTING EVIDENCE. TEXT-BOOK TYPE OF EARTHQUAKE* (Pbb United Pkitsr Association.) CHRISTCHURCH, July 27. That there is no evidence to support the stories of great explosions occurring with the recent earthquakes on the West Coast is the conclusion arrived at by Mr H. F. Baird, of the Christchurch Magnetic Observatory, who returned to-day after an investigation on the Coast lasting for some weeks. “ There is nothing about the Duller region earthquake which has not' been experienced in such earthquakes at other times in various parts of the world,” said Air Baird. “In fact, it was a real textbook type of earthquake.” Undue trepidation has been caused by the occurrence of detonations. This phenomenon is no new thing, and is symptomatic of fractures much smaller than people with over-wrought nerves are apt to imagine. “ In. my opinion there ik not one tittle of evidence •to support the explosion theory,” continued Mr Baird. “ Certainly bill spurs and faces have lurched out for great distances, hut the apparently ejected material does not owe its present situation to being thrown out through the air as many think. I have no doubt that the geologists can exnlain the seismic convulsion quite satisfactorily, and I am not aware of any seismographic record which supports the . explosion theory. In fact, the intensity of the phases is all against it as the cause.” AN OPEN-AIR CONCERT. SECOND COLLECTION NECESSARY. (Per United Press Association.) WELLINGTON, July 28. Eighteen bands from Wellington city and suburbs combined in an open-air concert on the Basin reserve to-day in aid of the funds for earthquake relief purposes. There were between 8000 and 10,000 persons present. , The secretary of the Bands’ Association expressed regret that the collection realised only £4O. A second collection was, therefore, taken up at the gates as the people filed out. The amount is not yet available.

RELIEF CONCERT AT EMPIRE . . THEATRE. It was a large and appreciative audience which witnessed the presentation at the Empire Theatre last evening ■of a specially-arranged concert, having as its object the raising of additional funds for the relief of sufferers in the recent earthquake.' Under the direction of M de Rose, an augmented orchestra carried out the larger share of the work of entertaining, and all the members of the combination acquitted themselves very creditably. The playing was notable for the cohesion which was manifested and for the life and spirit infused into each item. In this respect a fitting acknowledgment must be paid to the conductorship of M. de Rose, who handled a large body of musicians with considerable skill. By kind permission of the directors (Sir Benjamin and Mr John Fuller), two members of the “ Rio Rita ” Company—Messrs Fred More (baritone) and John Cosgrove (tenor) were present and i endered a number oi selections which were received with great enthusiasm. They had to answer repeated demands for encores, and responded in a most generous fashion. An additional feature of the entertainment was a violin solo rendered with delightful grace and skill by ,Miss E, M, Wallace, During the course of the evening, Mr J. J. Clark, in a short address, thanked those present for the manner in which they, had responded to an appeal for a worthy cause. He had great pleasure in stating that the night’s takings amounted to f 164 10s. The programme included the following items:—Combined orchestras, in conjunction with the Christie organ (conducted by M. de Rose); overture, “ Euryanthe ” (Weber); “Prelude in C sharp minor” (Rachmaninoff); “ Gloria from Twelfth Mass ” (Mozprt); fantasie from “ Faust " (Gounod): “Serenade” (Toccelli): Mr Leslie V. Harvey at the Christie organ— The Mikado,” selection (Sullivan); Ave Maria” (Schubert); “Evening Star, from Tannhauser ” (TVagner); “Pizzicato,” from “Silvia” (De Lebs) ; The Lost Chord,” “ Salut rl’Amour ” Souvenir” (Drdla). and “The Holy City. Miss E. M. Wallace, violin solo, . Zigeunerweisen ” (Sarasate).

HOMES RANSACKED. CONDITIONS STILL UNSETTLED.According to a letter from' Mr A H. Manley, of Matakitaki. received bv k the Christchurch Relief Committee, conditions in the earthquake area are still unsettled and a large amount of petty thieving has taken place during the absence of residents. flame have been stolen, and there is hardly a good axe left here,” Mr Manley writes. “The men jvho were trying to open the roads before we left for Christchurch stood their tools against the side of the road, and the best of the axes are gone. I have lost a chopping axe and Black’s and Lester’s axes have gone, too, the old blunt onea-being left. The places have been ransacked for tobacco and matches and other like things, the houses alongside the road faring worst. Tools from bicycles are missing and we are badly

in need of bicycle pumps. In.' Murchison the same thing exists, nearly every house having been pilfered. “ Things are anything but pleasant here,” he adds. “The roads have had slips down again in a lot of places. The Maruia Saddle was blocked again yesterday (July 21), and the'roads are only just being kept open. It is raining hard, here to-day. Food is ,our main difficulty here and I had to ' go' i;o Murchison (12 m”es) yesterday and pack out some necessary things on my back. It costs 2s a loaf to land’ bread here, and other things in proportion. I hope to be able to arrange with a Reefton storekeeper to run a lorry through now and again. Until things are running more smoothly I don't think the big families should conre back.”.