GREAT ERUPTION

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22903, 10 June 1936, Page 3

GREAT ERUPTION

THE TARAWERA CALAMITY FRIENDS HONOUR SURVIVOR COURAGEOUS DEEDS’ RECALLED Living within a few miles of each other, in the Ramurama and Papakuru districts, are two survivors of the terrible ordeal endured by the inhabitants of To Wairoa settlement during the early hours of the Tarawei’a eruption on June 10. 1880. They arc Mr Joseph Maeßae now in hisi eighty-eighth year, whose courageous rescue work during those tear ful hours has been extolled in all historical records, and the former Miss Inn Haszard, now married, who, as a girl, was rescued from the ruins of her parents home mainly through the heroic efforts of Mr Maeßae. Memories of that morning of catastrophe and terror are still vivid in the mind of Mr Maeßae, who (the Now Zealand Herald says) is spending the evening of his days on his farm, which nestles in a little valley in the shelter of the BombayHills, near Ramnrama. Of his trying cxperiences Mr Maeßae was loth to speak when a few friends met on Sunday to honour him on the eve of the fiftieth anniversary of the • eruption. Some inkling, however, was gleaned of the trials endured by Maori and European alike, and by Mr Maeßae in particular, as he groped through the darkness of that morning under showers of ash, mud, and stones the leader of rescue expeditions by reason of his intimate knowledge of the locality and his innate courage and resource. THOUGHT END HAD COME. " It was not that we purposely adopted the part of heroic rescuers.” he said. “We thought the end had come, and decided to meet it and minimise it by succouring the suffering.” Mr Maeßae was eloquent in his praise of the womenfolk of those days. “ When they realised the calamitorfs nature of the eruption.” he said. / and all that it meant, thev wencalm, collected, and ready to undertake any duties that were sot for them.” Mr Maeßae was the proprietor of the Rotomahann Hotel and store at Te Wairou. and when the earthquake, which preceded the eruption, was felt, he collected at his premises six other residents, including a tourist. Mr Bainbrldgo. From the upper windows of the large twostoreyed hotel the party, which totalled 12 when the hotel staff was assembled, gazed awestruck at the slopes of Mount Tai’awera. The incessant fall of mud and red-hot stones on the roof warned the party of the danger, but before they could reach the lower rooms a alone crashed through the window. Its cometlikc approach was seen, and its intense heat set fire to .a bed. The fire was extinguished without difficulty, and soon afterwards the roof collapsed under the enormous weight of mud. STAGGERING THROUGH DARKNESS. Groping through the fearful showers of mud and stones, their heads covered with rugs, staggering through darkness that shrouded the mud-strewn roadway, the party set off under Mr Macßue’s leadership to seek shelter in the whare of Sophia, the Native guide. Four of the party were lost, and, returning through the terrifying conditions, Mr Maeßae succeeded in escorting all but one to safely. Although searching and risking serious injury for a considerable time, air MacRae was unable to find the missing tourist whose body was later recovered under the ruins of the hotel verandah. The dramatic rescue of Mrs Hnszard from the smouldering remains of her home, and the saving ot Inn, the daughter, and a Maori woman, Mary te Mu, some hours Inter were largely due to the courage of Mr Maeßae. It was he who led a party comprising his brother-in-law, Mr Bird, and Mr Charles Humphreys to the ruined house. The roof had collapsed, and Mr H. Luhdiits and Mr J. C. Blythe, surveyors, and Clara Haszard had escaped and taken refuge in the fowlhousc. , BURIED UNDER ASHES. In searching the ruins, Mr Maeßae found Inn Haszard and Mary te Mu imprisoned in a small aperture in a bedroom. With the aid of other rescuers the mud and ash were dug out and the hand of Mrs Haszard was uncovered. She was finally found, pinioned in her chair by a fallen rafter, and carried out by the rescue party. ' The suggestions that might result in the uncovering of the famous pink and white terraces have been keenly followed by Mr Maeßae. He is not confident, however, that miccess will reward any endeavours. He said he did not think the terraces had merely been covered. In his opinion they had been destroyed. When I was clearing the roof of ray hotel of debris T found numerous fragments of the terrace formation,” he said. “Some of these (were nearly a foot in size and showed (Unmistakable signs of being part of the terraces.” The forces at play that morning were so violent that he inclined to the belief that the terrace.-? had been shattered to fragments. Even were this not so and they could be uncovered, they would never regain their incomparable glory without the play of water.