PATER'S CHATS WITH THE BOYS.

Otago Witness, Issue 3330, 9 January 1918, Page 57

PATER'S CHATS WITH THE BOYS.

Very often what is dismissed by a casual paragraph, covers an event of national, even international, importance. And the same applies to the forces of Nature, Last June and August—the latter perhaps in consequence of the former —there were in the South Seas two phenomena of great interest—an upheaval, followed by a tidal wave, and an oceanic expanse of pumice resembling, though on a much smallerscale, the Krakatoa convulsion in the Sunda Chain, in Samoa, when the atmosphere of the whole world was tinted with purple and other tints. Through the favour of a gentleman in, the Union Company I was allowed to peruse an official report on these phenomena, and was lent a copy or two of a Samoan paper. From these reports I have made up the following composite description :*— A TIDAL WAVE. Noli since the great eruption in Savau 12 years ago has there been so alarming a manifestation of the mighty forces within the earth's interior, and the convulsions experienced at Upolu have had no parallel within living memory; and the meagre reports to hand seem to indicate that the same terrible experience has prevailed throughout the group, from Tutuila in the east to Savaii in the west. Apia suffered considerably. Women shrieked and fainted, and men were seen praying, and all but the strongest-nerved were greater or less affected. Up in the mountainous districts of the interior there is reason to believe that the seismic convulsions were even worse. In some instances large masses of rocks were hurled down; in others landslips took place, trees on the hillsides were uprooted and sent crashing into the gullies beneath. According to the report of Professor Augenheister, of the local Observatory, the point of origin of the earthquake is computed to be at a distance of 60 miles in a southwesterly direction. Residents in Samoa are. accustomed to "interesting quakes," which are occasionally very pronounced, but soon forgotten ; but the recent quakes were so alarming as to - cause the most self-possessed hurriedly to vacate their houses, no easy matter when the rooms were above the ground level, with two flights of stairs oscillating in a more or less horizontal position. Confronted by the blind and mighty forces of Nature, the impotence of man translated itself with terror and the impulses of panic. Fortunately most buildings in Samoa • are of one story, so that, though the damage is extensive • in the aggregate, but few buildings were hopelessly ruined. Considerable anxiety was felt for the safety of the Roman Catholic Cathedral. A coping stone was dislodged, and fell to the ground, and there is a bad crack in one of the arches, but there was comparatively little damage- done, no doubt because the building, which is of concrete, secured bv iron bands, is on a sandy subsoil, instead of rock. The force of the resultant tidal wave was 'minimised by the interposition of the reefs, and by the fact that it was low water; but on the Aleipata coast the tidal wave is described as sweeping, in a white wall fully 10ft in height over high-water mark, and across the beach into the adjacent native houses, carrying everything before it; *at one point coconut logs, which had lain unaffected bv the highest tides, were lifted clean up and carried some distance from their original position. In one case two chains of solid cement wall, quite a foot thick and 3ft high, was lifted vtf> bodily and carried awav, and pieces of half-a-ton were shifted back fully 30ft. The shocks lasted fully two minutes, and increased in intensity at each succeeding impulse, and accompanying were abnormal magnetic phenomena. As' magnetic disturbances always accompany earthquakes, and as enormous masses of material are displaced bv them, the theory is advanced, with some probability of truth, that as displaced material, when volcanic, is always magnetic, there must be some connection between volcanic earthquakes and magnetic phenomena. A FIELD OF PUMICE. On August 20 the schooner Janet, bound from Niuafoou (the volcanic island lying half-way between Fiji and Samoa) to Tonga, ran into a field of pumice, and was much retarded, and a condensation of the captain's log, describing his experience, reads somewhat as follows: "The ship ran into a field of pumice, and nearly stopped. Putting a bucket over the side, we found it filled with ashes and lumps of pumice. : Not a drop of water entered. At daybreak tTie ship was surrounded by pumice, and from the cross-trees there was no sign of water in any direction. We had " been running through a heavy sea during the night, but here everything was calm, just a slight heave on the grey bouldery surface to show that we really had the sea under us. There was a five to seven-knot breeze blowing, but we barely moved, and at 6.50 she stopped. After some manoeuvring we got her turned round, and sailed back a mile and a-half through the channel she had cut. A narrow ciack in the sea showing, we followed it for 11 miles, where clearer water was met. The sea had a weird, canny appearance in its solid-looking form, and stiil from the cross-trees no clear water was visible, but eventually I got a sight on the pumice horizon at 8.30, the position being approximately 17dcg 48min S. latitude and 175 deg lOmin W. longitude. We were now sailincr close to "the field at about seven knots, and it was like sailing under a lee shore. At 9.30 clear water was showing on the other side of the field to the eas£ ward, about four miles away, and there

being no sign of the field terminating to the south I hauled up on an east course, and put her at it with every sail drawing well to a strong breeze. After nearly stopping twice we got through into clear water. At noon Ave were still sailing through a sea covered with streaks and patches of pumice, and some of the loose boulders floating around were of a large size. Whilst in the field we obtained a quantity of sample stones. As far as our observations went, the field was lying between latitudes S. 17deg 30min and 18 deg, and longitudes W. 17deg 50min and 175 deg 20min, but it may extend much further south and north. I could not form a dependable opinion of which way it was moving, but presume the current was taking it in a westerly direction. There was a strong smell of sulphur and. wet ashes whilst in the field, and all specimens obtained were not in anv w-ay water-worn, and were very brittle, all going to prove that the field is the result of a recent submarine eruption."