SWEPT BY TIDAL WAVES.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLI, Issue 13428, 9 July 1914, Page 6

SWEPT BY TIDAL WAVES.

HOUSES AND PLANTATIONS ■DESTROYED. .- SYDNEY-, July 1

Tidal waves rising 4islt aouve me sea level -have swept over jNaseau Island, a small atoll a couple of mites m Jcngth, Situjivted hi the l'acific, anU caused consiiclerabie damage, j ' .News was received yesterday that the inhabitants of the island hiul a perilous time, and mode tutir escape- tori the ijamoaii steamer Dawn, which happened to visit tlie island. .vlr John ■ Av».ersen and lus wiic were residents on the island, and on lauding at Apia, a. taw' days ago they told an exciting ytory. "1.-Wcis up m tno bush, wording with the labor," said Mr Petersen, "wiien the uomeu came lroui the .beacii, and said the sea wasvnntung up tv the copra House. Jvist ujxjii getting to the beach it soa titiytck the copra- house and lifted it, 'carrying it &jii int.ijur.e-. ihtre were ;tlx»ut i2i tons.of copra in-thu house at the time. About 2u minuiUJs Jaier anoluer sen took, the copra house, and •smashed it into match wood. mat sea uctuaLy cut the soil away,, taking xnili it tlnee labor houses utiiitliouae, ami cookjiouse. 'l'.he&ia buildings \vcr« about 12ft above sea level. The laborers then came to my house, which was about fcti feet above the sea. As I saw that the sea continued to rise, 1 sent the women to the middle of the, island, about sCft high, and stua*ted to remove the provisions. The provisions were stoi-ed m round tanks. The first tauk was rolled about 20 yards from the house when 1 .looked ' round, and saw the sea approaching like a great' wail. It cr.nie over the reef without breaking, and braivo 'over the mlge capping of my house, 42ft above sea- level. 'ihe house was cut to small pieces. We all ran, and managed to keep m front of the sea. When t'ho wave receded we saveU what provisions we -cojld. It waaj I o tween 11 and 12 m the morning when the wave struck the house, and by £ o'clock it was quite dark. "Tremendously- high seas Avere coming m all the lime, getting higher and higher. We saved 2£ tanks of flour, and li tanks of rice, and 14 2'b tins of meat. A4l the rest of the provisions, tools, furniture, a.] bout, a lighter, and everything else movable, were lost, also a large number of pigs, tows, and geese. We made shelter out of the cocoatiut leaves m the middle of the- island for tho night. The soa continued to rise, the highest point reached by the wash, being the top of the island. "There were fresh water holes m the middle of the- island, 'but they were all fillrd by tho sea, and still remain; salt. It was quito calm m the morning, but there was no trace of the provision* wo hud taken out of the .house the. night before. Upon investigating 1 discovered that tho four tanks and the tins of meat had been washed into the Jjush, a distance of nearly 700 yards. About five acres of land was entirely washed away, only the coral foundation remaining.' 'I proceeded to build house* of cocoanut leave* 1 , where we lived till we left. During' that tinve we cleaned up the j island, and cut about 10 tons of copra from the nuts that were blown down. "After the blow we had no rain for 30 days, and trere, consequently, abso-

lutely without , fresh water. Then we had heavy rains, and caught eiunigh to get on with. '■\V'o . c .:vv<'d ;i I'ew jii.t:- •< n .-| pans, but c;m!d not c:ilcii isrw-y )ih. us we lo>.t all our KjoV.s «.•.•.. i .'.ir. . Wo lived, from January ii tili May 17, on. rice and ilrvur, boiled m cocoanut milk, and a few small fish, caught on the reef. On lApril 11', at 10 p.m., the Dawn arrived, and we made our esc-Dpe.*'