TERRIFIC HURRICANE AT SAVAGE ISLAND.

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 370, 22 May 1889, Page 4

TERRIFIC HURRICANE AT SAVAGE ISLAND.

Ox Monday, the 18th of last month, two days after the storm in Apia harbour, the fiercest and most disastrous hunieane which has been known tor the last quarter of a century swept over JSTiue. On arrival at that island early on Tuesday morning last the whole aspect of the coabt was changed, and the damage done was apparent a mile or two away. At Avatele the church, which was the largest on the island, was completely wrecked, the larcre pillars being all laid low. The water ros,e aboutlOOft, washing up to the verandah of the principal dwelling there. The most serious damage is dono to the churches, six of which* have been swept out of existence, and to the native nouses ; of these no less than 700 are in ruins. The damage will seriously affect the natives for a couple of years at least, as besides having over 2,000 cocoanut trees uprooted, some thousands of nuts are lost from trees still standing. At Uhumotu the damage was less, although the t-ea ran higher. The principal residence is that of Mr Head, the Deputy Commiesioner for Xiue, who, with his wite and one daughter, was absent in Auckland. The daughter left in charge had taken such precautions that there w»s no visible damage to either house or store. To give an idea of what a hurricane means in those parts, I have only to state that a very heavy mahogany log was moved out of its place on the top of a cliff by the force of the &ea. Captain Ross, of the schooner Olive, and my=elf afterwards measured the height of this block approximately, and tound it was 120 feet from the ordinary sea level. The highest point in the island is only about 200 feet so that an additional 80 feet would have drowned some 5,000 people The old natives do not remember anything worse. News just received from the same island states that wreckage from some vessel had been strewn along the east coast. The full account is altogether mysterious, but there is no doubt that not a single soul survived. It appears that towards the end of December a ship pa&sed along the west coast dismasted, and on the night of December 28th theoe remains came ashore. There was no trace whatever of the vessel's name nor anything to guide one to identify her except the word " China" printed on a life-buoy with the ordinary stencils used for packing cases. The Roy. Mr Lawes, of the London Mission Society, has had every search made for further particulars without success. A detailed report which Mr Lawes has written out can be seen by any firms interested in shipping, on board the schooner Olive in the harboui\

Mr James Gribble, an old Thames resident, returned to the Thames on Wednesday from Broken Hill, where he has had the management of several silver mines. He is of opinion that there is a great future in store for Broken Hill. One mine Mr Gribble was managing was twelve miles from the great Proprietory mine. There were in this property five quartz outcrops, but these were of no value. They out at a depth of 50 feet streaks of galena. The picked stone from the surface outcrop showed on assay 320z silver and 45 per cent, of lead, but the general matrix was low grade. The lode in the Proprietory mine is 150 feet in thickness, and the bottom level at a depth of 250 feet is of the same thickness. They are now stoping from that level. The shaft is down 350 feet ; at that depth the lode has narrowed to about seven feet, showing no silver but assays fairly for gold. The lode carries all the necessary fluxes excepting limestone, which is carted from a few miles distant. The salary of the manager of the Proprietory Company is about £7.000 perannum. £4,000 of this is paid by the Company and the balance is for supervising adjacent mines. In speaking of the climate, Mr Gribble cays that during ten months' residence he never enjoyed better health in his life. The cost of living is about the same as at the Thames. The township of Broken Hill has a population of from twelve to fifteen thousand. The outbreak of typhoid he attributes mainly to the vee of bad water. He and his men were fortunate in having a surface supply, and there was no sign of typhoid amongst them.