LANDSLIP NEAR REEFTON.

Colonist, Volume XXXI, Issue 5168, 22 March 1888, Page 2 (Supplement)

LANDSLIP NEAR REEFTON.

/ sayibf. persons buried. . - TWO LIVES LOST. A HOUSE DESTROYED. SEVERAL.NARROW ESCAPES. From th« ' Inangabua limes,' Maroh 12.) Ohi of the oddest catastrophes that haa oc curred in tho diatnct happened »t Boatmato's yesterday* morning; Shortly aftt*» seven . o'clock;" if loud crash reverberated'Oirer the township, add startled the alumbering inhabitant i ai though a volcano had burst into activity, in their • midet; The few persons who; were up •at the time rushed into the street, and at once raised'the alarm that the mountain in front of the town was coming down. A>sdene of the wildest excitement en■uedf, half dressed people rushed ont ot their houses, and crowded1 into the street, fearful that the whole town was about to be swallowed tip. The noisa is described as perfectly appalling, exceeding the loudest thunder ever heard After a few seconds the terrified people were ible to realise what had happened. It was seen that an enormous mass of the mountain ■ide above the Welcome Company's tailings site had slipped nway. Thousands of tons of stuff, bearing heavy masses of timber, came crashing down for a length of nearly half a mile, sweeping everything before it. buddenly the cry arose that Hooper's house had been swept away. Hooper, with his wife and five children, lived in a cottage on the hillside, I■' MfrJQMfcian's coal mine. It was at once *4raKithe house was gone. By this time •' XSitykl/* had gathered from all quarters, ii&ifctfadbner was it known that there was tffcft 3W Hflp than everyone rushed off to the spot, hough the roar of the terrible avalanche had not yet died away. Beaohing the base of the slide, the rescuers floundered up the floft ooze, Binking almost waist-deep in the still moving debris, and in momentary risk oi their lives from skidding timber and rolling stones* The first shout of joy resounded as one little child was found, bruised and. Wee*ing, among » mass of stones and timber. The little waif had evidently been borne down on the face of the slip, as it had sustained no seriovs bodily injury. The party pressed oa, and soon Oime into view oi the demolished building. It had been swept 30ft or 40ft down the hill, over-turn«d, and nearly buried. At the moment of the relief party arming Mr Hooper was emerging half smothered, from near the house. The rescuers set to work frantically to recover ihe other members ot the fiimils. Every second waa precious, as a large quantity of water streamed dowu the slip, and threatened to drown acy of the entombed inmat'B who hud escaped being crushed to death. After almost superhuman •xeretions, four o! the five ohil<iren were rescued; alive, but two of them are 80 badly injured that their recovery is doubtful. The wall plate of the novae mted on the f-et of one •f them and across the stomaoh of the other, pinning b>th down, and i> this j osition thuy were found more dead than alive. The search for the body of Mrs Hooper as well as of the remaining child «aa ulani* and anxious one. It vgs several hours before the lifeless body of the unfortunate woman was reached. It was buried under eight feet of debris, and the dead child was lying near her. The scene wnich ensued was ■ heart-rending. The rescuers completed their work at about 11 o'olook. The inhabitants acted most nobly throughout. Those who witnessed it say that the house was carried down bodily for • some distance, then .toppled over and beaome buried- The sad occurrence has cast a gloom over the whole district. Mrs Hooper was highly esteemed at Boatman*, where she had resided for some time. Her age waa about 35, the daughter which shared the same deplorable late being about six years of age. At the inquest a verdict of accidental death was returned. Mr Hooper gave the following evidenoe :— lama blacksmith engaged at Boatman' 3 Seek. On Sunday morning, March 11, ouvaovau .«-i--i-, ~* l . n M ««j *»™;i.» «;«<» in all, were in bed. We heard a rumbling soiie and Afterwards a crashing as of a landslip. My wife run to the door and crierl out to me to pitch but the youngest of the children. While on my way to do so I observed that the house was in motion. I could not reach the baby at first owing to having lost xny footing, but I caught hold of two of my little boys and lifted them out through the door. I then took the baby out, and observed two more of my children outside lying underneath the front of the house. I did not see my wife nor my daughter Martha Jane until they were afterwards taken dead from the debris of the landslip. From the time the slip occurred till tha bodies were got would be over two hours. A large number of men assisted in the work. My wif 3is a native of Cornwall and Martha waa.born at-Naseby, Otage. Ins «Inangahui Herald' of Saturday says :—• On the Weetport road between Berlin's And the Buller punt the flood water has done most extensive damage. It .appears that the rain mast have burst over the locality like a waterspout. Vast volumes oi water descended the precipitous mountain Bide, and at Osborne'a there was 4ft of water in the houift, Hall and Co.'s stables were thrown over, and £150 worth of forrage was washed iato the Buller and out to sea. AH along the road for a distance of eight miles there ii a suicession of landslips, wbioh cover Ihe track, and the road will be impassable for wheel traffic for two months.'