HEROISM ON WEST COAST

Taranaki Daily News, 19 August 1929, Page 11

HEROISM ON WEST COAST

EARTHQUAKE DEVASTATION GRAPHIC DESCRIPTION OF HAVOC. ADDRESS BY’ MR. GEO. BLACK, M.P. A very vivid impression of the heroism of the sufferers in the West Coast earthquake and a graphic description of the terrible devastation wrought was given by Mr. G. C. Black, M.P. for Motueka, in the New Plymouth Opera House last night. Mr. Black travelled far and wide through the affected district, three-quarters of which came within his electorate, immediately after the disaster, and wag able, therefore, to apeak with intimate first-hand knowledge. Mr. S. G. Smith, M.P., deputy-mayor, presided in the unavoidable absence of the Mayor, Mr. H. V. S. Griffiths, over an excellent attendance, which filled almost every available seat in the stalls and circle. A welcome was extended by Mr. Smith to Mr. Black who, he said, had, though keen to attend the opening of the first Parliament he was a member of, spent 18 days viewing the sconce of havoc and doing his best to see that, as far as possible, the sufferings of the people were alleviated. Announcing that a collection towards the earthquake funds would be taken up, Mr. Smith made a special note of the fact that not' one penny of the funds contributed by the people would be spent in administration coats. There would be no. salaries paid for the spending of the money, for men and women were available to assist in its distribution free.

The chairman’s appeal met' with a rrood response, the collection taken at the conclusion of Mr. Black’s address realising £23 10s. • On behalf of the settlers and residents of the West Coast, Mr. Black expressed gratitude for the way in which New. Zealand generally, and Taranaki in particular, had responded to help them in their hour of need.

UNKINDLY TREATED BY NATURE.

Just as Taranaki had the beauty of the snow-covered and dense-forested Mt, Egmont, said Air. Black, so Te Waipounamu had its beauties —the marble mountain of Takaka, the splendour of the upper Buller Gorge and the wonderful golden sands and forest drives and tracks. But, as the eruption of Tarawera had permanently ruined the famous pink and white terraces, so much of the scenic grandeur of the coast had been unkindly treated by nature. No adequate description could be given of the actual devastation, though perhaps the words of Bracken which pictured Tarawera’s visitation most adequately described their catastrophe. The people had had a ghastly experience, and they had faced their ordeal unflinchingly. Men unknown before had suddenly come to the front, organised a commissariat, attended to the needs of the sick and aged, and brought order out of chaos. Old men with the grit and determination of the diggings worked hand-in-hand with the younger men in the common cause of humanity. At Takaka town the damage was not intense, but over to the west was heard the booming sound so familiar to the Murchison people. Crossing over the marble mountains, the traveller came to Riwaka, which, with its 208 settlers, was a model of intensive settlement. Here the chimneys fell down, the roads were rifted, and springs of cold, sulphurous water bubbled up.

Motueka was in the centre of the earthquake, and since had been visited by two even more disastrous floods. It was going to be difficult to assess the damage. In these districts of intensive cultivation, five acres was a farm and a man’s livelihood. In Nelson city there was much damage, but in the vicinity of the Hope Valley most of the country was unscathed. At Glcnhope the people were camping by the roadside, and from there to Murchison the main highway was very badly shaken. At Owen Junction chimneys had telescoped bodily, and mantelpieces had been thrown across the floor. Huge landslips block the Owen Valley. Further on great terraces had been levelled off.