BLOWING UP NAVAL WINE.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 16468, 21 June 1919, Page 2

BLOWING UP NAVAL WINE.

INTERESTING SCENE AT OAgLURA

The German naval mine which was secured By the moutli of the Oakura River on Wednesday morning was blown up at twenty-five minutes to eight! o’clock this morning in the presence of about twenty-five people. The report was plainly heard within a radius of twelve or fifteen miles from the spot, and the concussion is stated to have shaken houses on the higher levels in New Plymouth. The scene on the beach was most picturesque and interesting to those who witnessed it. The mine lay about 75 yards from the left bank of the river, and a little below high-water mark, with the end bearing the five horns inclined towards the east. At half-past seven the onlookers had retired to safe positions five or six hundred yards away. A hole was scratched out at the base of the mine, inside which was the charge of 3001 b. of guncotton. In this hole a 241 b. charge of guncotton, with detonator and fuse attached, was placed, and the sand was heaped back. Of the four people who remained by the mine to the last moment, one was Mr. John Kendall; who dragged the mine ashore on Wednesday morning, and another was Mr. R. B. Eyre, Collector of Customs at New Plymouth, who in his official capacity was in charge of the arrangements. The former held an unlighted match head against the end of the fuse, while the latter struck another match and applied it. The fuse fizzed viciously and the people trotted off westwards down the beach. ' x

During the few minute's while the little curl of white smoke was rising from the fuse there was time to take in details of the scene. The mine was in the sandy centre of a shallow rockflanked bay. Beyond the right hank of the river was a headland above which the golden glow of the rising sun was just visible through a crack in the clouds. On the point of rocks at the westward end of the hay the remains of the huh of the steamer Gairloch, which was wrecked about 20 years ago, were visible. Then a spark from the burning fuse reached the detonator, a shoot of red flame was seen, and from the spot where the mine had been there rose into the air and was silhouetted against the eastern sky a huge spreading collumu of black smoke and sand,' flying out from the edges of which could be seen fragments of minei-casing and rock. A violent report and shook caused the watchers to flinch involuntarily and, after a second or so of quietness, the pattering of falling fragments was heard. The rush for the crater and souvenirs then took pace. The hole left in the beach was bowl-shaped and almost twenty feet wide and four feet C T?e securing of the mine when it was seen bobbing about fin the surf at halftide by Mr. Kendall on Wednesday morning and the subsequent holding and watching of the ■ machine of deadly destruction, was an onerous task, considering the possible results if the mine had drifted away once more into the path of steamers. It can be wondered now many vessels traversed' the waters close to this very mine in it? desultory wanderings before it was beached at Oakura i An hour or two after the mine was seen on Wednesday a steamer passed the spot. The reward to the finder should be a substantial one, as, in a case like this, considerable risk was involved. Mr. Kendall was on the beach with his horses and dray at the time. He took the reins and chains that were part of the harness, waded out up to his waist in the sea and dragged the mine by the mooring tackle as far up on the beach as he could. Several rocks studdea the sand, which, was then just covered with water, and a bump on one of the horns would have had disastrous results.

Messrs. Kendall, E. J. Walsh* F. H. Mace and G. Julian were engaged' by the Customs to watch the mine. Considerable difficulty was experienced in holding it on the beach during the storm on Wednesday night. A fragment of the mine casing fell on the Main South Road, not far from a car which was crossing the bridge over the Oakura River when the explosion occurred. The mine was just to the side of the mouth of the river valley. As the Oakura Hotel and several smaller buildings were not more than a quarter of a mile away from the mine in'a straight line, though sheltered from the direct force by the curve of the ground as it falls to the shore, it was thought that some damage might result. The windows in the hotel were opened beforehand and the hottlesi on the shelves in the bar moved to.some place where they could not fall. Though a severe shock was felt no breakages occurred. Pieces of debris were picked up not many yards away towards the shore.