IN THE HASTINGS AREA.

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXIV, Issue 18796, 7 February 1931, Page 20

IN THE HASTINGS AREA.

COURAGE OF PEOPLE. By Teleerraph—Press A»«rtclatlon HASTINGS, February 6. Very finest attributes of mankind were needed to withstand the terrible shock that the loss of property and lives has created in Hastings, and those attributes have been exhib ted in a completely universal and wholehearted way. Each individual example of courage and unselfishness, shown alike by men and by women, was magnificent in itself, but those qualities seen in the mass were impressive beyond words. The calamity was an extreme test, and not a citizen failed under it. A hundred instances occur to one’s mind. A young man, living in a Hastings, fearing that his sister, who was a nurse at the Napier Hospital, might have been a victim, hurried in to investigate. He could find no trace of her, but, after a further search discovered her lying among the dead. He did what little he could and going straight back to Hastings went on police duty in the town, and with complete self-possession spent the entire night at work. Then, after a light breakfast, and a few m nutes’ sleepless rest, he went to do other work wherever workers were needed. A mother, whose little child was somewhere in town, tnough filled with anxiety for her girl’s safety, gave her time and professional skill in an attempt to ease the pain and save the life of a gravely injured man, who was partly buried under a concrete coping. The man subsequently died, and it was later discovered that the hero c woman’s daughter had been buried and killed. Mr T. H. Gill, a well-known land agent, lost his 1 fe attempting to save the life of Miss Houlaghan, one of his clerks, but both were trapped under the debris.

A young woman assistant, employed in the department store of Roach’s, Limited, was partly buried, and most gainfully injured when the build ng Entirely collapsed. When the rescuers came to her aid, she insisted very urgently, but unsuccessfully that a man lying, also partly buried beside her should be moved first. The First Shock. After the first dreadful shock, men and women became calm, and determined that everything humanly possible to succour tne injured should be done instantly, and with amazing speed and efficiency the staff of Royston Private Hosp tal, assisted not only by the local doctors, nurses and exnurses, but outside men and women helpers, established a casualty station at the kiosk, in the Hasitngs raceLong before the usual hour of tea everyone injured, perhaps a hundred in number, not counting those privately treated and many others at the Memorial Hospital, haa been accommodated in beds and stretchers hurriedly brought from elsewhere, had been dressed, and otherwise tended, fed, and made comfortable. No less praiseworthy was the work of the Post and Telegraph Department. Work of Telegraph Staff. By 6 o'clock a scheme improving a telegraph despatch office had been evolved, and within an hour had been put into execution. All night long, with a continual stream, people waiting to send messages away, the staff worked without pause and without complaint. Each telegram had to be read over the telephone to operators at Waipukurau, from which town all local messages are at present being transmitted. The first shift worked w thout a >;reak for 25 hours, and the office has continued night and day. In another improvised office there is a steadily maintained pile of literally hundreds of telegrams, which the postal staff has undertaken to deliver The great efforts to establish more workable communication with the outside world should shortly be complete. Work of Fire Brigade. Heroic work was done by the Hastings F re Brigade, which had to dig a way through the front of the fire station before the engine could be got out. Fires broke out at four points in the main street, but the water supply was very soon put out of action, and the fire had to be allowed more or less to exhaust itself. A little later the low pressure became available, and the fires were reduced to such proportions that they were comparatively harmless. A Second Trcmoi. On Tuesday night the town was severely rocked by a second tremor, which brought down not only the small remaining part of the Grand Hotel, but suspended parts of other partly demolished buildings throughout the town. Further Conflagrations. Soon afterwards a tiny flame was noticed at a point about forty yards on the railway side of the hotel. No water was available to check it, and indeed it looked so harmless that it was taken little notice of. Within a few minutes it had become a hundred fold more menac ng, and it was only a matter of further minutes when the picket and firemen guarding the town realised that the situation had become dangerous.

Only the crushed timbers served for fuel to feed the flames, and it was thought at the time that the bricks and mortar would serve as a barrier between them and the unharmed two storeyed Union Bank. However, the fire spread down this mass, and despite the efforts of a bucket brigade and the firemen working under extreme difficult es, the flames eventually took charge, and gutted the bank. The books and money had in the meantime been removed by a picket. The fire turned the corner from the main street into Road, and went on almost unchecked through half a dozen partly destroyed wooden and brick shops, down to a two storeyed brick and concrete buildnig owned by the Hawke’s Bay Farmer’s Meat Coy. The flames were eventually checked as they broke through the walls of the National Bank. That was at 6 o’clock on Wednesday morning, the bank seemed safe. With a sudden burst, however, flames broke out again, and meanwhile the limited water supply had run out. Once more the fire took complete control, and with n a very little while the bank was entirely cleaned out. HOMELAND SYMPATHY. United Press Association--Bv Electric Telegraph—Copyright LONDON, February 5. Sir Thomas Wilford has received personal letters of sympathy from Mr Macdonald, the Ambassadors, High Commissioners, and also many unsolicited donations. Sir Thomas Wilford to-day talked with Mr Forbes on the wireless telephone.