The Earthquake.

Waipawa Mail, Volume XXIV, Issue 4280, 19 November 1901, Page 4

The Earthquake.

Great Damage at Cheviot. People Thrown to the Ground. Houses Destroyed and Roads Blocked. People Injured by Falling Bricks. (Per Press Association.) Christchurch, Saturday. An interview with a gentleman who had come through to Rangiora from Cheviot to-day showed that the earthquake at the latter place had been most disastrous. There is hardly a house habitable in the township, and the damage is variously estimated at from £IO,OOO to £20,000. Every chimney in the settlement is down, not a single one standing. The first shock was so severe that the people were thrown to the ground in all directions. The child killed was only two months old, and belonged to Mr Charlos Johnson. The family lived in a sod house with an iron roof, and on the first shock the whole structure collapsed, the child being recovered dead from the ruins. The body of Dr Williamson, who died a few days previously, was thrown from the coffin, and the house was much damaged. The township looks as though it had been through a bombardment. Pemberthy’s large boarding-house was completely wrecked. Scott’s hotel was so damaged that it will have to be re-built. M’Aggert’s butchery shop, which was built of brick, is simply a heap of ruins. Hall and Co.'s store has been removod completely from its foundations, and hardly a dwelling-house in the township is habitable. Many of the inhabitants refuse to return to their dwellings, and are camping in the open. The Bluff and Beach roads are entirely blocked, and the schoolhouse at Port Robinson is wrecked.^ The telegraph office suffered vefy severely, all the instruments being smashed and everything overturned. To illustrate the force of the shock, the heavy iron plates in the office were overturned. The shock was most severely felt in Mackenzie and Spottiswood. At Domett the houses were shaken and chimneys thrown down. When the last information came from Cheviot, at 3 p.m., shocks were

still continuing at Waiau and Tipape. 1 The shaking was felt severely at Waikari. A lot of damage was done. The heaviest losers are Messrs McDowell (storekeeper), Kermode (hotelkeeper),. M’Naught (saddler), White and Company (storekeepers), and i Lorner (hotelkeeper), and the vicarage of the Church of England is almost in ruins. There is hardly a chimney left standing in the place. Several women fainted during the shock. At Cheviot the shocks continued all day and night. The people deserted their wrecked houses and camped in the open. In the great shock clouds of dust were raised and people thrown down. In some places fissures were opened, water issuing. A number were injured, some severely, by falling bricks. Bridges are badly damaged by slips in many places, and on the Bluff road to Port Robinson thousands of tons came down, which it will take many months to olear. In Waiau £3OO damage was done to the hotel. Every chimney in the township will have to be re-built. It is reported that the Hawkeswood and Parnassus homesteads were destroyed. Great damage was done to Clifford’s house at Stonyhurst, and £IOOO dan age to Rutherford’s at Mendip Hills. At Hanmer a new spring has broken out. The water in the others has turned black.

Latest Particulars.

l Further Heavy Shocks. Wellington, Yesterday. The postmaster at Cheviot telegraphed at 7.30 to-night:— 11 Regret to report two of the severest shocks since Saturday morning. The people are in a state of deep depression again, and have taken to tents.”

Narrow Escapes.

Exodus of Women and Children. Christchurch, Yesterday, i Another slight shock of earthquake i was felt here just before 8 o’clock to- ■ night. ; Mr Hall-Jones, Minister for Public i Works, arrived from the south to--1 night and will go on to Cheviot. l Mr Rutherford’s house and contents , at Mendip Hills was wrecked. The l family are camping out in tents. Mrs r and the Misses Rutherford had . narrow escapes. r The Staunton Riuer in the vicinity 3 of Mendip, is dammed by slips, and 1 has formed two large lakes. In some 1 places the whole hillsides slipped s away, and the roads are blocked for p wheel traffic. 1 There is very little real cause for D alarm at Hanmer Springs, but at Ada - Valley, 35 miles away, rocks rolled 9 down the hillsides among the men’s a tents. r Rain set in this afternoon, and i still continues. It is very much 1 needed. The editor of the Lyttelton Times .. telegraphed to Mr Robinson, Cheviot, r asking if the collection of funds for the t immediate relief of the sufferers by the e earthquake would be accepted and roil ceived the following reply. “ A few r cases urgently require help, and though s we shall do what we can locally, the cod operation of our Christchurch friends 1 will be very acceptable. Several 5 families have lost their homes and i practioally all their belongings, and are a absolutely destitute. The Governg ment must, of course, assist in public works, such as roads and bridges, but that will not reach the whole of the distress. It is difficult, at present, to estimate the extent of the damage, but at least £3OOO is required to restore means of traffic and communication. It is imperative that the Port road be put in order without a moment’s unnecessary delay. There has been a very large exodus of women and children to-day, but, as far as I understand, all are going to friends.”