Shocking Disaster.

Waipawa Mail, Volume LXVI, Issue 66, 21 February 1938, Page 3

Shocking Disaster.

aruse, FEATS OF HEROISM, the A SI RVIVOR’S STORY. to ne- GALLANT ATTEMPTS AT i of RESCUE. tool. WAIROA, Last night. The full story of what happened Nuinb. r 4 Camp at Kopuawhara 1 never be told, but the facts obnable untold a tale of tragedy ich will -hock people not only of l at seountrv but of many others. It * . a ston which for stark tragedy ccel* l^ew an( l lii »lso a s^or >' _ wonder!'ul feats of endurance and ;ym[t will live long in the memories of )ple of New Zealand, and forever the nu inories of those who were selv ii-.'Oeiated with it, as one of i cruelb -t blows fate has ever uck. Many of those who perished tune rein tin* prime of life and all were by ed In the comrades with whom the hml been associated on the great sing kof < <»n>tructing the East Coast nes- lway. which, when completed, is jrlin ing to mean so much to the people sical northern Hawke’s Bay and Pov*ood v Bay. iade- The cam; itself was comprised of ro- w rou of huts numbering in all edy, They were situated on a flat •Fox wof land on a spot where the ance 'er take- ;i sharp bend. From an jas |>ection of the site after the tragthe )' it would appear that the water •bier rushing through the gorge cut the kt across the point on which the oted B P was situated. Some idea of the oles, w behind the water can be gained for Q ni tin <4 that boulders weighing ings» D? were lorn from their places as vely they wen- pebbles and sent crashthe t into tin* buildings, mer* The tlr* • tents which were not able mpletel; wept away were at the of 'l*r end f the camp. A large dive dding i, <1 as a wash-house was erlin ®pletelv vept away, and all that jar’s * remain* to show that a building le,” restco here is a large slab of I've ecrete flooring. The rest of the •m,” ®eretf ilooring has disappeared te,’* : not even a nail or spike r the to be *en. What was a beautiJn’t 'By-kept lawn is now a mass of ’dders and yellow silt. The place wre formerly the huts stood is now *enes *. deep scour marks. [ . The dining-room was also almost tapletely vept away, and all that s’D. )Wre ®u?!<> of this structure is one ®ii and ihe floor, which stands up nong tin* mud and boulders like a itch «■* ring. Just alongside the dintott s ‘ room ' r a.- the cook-house, and [oon. ! rt 1 ‘ standing. One end the l Wa ~ ' ' ve Pt away, and on the »pos- rn Wall ’ s a s ß e lf on "'hieh are ,urs’ 1 some bottles and cooking, two ens *[ s - behind the cook-house lere ls a tangled mass made bv the off- ri ‘ ! ’ nm ' tents. ; '• los <‘ to i his is the remains of a ora- r***!I*' 1 *' l"oe which saved one man's her. , *' r ‘d himself to the pole and , Ba ' ' dried down by an eddy ad- ,ia 'l™' l piece of water formed by ap end of the cook-house. From tie was rescued bv his mates oh lp roof. ■ A heavy bridge leading across the t’l'!' r end of the gorge was washed jt. v away, and was carried a mile ™ il quarter downstream. The P ™ ln - i- now standing on its edge ‘yder,, hole. other smalt bridges were also Wed away, and in the meantime “"horary structures have been erectacross the river. I s far as can be ascertained the st hut to be swept away was that ( ( ?ipied by Miss Martha Quinn, a 'tress, who was employed in the Hug-room at the camp. (J CALL IN’ THE NIGHT. Roland Blair, who was one of the y t "' ors , giving his story of the "ilidy, laid he had a look at the

üblic Works Camp Washed Away A Night of Terror. Twenty-one Persons Drowned. As the result of a cloudburst in the country between W.iikokopu and Gisborne on Friday night, causing a tremendous Hood to sweep down the Kopuawhara Valley, the Public Works No. 4 camp was swept away and twenty men ,‘tiid one woman lost their lives. Up to the present the bodies ol all but three have been recovered. The victims were:— .. "’*“*l WILLIAM AULD, single, 55, address not known. GFORGE BARBARICH, single, whose brother is believed to reside in Marton. DAVID BARCLAY, single, 50, address not known. FREDERICK I. C. CLARK, single, 51, whose father lives at Gisborne. i«. DOUGLAS, single, 28, address, c/o Y.M.C.A., Gisborne. FRANK WILLIAM FRY, married, 51, of 71 Customhouse St., Gisborne, la’ate of N.Z.E.F., 23/756. F. ('. FOUNTAIN, single, 25, of Te Puke. RONALD E. HALFORD, single, 22, of Woodville. THOMAS HALL, single, of Harris St., Gisborne. ‘oBERT JOHNSTON, single, 40, late Imperial Forces, •JOHN KELLIHER, single, 51, late N.Z.E.F., address not known. ID WARD McGIVERN, single, 28, of Bussell St. Gisborne. ! VAN MARTINAC, single, 31, who has an uncle at Palmerston North. lOHN PENDER, married, 40 Waipukurau. ROBERT EDWARD SMITH, single, 37, of Grafton Rd., Gisborne. HIGH SLOAN, single, of Wairoa. THOMAS TRACEY, married, 41, of First Ave., Wairoa, late N.Z.E.F., No. 13/292. ;'!. WAAKA, single, about 45, c/o Mrs Pango Waihape, Raupunga. WILLIAM DUNN, married, 64, of Derby St., St. Albans, Christchurch. oEORGE H. DAVIS, married, 49, late of the Second Wellington Regiment, No. 64/033, of Gisborne. HISS MARTHA QUINN, about 22, c/o P. Quinn, William St., Gisborne. The bodies not yet recovered are those of Douglas, Martin; and Tracev.

river about 0.20 p.m. on Friday. The water was fairly high then, but the position did not appear to be dangerous and the camp looked quite safe. He went to bed about five minutes later. The hut occupied by Mias Quinn, he said, was a few yards from the one in which he was living. After going to bed he read for a while, and during that time it' was raining very heavily. He went to sleep and was awakened later by a Mr Dorreen, who told him that the camp was going. It was then about 3.30 a.m. “I grabbed my pants, and I felt my hut being lifted up,” he said. “The next I remember was that I was up against a telegraph post among some driftwood. I then noticed the tent which I thought was Miss Quinn’s riding away on the flood. At- the same time I saw huts starting to move, and other tents were beginning to follow them. I also saw some men on a motor lorry, and they were quite close to me. They shouted to me to come toward them and I endeavored to get there, but was unable to do so. I also saw a man named Traey with water up to his arms.” Mr Blair said he was going to the doors of the different huts and endeavoring to knock them open. He then saw a man named Ivan Martinac, who grabbed a boy and directed him to the cook-house. He also did the same to a man named Charlie Mortloek, and was later swept away while making his way to another hut. A log came along at that time, continued Mr Blair, and he clambered on to it. The end of the cook-house was open and the log floated straight in. Mr Blair stated that there were about a dozen on the roof all told. After he had been on the roof for some time two more men succeeded iii scrambling on to it. Shortly after this the cook-house crumbled up and they managed to get on to the roof of a dwelling which was attached to the cook-house. Mr and Mrs Cameron were in the dwelling and they were then agisted on to the roof. Mr Blair then told a story of Mr F. W. Fry, who gave his life in an attempt to save Miss Quinn. He stated that while he was on the roof he heard Mr Fry call out, “Where’s Martha?” He then made a movement to lower himself into the water. Mr Blair grabbed him by the arm and told him that it was useless, ns Miss Qjiinn had gone. However, he was unable to hold on to the heroic man, who pulled out of his grasp. NARROW ESCAPES. Continuing his story, Mr Blair said that shortly after this he noticed that the water appeared to be receding, and along with some others he endeavored to rescue Mr and Mrs Cameron’s two children, Harold, aged 15, and Joan, aged 5. The hut where they were was situated not far from the cook-house. He saw Mr Hugh McCorkingdale, who was employed in the cook-house, walk out of a tent with the little girl Cameron in his arms. He was up to his armpits in water and held the child on his two shoulders for at least three-quarters of an hour. He then gave the child to another man, who lifted her on to the roof. The water went down rapidly after that, and they considered that they were fairly safe. They then got together and endeavored to attract the attention of the people in the married quarters higher up the hill about three or four chains away from what had been their camp. They shouted out to these people and the lights of a motor car were then directed on to the cook-house. Daylight was then beginning to break, and it was not long before rescue efforts were being made. Mr Blair said he noticed three men on the hut and heard one of them call out “We will die gamely.” Im-

mediately afterward the hut capsized and the men , were swept to their death. It was also stated by Mr Blair that when he first received a warning the water was then just up to the floor level of his hut. He grabbed a pair of trousers, and by the time he could get them on the water was up to his armpits. ANOTHER CAMP SWEPT AWAY. ONE MAN LOST. A TIMELY WARNING. GISBORNE, Last night. In inky darkness and with rain falling in torrents, a wall of water Bft. high, descended on Boyd’s camp, in the Whareratas, at 15 minutes past three o’clock on Saturday morning, and a few seconds later nine hutments, accommodating six married couples and six single men had been swept away in a eascade of water. Less than 10 minutes previously the camp had been hurriedly aroused by one of the occupants, the hutments then being surrounded by water which was rapidly rising. The occupants made a hurried flight in night attire to higher ground. One married man delayed for a few minutes, and in the brief interlude a wall of water descended and he has not been since since. His name is— WILLIAM ROBINSON, aged 32, married, with two children. Boyd’s camp is a small camp between Bartlett’s and Muruwai, about 24 miles from Gisborne, and the men were employed on construction work on the Waikokopu-Gisborne section of the East Coast railway. Rain fell practically without cessation all day Friday and increased in intensity toward nightfall. The 40hour week is worked on railway works and four of the single men left in the evening to spend the weekend in Gisborne. The camp is situated on the side of the Maraetaha Stream, which carries a very small volume of water under normal conditions. The quarters are erected some 20 to 30 yards from the river-bank and about Bft. above the water level. Several of the married couples have children. As night came on the rain increased in intensity and became aweinspiring to the little community, which is always to a great extent cut off from the world. Above the lioise of the rain on hutments was the everinereasing roar of the angry waters just a few yards away and a continuous rumble as large trees being carried past crashed into each other, and as huge boulders and logs came rolling down in never-ending procession. To add to the terror was the inky blackness of the night, and anxiously at times doors were opened temporarily in an effort to pierce the darkness and find out how the river was rising. Mr A. Bennie, one of the married men, was particularly anxious and paid several visits to the 'river-bank. At 3 o’clock the water came over the top and he hurriedly aroused all the occupants of the camp. In night attire, and leaving everything behind, men, women and children scrambled to the higher level at the back of the camp. The last to leave the camp were Messrs Bennie and Robinson. Inquiries three times elicited the reply from Robinson that he was all right. Suddenly, in the words of some of the camp occupants, “A cloudburst , occurred, for the rain became terrific. Then, with a roar like thunder, a solid wall of water Bft. high swept the camp. ’ ’ Mr Bennie, who was just nearing the higher ground, grabbed an outstretched arm just above, him 'and was saved. Mr Robinson was not seen again. The nine huts were shifted in all directions, the doors being forced open and everything washed out. One of the married couples' hutments was earned 15 chains downstream. Others were upended and badly battered. The terrified people were not assured of safety even though on higher ground, and fled almost in panic still further up the hill to the residence of another worker, Mr E. Larsen. The first married couple to arrive, and their children, drenched to the skin and clad only in night attire, almost fell inside, and could only cry, “Gosh, a flood, a flood.” Then at intervals came others in a similar plight and almost too dazed to realise that they were safe. MINISTERIAL SYMPATHY. AN AFT OF GOD. A TERRIBLE SHOCK. WELLINGTON, Last night. Deep sympathy with the relatives of the victims on behalf of the Government and the people of New Zealand was expressed by the Prime Minister, Rt. Hon. M. J. Savage, when the news of the 'East Coast disaster was conveyed to him. “It is not easy to express one’s feelings in the face of such a calamity. The causes were entirely beyond the control of man, and no human wisdom or foresight could have averted the disaster. The men were a fine type and had been rendering very useful service to their country. “I feel that I am not only expressing the feelings of all the people when I say that heartfelt, sympathy will go out to the relatives of the victims.” “Nobody would have dreamed that such a thing was possible on that camp site,” said the Minister of Public Works, Hon. R. Semple. “The locality had boon used for camps since the work was originally started. It was not like putting a camp in a valley near a stream with a liability to floods. It seemed 100 per cent, safe, for there never seemed any sign of danger. “It is just one of those terrible happenings which can only be described as an act of God, for which no human being is to blame,” said Mr Semple. “I know this camp site, and the news has come as a terrible shock to me. I cannot adequately express my feelings of regret at the loes

of those useful boys who were rendering a great service to the department and the country. It is an immeasurable loss, and my deepest sympathy goes out to all their relatives and friends. “Everything possible is being done on the spot. The police are in control and our engineers are on the job. Reinforcements of men are being sent to help.” The inspecting engineer of the Public Works Department left Wellington on Saturday for the scene of the disaster.