TAUWHARE SHAKEN.

Waikato Times, Volume 105, Issue 17786, 10 August 1929, Page 7

TAUWHARE SHAKEN.

GELIGNITE EXPLOSION. ATTEMPT TO DESTROY CULVERT. DETONATION STARTLES SETTLERS DASTARDLY DEED MISCARRIES. What Is regarded as a deliberate attempt to blow up with gelignite a new concrete culvert, completed only last Wednesday, was made on Thursday evening on the main Oambrldgo - Morrinsville Road, between Tauwhare and Eureka. The explosion was terrific and startled settlers over a radius of about a mile.

Residents of Tauwhare, about 12 miles from Hamilton, were startled by a terrific explosion about 8 o’clock on Thursday evening. Windows rattled and doors shook over an area of nearly a mile and settlers who had retired sprang from their beds fearing an extension of the southern earthquake. The scene of the detonation was a few chains from a new culvert completed on Wednesday, on that stretch of the Morrinsville-Cambridge Road, between Tauwhare and Eureka. It seems that the How of water along this particular creek had so increased of recent years that the existing Ihree-feet culvert was quite unable to cope with it. The Eureka Drainage Board, under whose jurisdiction it comes, decided, therefore, to construct another culvert of similar dimensions alongside it.

The proposal was met with opposition from a certain source, and one settler, who apparently thought the new culvert would have the effect of carrying more water on to his land, is said to have threatened, in the presence pf a number of neighbours, to destroy the structure when completed. Whether the explosion was an attempt to consummate this threat, is not known.

If so, it miscarried, probably owing to an unforseen circumstance. It would seem that gelignite was the explosive employed, and from the severity of the detonation, quite a number of sticks must have been used. As the explosion occurred several chains down stream, however, and apparently in the water, it is supposed that the perpetrator of the deed did not allow for the heavy llow of the stream, in sinking his submarine charge, and that it was washed out of harm’s reach before operating.

Settlers in the neighbourhood hold strong suspicions as to the perpetrator of the deed, but a “ hush-hush ” of caution overhangs the district, as neighbours whisper their fears and suspicions to one another. Had the deed not miscarried it is certain that considerable' damage would have been done. Not only would both culverts have been shattered, but a big portion of the main highway would have been carried away.

Although the explosion was tefrific, it was deadened considerably by being submerged. Several members of the Hamilton police force spent yesterday investigating the incident.

It is probable that a prosecution will follow..