The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1899-12-15
4 NEW ZEALAND. vRsuy1Us
Terrible -Upheaval In 1856 Whieh
Changed the whole Country
In SIX Hours.

Terrible Upheaval In 1856 whieh
Changed the whole Country
In Six Hours.
The white terraces Of Rotomahana
rose up in series of 20 platforms in
the form of gigantic stairway. Each
terrace was perfectly horizontal and Of
dazzling whiteness. The top step was
vertically so feet above the base and sat
800 feet back. From every platform bulb
bles copious clouds of steam. A stream
OF boiling water continually flowed
from the geysers, and as it fell slowly
from tier to tier the silicates with
which the water was heavily charged
became deposited, on its exposure to the
air, and wonderful lace work designs OF
infinite variety and of dazzling white
ness and purity were formed. Not far
from the white terrace was another
termed the pink Terrace" where, ow-
ing to some coloring substance in the
silicious waters falling from the gey-
sers, the deposits were of delicate
pine hue, from which was derived the.
name pink Terrace"
Unfortunately New Zealand no long
er possesses this unique spectacle, for
the terraces are no more. The various
agencies of nature which originally
built up such curious forms served in
turn to destroy them. Mr.. Falconer
gives graphic description of the event.
He was residing at that time about 40
miles distant from Tarawera. In 1886,
on June 10, the night was clear and
calm. Heavy rumbling sounds like
rolls of distant thunder filled the air,
but there was no very great alarm.
The next day dawned dull and gloomy.
About 1880 O'Clock the morning grew
darker and light gray ash, very fine,
began to fall. He says that, although
they surmised IAN eruption was taking
place in the Hot Lake district, there
were no definite tidings to that effect,
so that he could only wait to see what
| would happen. By the aid of lantern
he, succeeded in cropping his way to the
telegraph Office, and there he learned
that serious disturbance was taking
place at Tarawera and Rotomahana.
About II o'clock the darkness lifted.
All round the ground was covered with
a thin. filmy pail of fine ash to the depth
OF half an inch, and it was afterward
found that the intense darkness was
caused by thick cloud of dust blown
out by the volcano to height so ire
mendous that it passed above Tauranga
and dispersed over the country some
miles way.
The manifestation was accompanied
by intense cold, the thermometer regis
tering five degrees of frost. This is ex-
planned by the fact that the columns
of steam ashley came Kissing out of the
craters expanded as they assembled and
absorbed their own heat, which became
laent, so that the heat was distracted
from everything near. a day or two
later the government geologist arrived
at Tauranga, and preparations to in
pushed rapidly forward. On the fourth
day after the eruption, the party ar
rived at Wairoa, the Maori village.
There was scarcely a vestige of the set
Element to be seen, the whole village
had been crushed beneath volcanic lava,
and the charred and battered remains
of the little village church and other
buildings .protruded above the surface
of the deposit, which at first measured
four feet in thickness, but afterward
settled down to half that depth. One
young Englishman was killed, as we'll
as the Maoris who lived in the district
and eNacted tolls from visitors to the
Hot lakes. The scene was the widest
Imaginable. The air rushed over the
land with cyclonic fury, Euprooting,
tearing and breaking trees that had
survived the hail of rocks, leaving here
and there gnarled and jagged trunk,
denuded of branches and stripped of
its bark.
The next day the party set off for
Rotomahana. AS they approached the
hot lakes huge cracks, extending hun
dreds of yards in length and about
foot in width, were seen in all direc-
tions.~ The scene was one of the strange
grandeur of absolute desolation. The
upheaval of nature had blown the won
derful terraces to atoms; steam was
rising in dense clouds from one end of
the area to the other, distance of
about nine miles. Rotomahana lake
was yawning caldror from which rose
majestic column of steam. The
ground was completely stripped of
vegetation and covered with lava from
the mountain. The lava was reduced
to the consis tency of -four, so that the
explorers sank in it nearly to their
knees. Thus in the space Of time was
North island suddenly shorn of its
most peculiar natural features. In six
hours the whole aspect of the country
was changed, and what was one of the
most beautiful spots in the world was
transformed into a barren country car
peted in lava and covered with debris.
The geysers, however, still abound in
Profusion, and it is possible in time
other terraces may be formed.-Wind-
sor Magazine.
Anything for Peace.
The Peppery little, man hoped
around the famous prize fighter.
you're big bundle of nothing he
snarled. II dare you to strike me-"
The big prize fighter shook his head.
He didn't want to run any chances of
injuring himself in barroom broil.
You're a yellow dog" shrieked the
little man. $-s.a & -
81. I'm, yellow pug" said the big
man, quietly. Then he walked away.
cleveland Plain Dealer. Z
- No White Flowers. sEE 4
An absolutely white color does not