Little to fear from Ngauruhoe's eruption

A view of Oriental Bay, Wellington. - Otago Witness, 3.3.1909.
A view of Oriental Bay, Wellington. - Otago Witness, 3.3.1909.
Reports from the area surrounding the Ngauruhoe crater show that the eruption is the finest seen in New Zealand for years. The Auckland Star's Taupo correspondent wires-

The eruption of Ngauruhoe crater was witnessed at a distance of five miles by the overland coach passengers with great interest and not a little fear.

About 11a.m. a huge black column, mixed with steam and ashes, shot skywards, rolling over and over until it reached a height of about 8000ft above the crater. Soon the already smoky sky was blackened with the falling ash.

Now and again another huge outburst took place with audible roar, scattering the hovering clouds into the most fantastic shapes and drifting to the south-east, leaving a black train of ashes falling like rain from the high elevation of the volcanic cloud, which ever increased till it obscured the whole southern sky like one black pall.

On Tuesday morning the occupants of the halfway house were awakened by heavy rumblings and explosions, and at 11, when the upheaval occurred, the western side of the crater seemed to be blown clean away.

• The New Year had its accustomed noisy greeting in this city. Time was when New Year's Day was one of the quaintest and most distinctive of New York holidays, when open house was kept in big houses and small.

All that is changed and the celebration has been shifted to New Years Eve, when a rowdy horde takes entire possession of the city under pretence of welcoming in a New Year.

This crowd, rich and poor, takes possession of Upper Broadway and other theatre and restaurant districts, and its management is an annual police problem.

• While fishing near Escape Reef last week the occupant's of Beer's motor launch had (says the Western Star) a somewhat thrilling experience.

One of the fishermen was in the act of hauling into the launch two blue cod, when a huge shark, over 20ft in length, made a rush for the bait, and swallowed the cod, hooks, and sinker.

Apparently he did not relish this morsel, as he turned his attention to the rudder, which was an iron one, and made a vigorous attack on it, the boat receiving some heavy shocks from the monster. Needless to say, the fishermen got away on the launch with all haste. - ODT, 11.3.1909

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