Halifax horror

A noted feature of Lake Wanaka: the elevated Paradise Lake, on Pigeon Island. — Otago Witness, 19...
A noted feature of Lake Wanaka: the elevated Paradise Lake, on Pigeon Island. — Otago Witness, 19.12.1917.
OTTAWA: Nine ships were wrecked or sent aground as a result of the "tidal wave" caused by the Mont Blanc munition ship’s explosion at Halifax.

A wall of water 25ft high swept the water front, and 65 stevedores engaged on the Furness, Withy, and Co.’s wharf were drowned. A tug was lifted on to the top of the pier, her crew escaping uninjured.

A worker engaged on another pier felt the pier shed tremble. He slipped under the wooden beam when the wave engulfed the pier, and he clung to the beam until rescued. Six men who had been working alongside him were killed. There were 188 men working in the dry dock, caught by the swirl of water which fell over the dock sides, all of them being drowned.

Telegrams from Halifax report that a shell from the Mont Blanc fell in front of a house occupied by Captain Kendall, ex-commander of the ill-fated Empress of Ireland (lost by collision in the Gulf of St Lawrence in May, 1914, the loss of life being 1012). The shell buried itself in the ground without exploding. Captain Kendall escaped with cuts from broken glass.

Thirteen men in the rigging of ships of some warships in harbour were blown into the harbour and drowned. A soldier working amongst the ruins found his own baby alive, but later he discovered his wife and five other children dead.

Sub-division principles

Of late we have heard much upon the question of the sub-division of land for residential purposes on town planning lines, so perhaps a brief statement of some of the more important principles and objects to be derived from a scientific lay-out may be of interest.

The ideal residential sub-division should combine all the advantages of the open country — such as sunlight, air circulation, etc., — with the conveniences of the city — viz., electric light, water supply, drainage system, etc.

The plan for the sub-division should fit the topography of the land and give due consideration to natural features. Even if the land is relatively level the plan should have interest, good organisation, and design. We should in every instance endeavour to get away from the characteristic checker-board plan which is so often inflicted upon us in this country.

Teachers’ pay

At the meeting of the Education Board yesterday, Mr Brugh said that after the war Education Boards should see to it that teachers were better paid. The chairman said the whole question was one of finance where the pupil teachers and probationers were concerned. They were required to teach from periods of from two or four years at a miserable pittance, and after that to put in one or two years at the college at an allowance of £55, which was quite inadequate to keep them.

Tree vandalism

"However will we get any trees to grow in our reserves if this sort of thing goes on," exclaimed the magistrate (Mr Cruickshank) at Friday’s sitting of the Juvenile Court in Invercargill, when a youth was before the court for pulling up two out of 120 trees planted by the corporation (reports the Southland Times). It was not so much the two trees that led his Worship to complain, but the other 118, which someone else had carefully removed.  — ODT, 13.12.1917.

 

COPIES OF PICTURE AVAILABLE FROM ODT FRONT OFFICE, LOWER STUART ST, OR WWW.OTAGOIMAGES.CO.NZ

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