Their fight to save the business part of Raetihi had told, and it was a tale of self-sacrifice in the majority of cases. A shocking state of affairs was revealed when the first relief train left Raetihi for Ohakune on Tuesday morning. The younger men of the township cleared out, and left the old people to put up the fight of their lives.
It was an awful time. The wind increased to cyclonic force, and roofs of houses were torn off bodily and hurled hundreds of feet away. Tanks were lifted bodily off their stands and sent on a wild career in all directions. One 1000 gallon tank was lifted bodily up and carried over a six-foot fence 100 yards away.
The dust and metal flying about were something awful. Men, women, and children groped their ways through the town away from the burning areas. Strange were some of the places in which people took shelter. On account of a new water and drainage scheme which has been lately introduced into Raetihi, several culverts have been constructed.
These proved havens of safety for scores of women and children, who would otherwise have suffered more severely. Many and weird were the sights of mothers with babies crouched down low and standing in about two feet of water.
What made matters worse were the various explosions in different parts of the town. There were some miraculous escapes from injury and death. The night was so dark and the wind so strong that it was almost impossible for women and children to struggle against it.
Truants help harvest
The truant officer (Mr Ryan) reported that from 31 country schools 78 pupils had been reported as absent during part or the whole of the six weeks ended on the 13th inst.
The children were required for assisting in the harvesting, as it was not possible to get hired labour. Nearly all the parents had expressed regret at having to take the only alternative for getting on with this most essential work.
Lake Logan negotiations
A sub-committee of the Otago Harbour Board met yesterday afternoon to consider the offer of the City Council to contribute 4000 towards the cost of reclaiming Lake Logan, conditional on the council being granted 20 acres of the area reclaimed in whatever part it might consider most suitable, and that a final plan of the manner in which the area was to be subdivided be submitted to the council for approval.
The council further asked that the lake be filled in within five years. The offer did not meet with any great enthusiasm from the sub-committee, and it was decided to ask the board's resident engineer (Mr Wilkie) to report on the proposals, and the effect they would have on the agreed upon policy of the board in regard to the reclamation of the lake.
Shipping losses
In the House of Commons, Sir Eric Geddes (First Lord of the Admiralty) stated that the British losses during the war period were 20 per cent.
The world's tonnage had fallen 2½ per cent. The actual world's sinkings for the year ended January were, roughly, 6.000,000 tons. Germany claimed to have sunk 9,500,000 tons.
- ODT, 22.3.1918.
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