The Noise of the Fall.

Mr. C. M. Campbell, of Inaha, gives a very vivid description of what he heard. He says, “On the 26th November I was living on the East Road, ten miles-about due east from Stratford, and I heard the reports very plainly. At first it sounded like a loud furnace-blast, and then, at intervals from three to five seconds, the report seemed like heavy rock-blasting, but there was a roar like heavy thunder during the whole time. From the first blast to the last would be fully twenty seconds.”

Several men who were working on the railway-line heard two sharp explosions, resembling the crash of a number of horses galloping over a bridge, or like numerous rifles firing in a volley; while others say that it sounded like heavy iron tanks being rolled about on a lorry. This was almost immediately followed by a louder explosion, and then a hissing sound similar to that of a rocket travelling through air.

I was in Wanganui at the time, and I heard a sudden bang, which I put down to a very sudden and short earthquake-shock, and naturally I