Across the River
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RECENT rumblings about the earth moving on Range Road, took me back to my primary school days in 1961 when the biggest earthquake to hit the Southern Highlands in living memory damaged houses, smashed crockery and triggered dangerous landslides.
Known as the Robertson-Bowral 'quake, this massive movement of the earth measured 5.6 on the Richter scale and was felt for 50,000 square miles.
MIRACULOUSLY nobody was killed or even badly injured, but a lot of people were well and truly shaken.
None more than Leeton farmer Edgar Hatch and his family, who were driving up Macquarie Pass towards Robertson just before 7.45am when they thought they heard a gust of wind, followed by a roar that Edgar found difficult to describe, as tons of rock came off the mountain and hurled against his car, crushing the roof.
As this newspaper reported, "they were safe, but seconds behind them, thousands of tons of rock smashed away the roadway, and just above them, around the hairpin bend, the road had disappeared under 30 feet of rock, 60 yards across."
ON Highlands farms, tanks swayed, spilling out water. Animals went berserk, with terrified cattle stampeding and dogs barking. Because it was early morning, dairy farmers were still milking.
Mr J.C.Wood was milking at Glenquarry when the bails started shaking violently. He opened the gates and "the cows just took off."
In fact another cow cocky reckoned one of his milkers, called Daisy, moved so fast, he was going to enter her in the next Bong Bong Races.
Ray Smith was in his dairy up on the Range when the concrete yard split into four sections.
Mac Elliott's family also farmed up on the Range. Their dairy was destroyed and the house had foundation damage, but they also had a paddock that "slid down the hill and rolled onto itself."
ROBERTSON copped a hammering. The Post Office was flattened, walls were split, and chimneys fell down.
Telephonist, Margaret Pointing had a lucky escape when a 90 pound lump of masonry wedged in the roof above her head.
"She was badly shocked and later relieved from duties for the day," according to the newspaper report.
Robertson Public School was severely damaged, losing three brick chimneys and a section of wall. Other buildings hit hard at Robertson included the Police Station, School of Arts and the County Inn Hotel, while the Church of England lost its bell tower.
Over at Burrawang, general store owner Cliff Scarlett was standing outside when the quake hit and he reckoned that as it passed through town, "electric light posts along Hoddle Street picked up the crazy rhythm as each, in rapid succession, commenced to sway in an eight foot arc".
ONE lucky lady in Bowral was Mrs Smithers, who went outside to hang up the washing when the chimney crashed through the laundry roof and onto the copper where she had been washing.
The big chimney at Bowral Brickworks was "literally dancing," according to Hector Macdonald, who was working there at the time.
Amazingly no damage was done to the chimney.
There were power outages and a nurse was trapped in a lift between floors at Bowral Hospital.
Across the river, at the Moss Vale Council building, the assistant engineer's office, "was reduced to a shambles," according to the newspaper report.
Mind you, I've seen a few engineer's offices that look like that even when there hasn't been an earthquake.
Young Leonie Goodwin (now Knapman) was walking through her parent's caravan park at Mittagong when she heard the approaching roar.
Thinking it was a semi trailer, she looked across to what was then the Hume Highway and saw their kiosk, "rising and falling like a boat," she told the newspaper.
"It actually looked like it was floating over waves."
BUT after the initial fear generated by the Highlands worst ever earthquake passed, most people had a light-hearted tale to tell.
One bloke reckons he was inside an outside toilet when the whole thing fell over, leaving him sitting there terrified with his pants down around his ankles.
"People ran out of their houses like rabbits," someone else recalled, even suggesting his neighbour was only dressed in her "nylon negligee."
Maybe that was just wishful thinking.
Another was bitten by his panic stricken dog.
Yes, everyone had a story and everyone seemed to remember exactly where they were during those terrifying 30 seconds when the earth moved across the Southern Highlands in the early hours of Monday, May 22, 1961.