THE EARTHQUAKE.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXV, Issue 190, 10 August 1904, Page 5

THE EARTHQUAKE.

ADDITIONAL PARTICUXARa DAMAGE AND INCIDENTS. (By Telegraph. —Own Correspondent.) WELLINGTON, Tuesday. This morning's earthquake, the damage it worked, the fear it spread over the city, and the strange things that people did under the influence of terror and excitement in one tragic minute, have absorbed the whole attention of people and politicians. EyeD so epochmaking an event a3 the clo_e of the financial debate has no place in the conversation on the streets or in the lobbies. The awfulness of the shock is, however, wearing off, and gossips are more interested in the comedies of the occasion. So transient are the emo- . ions, and so disinclined are we to speculate on the calamitous and the hideous. that that aspect of the disturbance is hidden behind a gay demeanour, and the light-hearted narration of sensation and actions. The shock was undoubtedly one of or the severest on record. You heard and felt it coming, and the terror of it had time to grow upon you. Buildings swayed so ominously that it is easy to see how another minute of such violence would have laid the city in -urns. it must have been something far beyond the ordinary which unseated the gravity of the Chief Justice, and sent him flying hatless into the street, v_.ile Mr Justice Cooper dashed through mother door, finishing only sixth in a field which included a couple of pressmen, two detectives, and the ?hief gaoler. There was no regard fir the order of precedence at that moment. The exodus from Parliament Building was an easy record. No dreary debatei ■ver talked members into the lobbie with such unanimity and speed, anc: within seconds every occupant of the 3iiildir.gs was on the greensward, hud lling at the feet of Ballance's statue heir blanched faces helving the piteouiests which faltered from their iips. The makers of the law, with all their privi eges, were in the face of a law which hey could neither understand nor con trol. At the Government Life InsuranceBuilding >'ie greatest excitement pre railed. l*ie inmates ran helter-skelter from the building, falling debris making their progress perilous. The Government clerks, to the number of 500, were on the street even more quickly than when the dinner hour sounds, and the whole business population was soon in the street, gathering confidence from numbers, and discussing the affair in the residential quarters of the town. Feminine fear ran riot. Faintings were common. I saw more than one old lady collapse on the footpath, and a servant ■jirl, pale unto death, rush to her mistress, crying, "Oh, mam,' can I die with you?" "Die where you like, only don't make such a noise," was the unsympa thetic and unromantic response. Ie many private houses ornaments were piled in profusion on the ground, and some valuable pieces destroyed. All through it was an eerie, marrow-freezing experience, which even the loudest jesting bravado does not wish to have repeated.

Parliamentary Buildings are consider ably shaken, cracks appearing ■in all nnrts of the house. Mr Massey's room suffered a good deal. The AttorneyGeneral had a narrow escape from struck by falling plaster. Fire buckets were emptied on the floors, and books were shaken from the library shelves. DAMAGE AT DANNEVTRKE. EARTH LIKE A HEAVING SEA. By Telegraph—Press Association.) DANNEVTRKE, this day. At the time of the earthquake here the sun was shining brilliantly after frost. The first shock was of a rotary character, and it drove the people oiu of their houses. A second shock followed quickly, and the noise of falling chimneys and glass was heard in all directions. It was difficult to keep on one's feet, and the earth appeared for a time like a heaving sea. Great damage was done, and chimneys went down in all directions. Shop stocks of a fragile character were injured, and sev?rnl brick walls were damaged, but no individual was injured. Many persons have suffered from the terrifying nature of the shocks. MASTERTON'S EXPERIENCE. MASTERTON, this day. The whole place was alarmed by yesterday's shock. Chimneys were levelled in all directions. Grocers' and. chemists' shops became a confused mass of broken bottles' and glass. The post office and otheT brick buildings were damaged, some seriously. TERRIFIC REPORT AT WOODVILLE. (By Telegraph--Press Association.) WOODVILLE, this day. The earthquake of yesterday was accompanied here by a terrific report, which caused a prc-it panic. Bricks were knocked off chimneys, and windows were broken, but no serious damage is reported. Plaster has come down in nearly every upstairs room of tbe new post office. SEVERE AT PAHIATUA. PAHIATUA, this day. Earthquake was severely felt here, but no serious damage was done. Several brick walls were cracked, and glassware and crockery in considerable quantities were thrown from the shelves in the shops and private residences. Many chimneys, espa?idiiy in out districts, were thrown down. PHENOMENON AT PALMERSTON NORTH. PALMERSTON N., this day. The most serious damage here was to the Hon. W. W. Johnston's mansion, on the Highden Estate at Awaburi. All the chimneys save two were snapped off short. The windows fell right in, and it is feared one side of the building is severely strained. A phenomenon of the earthquake was its action on the Manawatu River, which, near the town, was thrown in waves right ap on to a shingle bank, as if a large steamer had passed up the stream. ALARM IN /AFHAPE. (By Telegraph.—Press Association.) TAIHAPE, this day. A severe shock of earthquake was felt here yesterday morning, and lasted nearly a minute. No damage was done, but considerable alarm was caused.