SHATTERED.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 142, 18 June 1929, Page 9

SHATTERED.

NELSON BOYS' COLLEGE.

TOWER CRASHES TO GROUND.

TWO BOVS INJURED

(By Telegraph.—Press Association.)

NELSON", this clay,

Nelson Boys' College was partly shattered by the earthquake, and is now unsafe for occupation.

There were two major casualties at the Boys' College when the tower collapsed and huge lumps of bricks and masonry came crashing through tL- floors down to the basement. They were R. McKay, son of Mr. J. G. McKay, assistant headmaster, and L. A. Baigcnt, eon of Mrs. Baicent, of Grove Street. McKay was not"seriously injured, but the condition of Baigent could not be ascertained by a superficial examination, and he was removed to the public hospital to be X-rayed.

Besides these, a number of the boy? received scalp wounds from falling plaster. The Boys' College building seems to have been one of the worst sufferers in the city, and it seems doubtful if any of the main walls will be considered stable when a close examination is made. In some places the masonry has taken on a dangerous lean and it would probably come crashing down if there were other shocks.

Debris is strewn over the ground on all sides of the building and two piles of Wricks and cement, one on the terrace and the other on the pathway to the west door, are all that remains of the upper portion of the tower and the porch respectively. The College clock has fixed the time of the shock, for it stopped at 10.20. There was no panic at the college and the boys were out of the swaying building as"quickly as possible. School has been suspended.

The Nelson Girls' College was not damaged, but the girls were removed from the buildings.

Satisfactory arrangements have been made for the continuation of work at the Boys' College. Fortunately most of the boarders were housed in the various college houses, and these have not been damaged. The main building, which.has suffered so severely, will not be occupied. The Board of Governors held an urgent meeting yesterday and decided to ask the Minister of Education to visit Nelson as soon as possible, and to bring with him the Government architect, so that the extent of the damage may be expertly survived.