UNUSUAL HAPPENING

Dominion, Volume 20, Issue 78, 27 December 1926, Page 10

UNUSUAL HAPPENING

COLLAPSE OF GARAGE FLOOR ; ' CARS FALL INTO OLD ! .; ' ; SEWER , ■■-Dominion Special. ; Auckland, December. 21.When Mr, H. A. Ogaia, a grocer, of Napier Street, Ponsonby, went out to J his garage this morning to commence loading Christmas provisions for de- > liverv to his customers, he was staggered to find both his- recently purchased motor-cars heaped one on top of the other in a hole 25 feet deep and 12 feet * wide. The' cause of .this - unusual anti

almost , unbelievable happening was i painfully obvious an old sewer -n a ! creek bed being responsible. , - il'he.r sewer,-.built by: prison labour some, 50*.years. or so ago, runs down the gglly at the rear of * the Napier 1 Street,, .School under one corner of 1 Irvine Stevenson’s factory and Mr. , Ogara’srproperty., f -finding an outlet in Freeman’s Bay. Evidently the roof of i the server had caved in years ago, many feet under the garage, and had finally and completely collapsed during ’ last night. The most remarkable feature about the thing is that: the gaping hole looked as if it. .had been mined or ! ' had been carefully dug. Several days 1 ago Mr. Ogara observed cracks in the concrete floor of -his garage, but attach-

ed no importance to this. ■ , , The motor-cars, which he values at , ; £4OO, were pot covered by insurance. , - They. were extensively damaged. Last night Mr. Ogara placed a quantity of i groceries, eggs, etc., in his cars for 1 - delivery this morning. These . were precipitated into the hole, adding to . his loss. . ’ As soon as the matter was reported to I the 'City Council a special.gang of men was sent to. Napier Street in an endeavour to raise the cars by means of a large and specially, erected derrick. The sewer (6 feet in depth by 4 l : ' feet), .which acts as the main overflow, Joining up the drainage areas north of Karhngahape Road, east of Ponsonby Road, and west of Union Street, has been completely blocked,land it will be some time before it is cleared. Mr.

Ogara informed a reporter that many years ago, when Mr. Albert E. Glover j represented the Ponsonby Ward, lie pointed out to the council the necessity of taking over all land over the ; old sewer to’save trouble in the future, i However, nothing was done.