EXPLOSION IN STREET

Dominion, Volume 22, Issue 184, 2 May 1929, Page 6

EXPLOSION IN STREET

EXCITEMENT IN AUCKLAND ELECTRIC CABLE FUSES SHOPS DAMAGED Dominion Special Service. Auckland, May 1. After betraying its presence by a cloud of heavy smoke which warned people in the vicinity, a fused cable in Lower Queen Street caused an explosion shortly after 5 o clock this evening which tore the front from one shop and broke a number of other plate-glass windows. Fortunately no one was seriously injured by the outburst, which hurled broken glass to the middle of the road and was followed by flames; which burned furiously through the pavement for over half an hour. When the home-going crowds were thronging the left side of Queen Street on their way to the ferries a cloud of black smoke burst from the pavement, denoting the failure of one of the electric cables under the footpath. Constables Collins and Christiansen, of the Waterfront Police, were quickly on the scene and with the aid of traffic officers diverted the stream of pedestrians on to the roadway. At the same time they warned the Auckland Electric Power Board. It was well that the footpath was cleared ot passers-by as shortly afterwards an explosion like tlie report of a cannon startled hundreds of people in the vicinity and a shower of broken glass, was hurled across the road, while jets of flame shot up from the footpath, burning with a fierce roar to a height of over two feet. The greatest damage was suffered by the small goods’ establishment of R. Chesney, Limited, the whole front of which was wrecked. The window was blown out, cooked meats, ham and bacon strewing the footpath, while two side windows flanking the doorway were both shattered and their contents thrown out. The display of goods in the windows was hurled about in confusion, while the ceiling of the main window hung down in shreds. Inside the shop some of the damage was remarkable. A heavy marble counter over one inch thick and four feet wide was split in three places, while the cross counter at the far end of the shop was also affected by concussion. Counter cases were broken, the stock suffering severely. The manageress, Miss M. Brownlie, and her four assistants had a fortunate escape, none of them being injured in any way, although all recived a severe shock.

The adjoining premises, those of J. IV. Coleman, tobacconist, were more fortunate, although here again two w’indows at the side of the door, about 12 feet by 5 feet each, were smashed as well as a large mirror at the rear of the windows, and a number x>f plateglass shelves. Stock was thrown all over the pavement from both side windows and the main frontage, while there was also damage by smoke on the other side of the scene of the explosion, to the chemist’s shop of W. R. Taylor. The. dispensary suffered a broken window on the Queen Street frontage, but there was no great dam'age to the contents. The glare from the fire which followed the explosion attracted many hundreds of people to the spot, and the roadway was nearly blocked on one side. A number of policemen xvere required to hold back the crowd, which edged forward and tended to hamper the work of the City Fire Brigade. Three jets of flame bursting through the pavement threw off great clouds of black smoke, which curled under the verandas into the shops. An extension of the fire ran under the shop of IL Chesney, Ltd., burning along the front and leading many of the spectators to believe that there was a fracture of the gas main. Fortunately this was not so, all the fires being due to one cause. By cutting holes in the floor the fire under the shop was soon mastered, while two. or three outbreaks in the footpath died out when the current was turned off. A third persisted for a short time longer, and then the asphalt on the pavement near the fires melted in small pools, in which were embedded dozens of pieces of broken glass. A passerby, Mr. H. P. Andrew, headmaster of Curran Street School, was struck in the foot by flying glass when he was walking down the tramrails. He received a dep cut and was forced to receive treatment at the hospital before he was able to continue to his home.

No estimate of the damage iu the shop of R. Chesney, Ltd., could be made to-night. Apart from the breaking of the windows, which are covered by a policy in the insurance office of Australia, there was about £2OO worth of stock ou the premises, much of it being undamaged. Bottled and tinned foods escaped damage, but perishable foods, including eight hams and nine sides of bacon, were ruined by smoke. The stock was also insured in the same office. No estimate could be given of the damage in the tobacconist's shop, as here again the damage by smoke to the tobacco could not be assessed until stocktaking has been carried out. The premises-and stock were also covered by insurance. A similar explosion in April last year partly wrecked the front of the pemises of Keans, Ltd., mercers and men’s outfitters, at the corner of Queen Street and Quay Street, while the adjoining shop of B. R. Arnott, tobacconist, suffered considerable damage. On that occasion the explosion occurred on a Sunday morning, when there were few persons in the vicinity.