WOMAN STRUCK BY WATER GUSHER

Dominion, Volume 32, Issue 160, 1 April 1939, Page 10

WOMAN STRUCK BY WATER GUSHER

Powerful Stream Shoots 50ft. In The Air BURST HYDRANT IN MANNERS STREET Struck by a powerful gusher of water, which shot with a roar 50 feet in the air, when a fire hydrant in Manners ■Street, Wellington, burst last night, Mrs. S. F. Brailsford, Karaka Bay, was hurled from her feet. At the expense of a ducking, a young man dashed out from the pavement and assisted Mrs. Brailsford, who’was thoroughly drenched and suffering from shock, into the foyer of the Grand Opera House. Later she was taken home in a taxi. The gusher continued to play from 6.50 p.m. till 7.35 p.m., entertaining a crowd of several hundreds. With side curtains drawn, trains ploughed through the deluge, giving passengers an unusual experience as the water thundered heavily on the roof. Ten valves between Taranaki Street and Willis Street had to be shut by employees of the city waterworks department before the flow could be checked.

The cause of the gusher was a broken bolt in the hydrant, which is attached to a 12-inch main. The water burst out under a pressure of 1301 b. to the square inch just as Mrs. Brailsford was stepping past the hydrant. Fortunately the iron cover, which was hurled into the air, did not strike her.