"OUTSIDE'S SAFER!"

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 139, 17 June 1929, Page 10

"OUTSIDE'S SAFER!"

ommAjj traffic ■.:.; "FH€ SCE*JE,' IN THE CITY The shake pulled the city's.business up with a. ; jolt this^morning, for after the first.'.few-seconds people in, buildings decided that things ■ were going j too far altogether, and 6ther3 walking through town decided to take the middle.l of the road.. Cars and tram cars were pulled up, not. so much on account of the shake, the milder movements of which would probably not be perceptible to drivers^ but on account of the people on the road. When the heavy ~ shake set.in there was-some-consternation of a mild kind in the streets, and very real consternation ■ among tenants of four and five-storied buildings, for on the iipp^r floors the,movement was alarming, and was a goodj deal too much for gome ( women- to put-up with; some of them fainted, others screamed, and those who were; strictly practical made for the street doors. The shake did not last long enough to allow of the emptying* of larger buildings, but first and second stories were apparently pretty well cleared. Prom the Government Buildings in particular there was a smart rush,' and whether it is that the men work nearer to the doorways than the women and girls, the fact was that they were first out. But nothing beat the'eats.

In the shopping streets there was a remarkable bulging of plato glass windows, a lashings of flagstaff s, and a sufficiently heavy shaking of telegraph and other poles carrying overhead cabling and tramway gear to threaten more trouble, and to send people back to the footpaths in spite of the menaceexaggerated by a very natural fear—of tumbling brick and concrete from above. A few people wer& really badly frightened,, and everyone was a great deal more than merely interested. When the shake did end there was a relieving of ieehngs by; conversation with whoever «tood next .to-one on the road or the' footpath.; While the worry lasted there was no joke^about it at all, and at the back of such remarks as "Gee, it's a feriou O B nthought! re " S-t deal of all Wellington rushed to the telephone during the next fifteen £- twenty, minutes, and it was difficult ■to get a call through on account of the overloading + of the installation by calls if, 0™0®0? £> fcome and home to office. She Chief Telegraphic Engineer stated iater that whilo the Department regretted the ; slight delay that was experienced by some subscribers, it was unavoidable, being due solely to the exceptional demands made upon the se'r- ?**>, W Joig •ftfetaaee. ne weH. as city

callers. Bothiistaff and equipment had stood up to their job well, aiid condi-, tions were normal again very soon after the shake. . •;'■■' . LIFT WEIGHT CRASHES DOWN. There was one 'peculiar accident which by" great good fortune was not disastrous: that was in the'lift well of the Colonial Motors building. The lift was at about the third floor when the heavy shake came, with one passenger only, one of the staff messengers. The balance weight, high above the lift cabin, was apparently twisted : round sharply,' and' two sections, of a hundredweight apiece, broke loose and crashed down, going cleaa through' the cabin..-; The liftman, who, by the way, has only one' arm, received injuries ..to the arm, and the messenger Js leg .was hurt, but neither case was serious. The lift is, of- course, badly smashed. On the previous trip a full load of passengers was earned. INJURED BY PALLING PLASTER. The severest effect of the earthquake in causing personal injury seems to have occurred in the Government Build- 1 ings. - ■ .-.;■, . -. .-,.■.; ■„ . ;■-. ■ . ■_. '-: v A large piece of plaster, two inches'i m thickness, and weighing over a hundredweight, fell from-the ceiling! of the ledger room in the Treasury Department, striking a young departmental officer named. A. 8.. Taylor on the head. He- was attended to by a doctor, who found it iiecessary to stitch the wound. , .-.,-. MINOR DAMAGE ONLY. Considering the length of the shake and its nature, the amount of damage to property is exceedingly small. A few chimneys came down in various parts of (the city and:; suburbs, home and shop; shelves- were emptied, minor cracks were caused in brick buildings, the Post Office, Town" ■Hall, and other clocks were stopped,-" windows went here and there, but that'was about all The power supply was in no way interfered with. -One of the city water [mams, apparently the old^i-ineh main from Wainui,: gave out at Petone, but prompt action was taken and the city felt no result of the burst, which was after all;:'-less ■ than- '.others which have -taken place under normal circumstances; : The old chimney of the Mercer street power station, now out of commission, just got through and no more, for,the coping was' beginning to loosen and; bricks commenced to -fall. For some time this stack has been under notice for demolition, and probably to-day's'lbosening'of the top brick work will speed the decision to get it down. .-..•.-/- ■' .--. •:' ; .. ■. ... ON' THE WATERFRONT. At the time of the shake the Queen's Wharf was particularly busy, owing to the fact that the Maunganui was still discharging passengers and cargo, and the crowd,oh the wharf was rapidly swollen by the numbers who rushed out of the" Harbour . Board offices. Apart from a little plaster being dislodged the watefront buildings came out undamaged. .A tour of inspection by the board's officials disclosed the fact that no material damage .had resulted around the wharves. A few cracks occurred in the asphalt surfacing in the vicinity of the Pipitea Wharf, but there wasnothing that could not be easily repaired. ■.-'■--•■" .'■■■ i, ■:.' :

RUMOURS IN PLENTY. y: Naturally.-the'town was full of rumours, which may have been started off in all good faith but grew with surprising speed to stories of catastrophies of the first order. ; When inquired into all of them reduced down to a patch of ceiling plaster, a couple of loose bricks, or just a plain tale, suitable to the occasion.

: The new' National Bank Buildings came in for a record inspection for some hours after the. shake. The lines of the-building are such that.from certain angles one can imagine that the frontage . bulges out, and all tho forenoon and oduring -the lunehepn hour; crowds stood on. the Post Office corner and remarked upon./'the frightful^ twist" the :builduig'had'been given. There was nothing- in the .bulge rumour. In order to calm the fears, or curiosity, of those who spent so much time to-day wondering, about the appearance of the building, representatives: of the bank made an inspection of -the whole building, and Informed "The Post" that no. damage had been caused by the earthquake. ..-..■•.. • .

PLATE OtASS WINDOWS CRACKED. Eight t>ig plate glass windows, in the shop.front of James Smith's establishment, at the corner of Cuba and Manners streets, were broken, mostly across one of the corners; but some were cracked right across. The wooden and glass shelves in some of the .windows were shaken down and a number of the tailor's dummies were capsized, making a scene of considerable confusion. Upstairs, too, a goodi deal of confusion was caused through dummies and vstands falling over and goods slipping from the shelves. In the linoleum department of the third floor, where there were standing on end 200 rolls of linoleums, weighing 3cwt and more apiece," nlany were thrown down. At "The Berkley" gramophone shop adjoining a big window was cracked across one of the lower corners, and some gramophones were thrown from the shelves and broken. Ouo of the big upstairs windows of Sehueideman's shop at-the corner of Bond street .and Manners street was cracked in all.directions. Otherwise little damage was done in the Manners street, Cuba street, and Courtenay place area. At the opposite corner •of Taranaki street and Manners street a large crowd was gathered, and gazed up at the tall Hope Gibbons'.building, where 1 a man was seen walking round the roof testing the ornaments on the cornice; but no damage was reported.. ' At a number of the big factories, such as Hannah's boot factory in Cuba street, and George and George's clothing factory further up the street, the shake was fairly severely felt, and not a few of the girl hands fainted or went oft' into hysterics. The shocks were very severely felt at the Customs Building, near the Eastbourne Borough Offices and the Ferry Wharf, the oscillations being particularly noticeable on the upper stories; and there was a stampede to get out of the building. Some 28 minor shakes were ■felt after the main, shake, giving rise to the impression that the building was not too safti, --. A%,Jofea Cfcaaife«»* 3ai% building, &w-

vois quay, built- on reclaimed ground, several windows were broken. THE COURT IS CLEARED. There was some quick work when those present in the Magistrate's Court realised what was happening. The .look of consternation, which had at first appeared on the faces of. the spectators, grew into alarm in.many cases as the earthquake gained in strength, and almost simultaneously the majority of the spectators decided that they had seen enough of the inside of the Court for the moment, and they made the best speed possible for the door. Some of the officials, too, did not' appear to rolish the position, for the building was shaking alarmingly. '„ On account of the noise, the proceedings, were held up for a moment or so, and the Magistrate waited with a smile' on his' face- for matters to become a little more orderly. After a few seconds the Court resumed tho even tenor of its way, to be interrupted a second time when the windows rattled loudly. ' Outsido in the passage two girls'fainted and had to receive at- | tention. .

NO RAILWAY DAMAGE LOCALLY. So far as is known no damage has been done to the railway permanent way or buildings, in the Wellington district, and trains are running as usual. .Under the new control system all stationmasters are in immediate ■ touch with the; traffic office.' DAMAGE AT LIGHTHOUSE. Advice has been received by the Marine Department that the earthquake damaged the lighthouse apparatus at Farewell Spit, and.as a result the light may not be functioning to-night. The machine was lifted and moved bodily 6 inches from its bed-plate, and the burner was broken out of position^ SHIPS AT SEA. ' Owing' to the fact that no ships have arrived at Wellington, since early this morning no information is yet available' as to the effect of.the earthquake at sea. Captain Campbell, of the Harbour Board's tug Toia, reports,! however, that he felt two or three sharp ■ bumps while the vessel was. proceeding to Point Howard. Had the tug not been.in the middle of the harbour at. the time.lie.would have thought a rock or sand bar had been touched.