DAMAGE EXTENSIVE

Evening Post, Volume CXXXIV, Issue 29, 3 August 1942, Page 6

DAMAGE EXTENSIVE

GLASS AND STRUCTURE

RAPID ORGANISATION

The sway, ana jerk of a second

heavy earthquake within a .~few weeks hAS taken toll of an already shaken city. Unsuspected strain-:■■/,.. . xuc of'enclosed supports by #hie :; previous shocks amounccd :4fe.% existence with sm*siibig::-of witt-a - dows arid collapse:jof jria^oiiry, but most -of tH damafer seams'; to. be internal r I er than outwardly; Several, buildings, how'Cy^er; were sufficiently -:■ harmed- to attract great interest from sighW ,; seers, and what impressed \ many / persons in the central streets ; today was the expedition., with ■ r which the city's emergency serv .vices had; swung: into action.V •Traffic, demolition, repair, 7 and.: public safety were; matters - ,tha*T received .immediate and ' efficient ; : ■■ .V '■: ■ ;'. "".' "•■":'■■.^-HSv:: ' VH' the'habits of noonday'pedestrians iintinue;., orie;:6f the minors ills; of \the • ,1-emor .will' be an. 'epidemic stiff •necks. It; was 'fare, that! a. person traversed: ;,the length of/.lower. Willis Street, ; for instance, without following the -example >of others and gazing at cracked brickwork;and, concrete- high above , street .level.1 This' practice caused: many footpath {collisions, but usually the; fault was mutual. " The most noticeable feature of the street scene, was,-the absence of,the, normal, tram in Willis Street,, except for those cars. .to and from Brooklyn and Aro Street, consequent upon the closing of Manners. Street down to Cuba Street. Sightseers could still walk from Cuba Street as far along Manners. Street at St. Hill Street, but after thatohly officials and workers could proceed. The reason for this prohibition was obvious On the corner df Manners and Willis Streets the Duke of Edinburgh Hotel displayed wide cracks at the top/of both frontages, the premises of Charles Begg and Co., Ltd., were similarly affected, and. a slight gap was showing between that building and the adjacent wooden building. On the other side of the street hundredweights of masonry had crashed into a narrow right-of-way, and to make the general-picture the more impressive were the gaping roof and torn facade of a building on which a demolition squad.had been working since the last earthquake. , REMARKABLE ESCAPES. Bricks and concrete piled_ high in alleyways -was a common, sight, but as against that the escape of some-pre-mises more or less seriously damaged before was- quite remarkable. Copings, walls, and chimneys that had seemed ready to topple remained the same, yet buildings of : apparently greater durability—on the previous experience—were victims. _ In Upper Willis Street damage was fairly. widespread. Squat wooden houses suffered little, of course, except the loss of chimneys and the harm they caused in falling, but two old stone buildings just above the junction with Manners and Boulcott Streets were shaken badly and the -area roped1 off. At 198 Willis Street, on the corner of Ghuznee Street, part of the brick wall on the southern side fell into the street, leaving the secondary wall of bricks exposed, and a. chimney shaken off its foundations dented the iron roof on a lower level. On the Willis Street frontage more brickwork crashed down. , , . An escape from what must have been certain death was the fortune of a nurse at the. Willis Street Obstetric Hospital. What had been her bedroom was' today like a cardboard carton from which the lid had been partly ripped off. The small room- was of lath'-and-plaster construction, and a heavy brick chimney just tore through the roof, grinding flat the unoccupiec bed.- The reason for the empty bee at that hour of the morning was that the nurse was on night duty. :■ In Dixon Street, a little east ,oJ • Willis Street, Hearne's Buildings lost a large amount of brickwork from the top of the western wall, and the edge of the roof was left exposed. Damage in the central area from Manners Street north was heavy. The old Technical College. Building facing Wakefield Street, occupied by the Smith Family and the provincial and metropolitan patriotic organisations, has been so badly damaged that it is no longer M for occupation. The occupants are being moved to other premises, and the building will have to be demolished completely. The Mayor said today that it was capable ot repair, but it would not be worth it. In the case of other buildings, privately owned, which have been badly damaged, it will be a matter for iht

owners', to decide on demolition or, re--pair:.. .■",•.: •■ ■•■ ■ '■, • ■'■ '' •' ■ '■. • .:'"- ' ',/'' ."Crack's have appeared iri;the western wall of the Health Department .building ih; Mercer Street, previously also used by" the Wellington Education Board. ~The tower oh the : premises, of! Hamilton -'Niramo and Sons; Ltd.;' was cracked by the shake, and several cracks in the base of the* tower .on ,the Hqtel Windsor necessitated" the closing, of! Chew's Lane. ; , ....-''.:. •■/ ' -..',; ; : '-^ISMASHED--WINDOWS.;:.;;; :.' ' "-■'. From vthe,! viewpoint of loss pf- windows in' ia comparatively small ■ surface ! area,^ JohnvChambers? and Son,j.Ltd.,; off ered.'th'e,,mpst spectacular sight after, the last earthquake, and.although this, building^in:- the'^riarigle formed > by; I Cable Streejt land Wakefield Street: has, ! suffered^ again to 4he\;extent of >neerjy. a hundred V"panes- the old: portion w pfc the State ;Fire- block trecelved, the ;inore 6byious;idamage.' Both•onitheJ'Wariri'g Taylor*Streetand Lambton Quay froW ages most; of-the^ .windows were broken; At.»aV co'nsefvatlve■ estimate, more -than, sixty pithes; large' and small, haye'been, smashed. V ; '*/-:T' r-'-Y\ ■ -■■/''.. ■" w-V- ••■,'•: ■■■;•'■':. 'i ■VT^e masonry ohrthe top of Leyip and: Coi's'^ ■building, facing the1 waterfront; coHapsediintd'.th'e^street, and''today'it was a visiting spot. ; ? on4wo: 6'tKer. sides"cMcks.'have:.been 'Shaken ihtp the" material./particularly ?pn' the side •fr-ohtingyEeatnerst'on''Street.;: ,'=! lit;"- was^ irripQsaiible <-tb judge ; whether. tjh&'Post;pffice'block had fiirf ther ■ i damage; because .of the scaffolding''erected va month^ago; .but theflagf Staff'bearing'the Savmgs ballpon; was bent into an^angle at about haliC-way, and the .waterfront road was boarded off between Grey'and Panama ■Strjeets.;,; ■;■■:.* . .■'•;■••' -;-;..■ V', '■■■.- ■l:, \ '■;.'■ v; BESH>ENTIAL; AREAS. ■■■ , • '■■ In" ppint' of damage, - the earthquake struck, with -varying intensity in resir deiitial areas, but considering the number of >. previously unharmed chimneys brPught down . jn some places the jolting .was heavier, than before. Early yesterday morningl rubble on " roofs and'clalribering were a, common spectacle; and those residents who., had not had their chimneys repaired yet: were congratulating themselves on the escape from additional expense. Kelbiirn -was again in the front line. Part of the wall of the Training College Hall fell outwards and crashed on to outbuildings below it, and there was a;;.high rate,.of chirnriey loss in the ne'ighb&urhood. About ■'. two feet of concrete was' dislodged from the cen-^ tral '-pillar1»" of the <Kelburn Viaduct, signs of sagging. could " be, seen in Upland Road 'between-/Plunket "Street and Kowhai- Street,; and in Glenmore1 Street,.. where the , rqad curves before; entering"the "straight for the tram arid traffic" tunnel,\a crack opened by the last earthquake*, was widened considerably..- iV'v;-. ■■:.■■;■■:■- "■ ,"■■. ' '^:r- ---.■ A, report- from, the South Wellington; School said that .la few. cracks , had; been opened up, ■', but■■'.on first inspec-i tipn they" seemed to be.mainly on the' surfaced ' The."; large . chimney above: the ■ furnace collapsed, and damage r wascaused' to .therbricks ;and mortar of .a' gabjie. V ;■• .■:,. ■■■;;' ..:■'« •;.', ■■::.. . ,-,.;■ 'A;s;- always.' >occurs with- a: severe trempr,:> damage to movable article^*, crockery, .pictures,'bottles, ; and; so onj -r-was general. Particularly urifortu-' hate in; this respect: was'the -new Allied5 Services ; Cliib in ' Mariners- Streets

w|here Hhere.: was t great Joss \ in ■ crockery, .glassware, and .stores, ' jEvacuatiohs of V premises >in Barker Street and. other, partsiof ■Tei'Aro Flat w|ere necessary, ■as rparts ,'of some ■ buildingsl had = to, -r be ■' removed. \