THE DISASTROUS EFFECTS AT CHEVIOT.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXVIII, Issue 9304, 18 November 1901, Page 2

THE DISASTROUS EFFECTS AT CHEVIOT.

WRECKING OF THE TOWNSHIP. THE PEOPLE PANIC-STRICKEN. (Kpecia.l to Herald.) CHRISTCHURCH, this day. Tlit earthquake which visited Christ.church at 7.40 on Saturday morning lasted about .oue and a-half minutes, and has only been equalled m our time by the shock of September,. 1888, when a portion of the Cathedral spire was destroyed. Unfortunately, this beautiful landmark hiis iigain suffered, but not so severely as on former occasions. The spire, viewed from the street, appears as if the earthquake had had tiie effect of shifting the cross, and the upper portion of the spire to the eastward presents the appearance of a large flower-pot standing on a pedestal which has been shifted several inches, leaving the portion of the pedestal exposed, v Other buildings m the city suffered lightly. Cheviot suffered a terrible disaster, being a scene of shocking desolation. Buildings have been destroyed and people ruined. A baby was killed. This morning another earth tremor occurred m this township, causing even greater panic than the first. Miraculous escapes from death „ through falling walls and chimneys are reported. No Canterbury earthquake has caused such damage before. The total sum of the injury has not yet been learned. The earthquake was felt m other townships, Waikari coming next. At Cheviot the beautiful vicarage of the Church of England was almost ruined. Hardly a chimney is left standing. Light shocks have been felt at intervals all through the North Canterbury district since the big shock. There is only slight damage at Hamner Springs. . Other places suffered more or less.

(Per Press Association.) CHRISTCHURCH, lost night. An interview with a gentleman who had come through to Rangiora from Cheviot yesterday showed that the earthquake at the latter place had been most disastrous. There is hardly a house habitable m the township, and the damage is variously estimated at from £10,000 to £20,000. Evezy chimney m the settlement is down — there is not a single one standing. The first shock was so severe that people were thrown to the ground m all directions. The child killed was only two months old, and belonged to Mr Charles Johnson. The family lived m a sod house with iron roof, and on the first shock the whole structure collapsed, the child being recovered dead from the ruins. The body of the late Dr Williamson, ■who died a few days previously, was thrown from its coffin, and the house was much damaged. The township looks as though it had been through a bombardment. Geinberthy's iarge boarding-house was completely wrecked. Scott's hotel was so damaged that it will have to be re-built. McTaggart's butcher's shop, which was built of brick, is simply a heap of ruins. Hall and Co.'s store has been removed completely from the foundations, and hardly a dwelling-house m the town is habitable. Many of the inhabitants refuse to return to their dwellings, and are camping m the open. The blilff and beach roads are entirely blocked, and the school-house at Port Robinson is wrecked. The telegraph office suffered most, seriously, all the instruments being overturned. To illustrate the force of the shock, heavy iron plates m tbfe office were overturned. The shock was most severely felt m Mackenzie and Spottiswood. At Domett houses were shaken and chimney thrown down. When the last information came from Cheviot at 3 p.m. the shocks were still continuing. At Waiau and Tipape the shaking was most severely felt. At Waikari a lot of damage was done. The heaviest losers are McDowell (storekeeper), Kermode (hotelkeeper), McNaught (saddler), White and Co. (storekeepers), and Lorner (hotelkeeper), and the vicarage of the Church of England is almost m ruins. There is hardly a chimney left standing m the place. Several women fainted. Mr C. Coleifdge Fair, m charge of the mugiietic observatory, interviewed regarding the earthquake, expressed regret that he had not yet had time to place the seismograph m position, but magnetographs which he set m motion during the day (after the big shock) show that there were frequent tremors during the afternoon and night. At least twelve distinct shocks, Mr Farr states, were recorded between noon and midnight, and between 7.30 p.m. and 10.30 p.m. The ground was evidently m a constant state of vibration. At about 820 there was a sharp shock, which was also felt at Cheviot. ,n^* J? °' clock this morning, Mr Skey (Mr Fair's assistant) says, there was another sharp shock, and at this time the magnetograph record show six distinct shocks m seven minutes. The heavy shock on Saturday morning threw one of the three instruments out of gear