CHRISTCHURCH CATHEDRAL.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXVIII, Issue 9305, 19 November 1901, Page 3

CHRISTCHURCH CATHEDRAL.

THE DAMAGE TO THE SPD3E. interview~wTth bishop JULIUS. (Special to Herald.) CHRISTCHURCH, last night. Travelling north at nearly fifteen. miles an hour towards the apparent centre of the seismic disturbance, writes a correspondent of the Press, I unearthed from the corner of a crowded smoking car the Bishop of Christchurch. He was serenely contemplating the twisting smokewreaths from his briar, and reflecting with commendable resignation on his equally twisted Cathedral spire. "Yes," he said, m answer to the stereotyped question— '^yes, the spire is badly damaged, and it is a bad business altogether. lam on my ' way tb a confirmation . at Amberley, "but I must go ou now to see the vicarage at Waikari, which is almost entirely destroyed," and the Bishop shook his head gloomily. Evidently bis serenity was only assumed. "But to revert to the Cathedral, my lord," said I. "Well," replied the Bishop, "many opinions have been advanced already, and m> doubt there will be hundreds more. It is suggested that there is little damage done, and that a scaffolding should be built from one of the upper heights of the spire, and the stones replaced m their proper positions. Tills would not be costiy, but my objection is that such a course would be money thrown away. The spire re-built m such a fashion would be m the future, as it has been m the past, a continual source of weakness and anxiety. My desire is to pull down the upper portion of the spire, with so much of the original stone portion, as is unstable, and to build up a wooden spire exactly on the lines of the present one m its place. Such a spire might be made perfectly secure, and with a surface either of brass or copper, or, better still, of aluminium, would be every bit as good as a stone spire. The cost; you say? I don't think the cost would be much more than that of the restoration of the^-present spire, and it would have the advantage of being absolutely secure." In further conversation the Bishop pointed out that the idea of a wooden spire was by no means new, nor was there any reason why it should be, necessary to follow the customary plan and erect a dangerous, stone spire when a wooden one would be quite as good, and a hundred times safer. "The spire of old St. Paul's," said his lordship, "wae of wood ; ergo, why should not the spire of Christchurch Cathedral follow so excellent a precedent? There are plenty of wooden, spires m England." He added : "As to the cost, well, it must be a special fund. The citizens ought to rally to our assistance. I think they will. Oh, yes, I think we shall get the money." Naturally, the conversation drifted to the Cathedral completion, . a time-worn subject with the Bishop, apparently. "Yes," he said, very decidedly, "We are going to complete the.building," and then he added more slowly, "I think so" — a qualification experience had taught might be advisable. "It is true we have not yet got the money."