A BIG SMASH.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 12754, 4 May 1912, Page 5

A BIG SMASH.

HARVESTER BUILDING DAMAGED HOUSE CRUSHED DOWN. A big smash occurred on Sunday morning, . about half -past eleven, at the new' building being erected for the International Harvester Company, just off Moorhouse avenue, m the vicinity of Stuart Mill street, Christchurch. The shell of tlie building, which was of brick and timber, had been practically coiripleted, and the workmen had been engaged on Saturday oil the framework of the roof. A good deal of the heavy roof had been done, and the building was to all appearance fit to withstand the force of a storm. Parts of the west and east sides of the building were open timber ■ work, and the wind would sweep through it with great force. The building was entirely unprotected by any trees or neighboring buildings. Sunday's storm was a fairly violent one, and it would no doubt cause the heavy principals of the roof, spanning a distance of 66ft., to sway badly. If these worked loose and fell, the Avails would be m very grave danger of collapsing. Tliis seems to have been what actually occurred. The blowing down of the roof was followed by the collapse- of part of the walls, even though the walls were stayed with efficient looking stays. The most striking part of the affair was the effect the fall of the southern wall, which was entirely of brick and about 20ft. high, had on the house occupied by Mr D. McCrackett and his family. The house was within fifteen feet of the building, and the wall fell on the back portion, completely overwhelming it. One would not imagine a more complete wreck. The back portion of the house was one-storeyed, and consisted of a scullery, washhouse, kitchen and bathroom. The other part was two. storyeyed, and contained the ordinary living rooiris. The falling brick wall simply crashed through to the lbwer part and left it one wreck of bricks, mortar, splintered timber, and slates. iThe shattered walls stood partly upright, and showed the dimensions of what had been rooms. The place looked like so many compartments filled with bricks and debria. Mr and Mrs 'McCrackett were away attending church at the tiriie of the occurrence, the only occupant of the house being a Miss Vine. She was m one of the bedrooms, which was next the wrecked' portion. Inside tile room one could see the split wall-paper, but the splintered timber outside showed how narrowly the room had escaped sharing m the comriion ruin. Above Miss Vine's room was another bedroom, through the window of wliich a load of bricks had tumbled. -- -~ A most remarkable illustration of the sudden nature of the smash was to be found m Mr McCrackett's house. Tlie windows m the front room had been blown out by the compression of air from the back rooms. It had rushed through the passage, which acted- like a funnel, and the windows, offering the least resistance, had simply been blown out. . • --'•''.' The house next door to Mr D. McCrackett's escaped with the loss of its washlioiise and cycle sheds,, in' the latter °f which were three machines, two of them being badly injured, and the other merely damaged. The dweling itself is battered, a little about the back door, which is broken. Mrs G. Truman, who occupies the house, says that she heard the crash of a fall at 11.20, and she believes the first portion to go was towards the; south end of the western wall. Air most at once the roofing fell m. Perhaps a quarter of an hour later the northern wajl crashed down, ruining the rear of Mr McCrackett's house. The interior of tlie wrecked store presented an extraordinary appearance. The floor was strewn with massive beams, which had all dropped from aloft. The whole urea of "the building looked as though it had been the centre of some extraordinary seismic disturbance. A massive brick wall> still standing, ,has got distinctly out of plumb, and will have to come down. A timber portion of the wall has been half uprooted, and is leaning outwards, at an obvious angle. The top part of the eastern brick wall has a jagged appearance, where the principals were torn from their setting m the bricks. The southern wall has been redacedi' to the height of a few feet. Parts of it lie on the ground, the bricks hardly .disturbed from their plaster, V Enquiries at the office of the International Harvester Co. showed that the shed was to have been used for tHe storage of implements. The damage done to the shed is estimated at over £600. The contractor was Mr Fred Shaw, whose loss will be a ' heavy one. The buildirig was 150 ft. long by 66ft wide, and the walls were 25ft. high. The work of construction had b<»en proceeding for about two months.. It AVas .fortunate that, the , smash did not occur, on a wbriring day, when the workmen would have been about. They would, have, had a small chance of escape from the falling timber and bricks.