BLOWN UP!

Sun (Christchurch), Volume II, Issue 457, 28 July 1915, Page 11

BLOWN UP!

A RANGIORA BAKEHOUSE BAKER'S STARTLING EXPERIENCE BUILDING COMPLETELY RUINED. Rangiora has provided a sensation. The bakehouse in connection with Mr Wm. Hawkins's general grocery business is literally all up a tree. Its ffate was decided this morning. About M.30 a.m., the baker, Mr Charles Beyers, clad in the usual floury | singlet and trousers, the special property of all true bakers, was busy at'the kneading bench, putting the y finishing touches to the dough, when with a mighty roar an explosion occurred, and things ilew about in all directions. Many uneasy sleepers in various quarters of the town licard the sound, and their houses shook, but it was frosty—very frosty —and, as there was no repetition, they rolled over and wooed sleep again. A MIRACULOUS ESCAPE. : Some of the things tlew very near Mr Beyers. One of these was a solid piece of the front of tbe boiler, which made a bad impression on the vm] of the wall, 18in of brick, and . Mr Beyers would have had to be carried out if it had struck him instead of kindly passing by. One of the many beams descended and caught Mr Beyers a nasty crack on the back . rif the head. Something-else caught Kim on the forehead, and caused Blood to flow, and he stood groaning beneath the weight of half the rioof,. corrugated, iron lined with liiatchlining. ; The place ' was filled ; With steam and ashes, and Mr Beyers, looking as if he had been liewly plastered, groped for the nearest door, the gas having been blown out among various other tilings. The door was on his left, as he remembered it, but what did he find? A 12-foot trough of one and a-half . inch kauri, laden with about 100 loaves of bread lo bake, had tried to get out before him, but Jiad been blown along for several feet, and had blocked the doorway. 'Therefore he made for another door on the other side of the bakehouse, and found an exit—a, dazed and bewildered baker. This was easily the •most exciting experience which had ever come his way, and he was not j used to it. LIKE A BOMBARDMENT. A few minutes previously he had called Mr Hawkins to weigh off the bread for him, and Mr Hawkins's coming was expedited by What took place. He came running, and, after having the escape of gas from the meter expeditiously turned off, he surveyed the ruins of his new £SOO bakehouse, opened in February. 'lt j was not a pleasant sight. In fact,! the scene was not unlike the pictures! of the after effects of a German | bombardment. The chimney was left j standing and the oven practically i pninjured,. reducing the damage toj about £4OO, and he regarded the j wreckage" more hopefully. i

THE RUINS SCATTERED. , But where was the bakehouse—that, portion not left standing? At the rear stood some weatherbeaten pine tres, and in the clear, frosty air was seen a goodly portion of the roof, sheets of iron and lags of lining board, balanced gracefully in the branches. Bricks and single pieces of board were also ensconced there. The yard and neighbouring garden Were also decorated with debris—a generous distribution. THE BOILER BURST. And now, after this tale of destruction comes the theory—the theory of the baker. Certainly it was the 100 gallon boiler which burst. The furnace was lit at about 3 a.m., and the steam at length became so powerful that the boiler could not withstand the pressure any longer, and it just burst. Why? Because the exhaust pipe was filled with ice, which refused to melt. Was Mr Beyers hurt? Well, his nerves were shattered a bit, and he was bruised about the back and shoulders, but he had been very lucky. In the clear light of day the scene Is no more hopeful. The main thing which convinces one of the force oj.* the explosion is the lop of the boilier, weighing about two hundvediweighl. From its position, it seems jthat.it must have gone via the roof [between two pine trees, which bear [marks of its flight, in a gully about 125 yards away. The window on itlie left, in a heavy .concrete easement, travelled across the right-of-way, and the window on the right also: look flight-.- It has gone, ail 'except the mass of concrete which was hurled several -yards'.

THE TALK OF THE TOWN. ;is Rangiora interested? Certainly;. The incident is the talk of the town. Everyone has inspected the wreckage, and everyone is shaking Mr Beyers by the hand and congratulating him on his escape. Some of the dough—there was enough for 190 big loaves—has been .saved unharmed and baked in another baker's oven. Thursday is no I a'baking day, and in the meantime Mr Hawkins is arranging to secure the Fernsidc bakery. Rangiora is stjll to be supplied with bread by him, in .spite of one of the most Interesting and curious happenings in the town for many years.