VERONICA MAY SAIL OUT

Taranaki Daily News, 7 February 1931, Page 9

VERONICA MAY SAIL OUT

PART OF HARBOUR NOW DRY utter desolation at the port GREAT" FEATS IN INNER HARBOUR ' THE WHARF RENDERED USELESS. By Telegraph.—Press AMwUtiPR. Napier, Feb. 8, Those who were on H.AI.S., Veronica at the time of the earthquake etate that the shock was terrific. The bed of th© harbour below the wharves rose and bumped the bottom of the vessel several times. It is reported that several plates have been dented, but nothing serious occurred. The vessel btiiripeuthe wharf heavily and the plates on the side were also damaged slightly. For some time after the shock the sloop was left high and dry, on one or two occasions the water rushing out and then coming back again. Finally, when the water subsided, the vessel we® left in enough water to float. She draws 25 feetj and there U believed to be enough water to get the boat out into ' the roadstead to-night if conditions i-re favourable in the harbour. It was not decided at once what berth the sloop would take. Finally fihe was placed at the upper, and it proved to . ba. most-fortunate that , this was done, as the. lower berth was. completely

wrecked. It dropped into the sea at the end, and the part nearer where the Veronicais now lying has toppled over, agd it .lies at a precarious: angle even where the sloop is berthed. The outer rim of" the wharf has broken away. AH along the wharf ~ the -concrete lias been...ripped up like paper,,find great fissures are;to be seen from one end to the other/ s *?; Some are four. feet deep where the ground is solid. The wharf has been rendered completely useless for all practical purposes at' the moment, and if it will not have to be re-built entirely it will ec»t many thousands to make it safe. In every direction the port presents a scene of desolation. Buildings along the waterfront have been torji about and thrown on all sides. The tobacco premises are razed and several bodies are thought to be in the ruins. Wool stores have disgorged hundreds of bales of wool on to the road and the stores of Williams and Kettle have been wrecked. Part of these has slipped into the harbour and the small wharf ift the front has disappeared. On the land side motor-lorries have been catiglit in the wreckage. Roads at the port have beeri damaged and there tfe numerous wide cracks on the-surfaces, seme of them' very deep. The inner harbour bed has undergone a complete change. Those who were on the waterfront when the shock occurred stated that it was preceded by a terrific roar.. When an investigation of the harbour was made it was found that the upprir part Was without water, and that it would not fill even at high tide. Great flats extend over a wide; area, and the traffic bridge ha® broken at the port end. One of the Sandflat beacons his been tossed over at an angle.

The Battery. Road lagbdh has also been Tailed and has become dry at high tide.