MAN DIES AT PAHIATUA

Taranaki Daily News, 7 March 1934, Page 9

MAN DIES AT PAHIATUA

COLLAPSE WHILE ESCAPING HAVOC WROUGHT IN THE TOWN. NUMEROUS PREMISES SUFFER. LIGHTS THROWN OUT OF. ORDER. By Telegraph—Press Association. Pahiatua, March 6. A terrifying earthquake lasting nearly two minutes shortly before midnight was the worst in the district’s history. Damage in the business area is estimated at £lOOO. Many firms are affected. _ The effect of the earthquake is apparent in hundreds of homes. Numerous other shakes occurred at intervals. The whole district was plunged into darkness by the disruption of the electric power supply. Telephone lines also are partly down along each side of the mam street. At the outset communication north of Pahiatua was cut off and only with the greatest difficulty was outside news gleaned. There was a tragic occurrence when Mr. Andrew Pringle, a leading business man who had been seriously ill, was making a hurried exit from his residence when he heard a crash and collapsed and died. There was not even light for working. The firms which suffered most were:— W.C.F.A. (merchants), Oxley Buildings, W. Hall-Watson (dentist), A. C. Timms (chemist), L. Hartley (draper), E. Badger (stationer), H. Taylor (hairdresser), W. H. Murch (ironmonger), a shop owned" by Mrs. David Crewe, Yates and Co. Stores, W. Woodward (chemist), A. Rabinsvitz (draper), W. H. Purdie (dentist), Wong Hee (fruiterer), F. Cosford (tobacconist), B. Mills (secondhand dealer), S. Judd (proprietor of the Mayfair Hall), the Tararua Power Board offices and Y. Ci Young (fruiterer). VIOLENCE OF THE SHOCK BUILDINGS ROCK DELIRIOUSLY. MANY SHOPS UNABLE TO OPEN. Pahiatua, Last Night. Ruined by the most violent earthquake ever experienced in the district, nearly 20 business premises at Pahiatua were unable to open their. cjoors for trading this morning. For two minutes a fearful earthquake had the whole district in its remorseless grip. In intensity it can scarcely have been much inferior to the great Napier shake. Only the absence of brick buildings prevented destruction of a more wholesale nature. As it is the damage to shops and. private homes is enormous and it will be a very long time before the town regains its normal appearance. Except for the southern half of the town and one or two country areas the whole district was plunged into darkness by the disruption of the electric power, and telephone lines were partly down along each side of the main street. Many telephone subscribers were thereby disconnected. All communication by wire north of Pahiatua was impossible from the start. Only with the greatest difficulty could outside news be gleaned by the post office with Morse via Wairarapa and a short wave radio set operated by an amateur, Mr. L. Angelinin. The main street this morning presented a desolate scene with so many buildings in complete ruin, drooping verandahs, and- bricks, mortar and plateglass strewn over a wide radius of the pavement and street. One blessing wai that the earthquake came at night when the shops were closed. Had it occurred in business hours the loss of life might have been grave. v . ■ No preliminary rumble or warning tremble preceded the horrifying events. Driving rain fell during the shake. A full hour afterwards buildings swayed, creaked and. rocked deliriously. Happily no outbreak of fire occurred, as the reservoir was nearly empty. A few minutes after midnight the fire bell clanged violently, but the alarm was merely to summon all brigadesmen and volunteers for picket duty at the ruined premises. Rope barricades were erected across certain parts of the town as brick frontages had crashed in places far out into the street, making the roadway in the darkness dangerous for traffic. Pickets were placed outside most of the damaged shops.

WELLINGTON FORTUNATE SOME DAMAGE IN HUTT VALLEY. INTERRUPTIONS ON RAILWAY. Wellington, Last Night. The earthquake was severely felt in all parts of Wellington, and a good deal of alarm was caused, but no serious damage has been reported either in the city or in the suburbs. A few shop windows were broken and a number of chimneys damaged. Unstable window decorations fell in some shops, causing breakages to glassware. No structural damage of any kind is reported. Some plaster was shaken down in the town hall and the library, also some library shelves ’ were moved and some books thrown down. Cracks in the fire station were widened. These buildings are not regarded as good earthquakeresisting buildings. The old cast-iron water main to the city failed near Hutt Park and a heavy escape of water occurred, but it is easily repairable. The gas and electric systems are undamaged. Hutt and Petone business areas suffered damage to the extent of some hundreds of pounds in broken windows, crockery and glassware. Householders have suffered in damaged chimneys, the wrenching away of hot water tank connections and troubles of a like nature. The Railway Department says the Wairarapa line is now cleared and trains went through this afternoon. The chief engineer will go up the line this afternoon to inspect the whole area, including the bridges. The track between Paraparaumu and Waikanae on the Wellington-Palmerston North line was affected at the time of the quake and goods trains were held up, but the line was clear for the limited this morning. There was slight dam-, age to the approach of a bridge neaw the Manawatu Gorge, but it was anticipated this line would be clear within an hour.

It is reported that the southern approach to the Kopua viaduct has sunk six inches. A ganger reports that a small bridge near Mauriceville has sunk and the track is suspended in the air for about half a chain. There have been several small slips and buckling of . lines in several places between Mangatainoka and Hukanui.

The only serious hold-up of railway traffic was on that portion of the track between Masterton and Woodville, and at 10.40 a.m. the department was unable to give any definite information of when traffic would be resumed. This was the only portion of the track on which train running was suspended.