SENSATION IN NEWCASTLE.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIC, Issue 13420, 18 October 1907, Page 5

SENSATION IN NEWCASTLE.

PART OF THE TOWN ON THE MOVE. CRACKS IN iii* STREETS. GREAT.DAMAGE TO PROPERTY. Press Associatioi—By Telegraph—Copyright Received 9.34 p.m.. October 17th. SYDNEY, October 17. A sensation was created in. Newcastle to-day by the occurrence of an extensive, creep in the residential part .of the town known as " The Hill." : ,

During , the early part of -the .morning,residents heard crunching movements underground, but were nob alarmed as suchsounds are of frequent occurrence. As, the day wore on, the noise be-, came more pronounced. Great opened out in several streets,' houses being shaken from, founda--: tions to roof. Numerous ceilings came, down, brick walls cracked, doors tind windows were wrenched .out of position, and nearly all the finest residences in the city' are damaged- Jlie area affected is about: 15 acres in extent.

.Not a solitary room in the palatial residence of Mr" J. R. Wood, known as " Jismond House," escaped damage.' Nearly every ceiling is down and every wall "cracked. It wilF cost between £7COO and £BOOO to repair.

The crack extends right across the floor of the Anglican Cathedral from the eastern door to the baptistry. At first it was thought that the creep was confined to The Hill,. but this afternoon it was discovered to have worked down The Hill reaching the lower end- of King street, one block from the centre of the citv.

Burke's new warehouse is seriously dam-; aged, the concrete floor being ripped up about a foot wide. The water mains buist, and gas is escaping in • various places, and it is feared that the city water supply will be endangered, both reservoirs being in the" -affected area. The present creep is adjacent to one that occurred a yeai' ago, but is much more serious. The damage, already done is between £BO,OOO and £IOO,OOO.