CHIMNEY FALLS THROUGH A ROOF.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18787, 17 June 1929, Page 10

CHIMNEY FALLS THROUGH A ROOF.

SEVERE DAMAGE TO TWO-STOREY HOUSE.

Severe damage was done to the house of Mrs W. A. Cunliffe at 11S, Bealey Avenue. A chimney at the front of the house collapsed, broke through the roof and filled a balcony with bricks and mortar, as well as broken timber and slates from the roof. All the fireplaces were filled with bricks and plaster which fell down the chimneys. Two other chimneys at the east side of the house are in a precarious condition and seem likely to fall shortly. At any rate they will have to come down. The paths around the house are covered with debris.

A woman who was in the house at the time said that the noise was terrible, just as if the whole second storey were falling in. The house swayed perilously and the noise drew a large crowd from all parts of Bealey Avenue.

The house, a very large, old fashioned one, had five chimneys shaken down in the last ’quake. The one which fell to-day was a new one, and another new one was practically shorn off at the base of the. superstructure by the movement of the roof.

EARTHQUAKE TILT AFFECTS WATER SURFACES

One unusual feature of the earthquake was the effect it had on water surfaces, which swayed and rippled with the movements of the earth. The water in full tanks splashed over, and in quite a number of cases housewives had startling experiences with basins and buckets. It was noticeable that the water in the side channels behaved curiously, in some cases being repeatedly tipped on to the road and then being sent back to its proper place.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM SURVIVES THE SHOCK.

The city electrical engineer (Mr E. Hitchcock) said that, surprisingly, there was no damage to the city's electrical system. The ’quake, he said, was more prolonged than severe. “Earthquakes seem to come with alarming frequency,” remarked Mr Hitchcock, “but their very frequency may be taken as a good sign. If we didn’t have one for a long time it seems reasonable that we should have to expect a dangerous one when it did come. I don’t know whether that is seismologically sound, but it seems so to me.

“People who were watching the destructor chimney thought that it couldn’t cut the capers it was doing and stay up. It just shows that our rigid buildings are all a good deal more elastic than we think.”

There was a brief interruption in the electric power supply from Lake Coleridge, affecting mainly the Lyttelton area. The trouble was quickly rectified.

The tramways were not affected by the earthquake, and no ..damage was reported.

800 GALLONS OF BEER SPLASH OVERBOARD.

Like a tidal wave, about 800 gallons of beer washed over the edge of the big squares at Ward’s branch of New Zealand Breweries, Ltd., at the comer of Fitzgerald Avenue and Kilmore Street. The squares are used for the fermentation of the beer. The loss represents about 15 hogsheads.