INVERCARGILL SENSATION

Waikato Times, Volume 101, Issue 16873, 12 August 1926, Page 4

INVERCARGILL SENSATION

EXPLOSION IN COURT. # MUCH DAMAGE DONE. ■By Telegraph.—Press Association.)’ INVERCARGILL, Wednesday. Sheer chance prevented a tragedy at the Invercargill Courthouse this morning. About .ten minutes past nihe members of the staff in the court office were startled by, a tremendous explosion in the Magistrate’s courtroom. On investigating they found the room in a state of chaos. Apparently the steam stove which heats the room had burst. Water was lying on tlie floor in large pools, and several sections of tba heavy pipe which carried the steam ta various parts of the building wera lying about the room. Four large windows which face tha police station yard, and take up ‘practically the .whole of one side pf tho court room, were shattered. Even the upright sections of wood which hold the glass in position were twisted and bent. The solicitors' table was badly damaged, and there were marks on the ceiling and walls in all parts of the room, showing where flying pieces of metal had struck. The press table, which stands next to the stove, was also damaged, and there were several marks on the wall behind it, which showed that .anyone sitting there would have been struck. There were several large marks above the door leading to the Magistrate’s room and in the room, which is separated from the court-room by a fairly thick wall, plaster had been knocked down from the corner of the ceiling. A large number of cases was sej down for hearing at the Court to-day-, and a special meeting of solicitors had been called to congratulate the Magistrate, Mr Cruickshank, on completing his 25th year on the Bench, so that had the explosion occurred three-quarters of an hour later, the court-room would have been crowded. It is not known how the explosioif occurred, but tyvo possible solutions are that there was gelignite in tho coal or that the steam in the pipes expanded and burst the stove.