DIOCESE OF CHRISTCHURCH.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXVIII, Issue 24, 14 June 1900, Page 5

DIOCESE OF CHRISTCHURCH.

(From our. own correspondent.) Jane 11. Plans and full details for the construction of the new cathedral are expected to be ready at the end of the present month. Tenders are then likely to be called for in the four principal centres, and an early start, it is anticipated, will be made with the work. Very general sorrow is felt at the death of Trooper William J. Byrne, of Titnaru, which occurred in action outside Johannesburg during the advance of the British forces. He was a member of the first New Zealand Contingent and one of the first to volunteer, and was so well thought of by his employers, the Belf ord Milling Company, that when he left to go the front the firm assured him that his po&ition would be kept open should he return. As a boy he was under the spiritual guidance of the "Very Rev. Dean Foley, at that time pariah priest of Timaru, and from whose hands he received his first Communion. The Very Rev. Dean is naturally much grieved at the sad fate of one who promised so well. The late Trooper Byrne's sister, Mrs. Hammond, a widow lady, resides in Christchurch. The prayers of the congregation were requested on Sunday for the repose of the soul of the deceased, and also two other victims, ex-students of St. Patrick's Colleges, for whom Masses will be offered during the wefk. — R.I.P. A meeting of the Bazaar Committee was held on Sunday afternoon in the presbytery, his Lordship the Bishop presiding. Plans of the proposed additions to the Drill Shed for the purposes of the carnival were submitted. An entertainment committee, consisting of Messrs. H. H. Loughnan, J. J. Wilson, Hay ward, and J. C. Chase, were appointed, as also a hall and grounds committee (which will have the supervision of the additions whilst in course of erection) composed of Mews. P. Burke, Hickmott, Hynes, Rogers, Geoghegan, Mai ley and T. O'Connell. It was likewise resolved that the chairmen of the several committees, together with the Bishop, Very Rev. Vicar-general, Very Rev. Dean Foley, and the general secretary (Mr. E. O'Connor), constitute the Executive committee, the ladies being asked to form subcommittees from amongst their number for all necessary purposes, and to act in conjunction with the above. It was agreed for various reasons not to act upon the suggestion made at a previous meeting to hold a conversazione and display of goods in the Pro-Cathedral building before consecration, but to carry out the event in the school buildings when no longer needed for churoh purposes. It was incidentally mentioned that local arrangements are being made in Westland, and North and South Canterbury portions of the diocese to equip, and provide stall holders and assistants for representative stalls of those districts. The removal operations of the Pro-Cathedral were so successful that the huge structure was placed in position on its new site without a mishap. The work of renovation is now in progress, and the whole undertaking will be accomplished well within the contract limits. I append the following report of the proceedings from the Prett : — The removal of the Roman Catholic Churoh, Barbadoes street, to its new site fronting the Ferry road, which is being done, is the biggest thing of the kind attempted ia this Colony. Nothing anywhere near approaching it has been recorded here an yet. The building, cleared lof everything movable inside, the elates of the roof stripped off, and the stained glass windows removed, weighs about 250 tons dead weight, while in size it is 108 ft by 86ft, In the opinion, of many practical men the feat waa impossible, and some even went to Bishop Grimes and warned him that the attempt could only result in failure, and that the removal would have to be done in sections. But his Lordship has been in Amerioa, where the removal of large brick buildings is not uncommon, and where not long ago a tall brick ohimney was safely removed whole from one side of a road to the other. Besides, he had faith in the architects, Messrs. Collins and Harman, under

whose supervision the removal is being effected. The method adopted is to lay sleepers 6in by 6in sft apart, and over the sleepers to l*y joiata Sin by 6in< Along these lines the building is drawn. The first step was to raise the building 18in. For this pretty well all the screw jacks in Christchuroh have been requisitioned — jacks of all sorts and sizes — &<* they were placed about 10ft apart under all rides. This, it can easily be understood, waß a very ticklish job considering the size and weight of the church. Then there was the laying of the sleepers and joists. Then under the plates of tho building and firmly attached to them were eight akids of kauri 12in by 6in bolted to the building all round. The church was thua converted into a kind of monster sleigh, to be drawn along wooden tramways. In this work something like 25,000 feet of timber is uted. The haulage is done by three traction engines, steel wire ropes being used, connected to the building in four places. Soap and tallow, to make the ways Blippery, were freely applied to the top side of the joists, and the under side of the skids and the mixture formed a surface more slippery than ice. When all was ready to make the first attempt at moving the mass the interest in the attempt became intense. The prophets of evil were there, the Bishop and many of his clergy looking on in confidence, the contractor and his men, the architects, and a good assortment of the public. Everything being carefully examined and found right, the word was given, the traction engines started, and the large weighty mass moved smoothly and apparently easily along the wooden way — co smoothly that the clapper of the church bell was not moved and the bell did not give out a sound. What must have been an anxious moment for the contractor and the architects, no matter how confident they were in tLeir experience and skill, had come and passed, and their efforts were successful. The finish of the work is now all plain sailing. Having tested and proved all appliances, all difficulties were dispellcl. The removal, which will be a distance of about 400 feet in all, namely 100 feet in un easterly and 300 feet in a northerly direction, the contractor thinks he will probably complete in a couple of days at the farthest. On the new site, about 30 feet from the Ferry road, which it will face sideways, It will have concrete foundations, and re-roofed with iron, painted and generally done up, it will last many years, still being used as a ohurch till the new Cathedral is opened, and then as a schoolroom.