THE BISHOP'S REPORT.

Waiapu Church Gazette, Volume XXI, Issue 9, 1 May 1931, Page 2

THE BISHOP'S REPORT.

The heaviest item of loss is of course the Cathedral. When this was built prices were far lower than m the present day. With the prices now ruling, the building with the organ, windows, and other furniture was worth something over £37,500, to which must be added £2,500 for the Deanery which was destroyed by fire. The rebuilding of the Cathedral is a problem for the future; but it will be necessary immediately to erect a more or less temporary building to serve as a church for, say, 10 years, of sufficient size to seat from 400 to 500. Adjoining the Deanery was a building facing Tennyson Street, which was the property of the parish, and was leased for £300 a year; this, too, was totally destroyed by the fire. The Offices and Synod Hall were built recently at a cost of £10,000. Most of the damage to this building was by fire. As it stands at present it represents a total loss, but pending a further survey, there are hopes that some parts of the structure may be worth saving. This, of course, will necessitate immediate heavy expenditure; as the ruins will deteriorate very rapidly unless something is done to preserve them. The furniture of this building cost over £500. Adjacent to the Cathedral is a small building, used for some time as the Diocesan Office. This was leased, and the rents provided a sinking fund for the cost of the new Offices. Repairs to this building will cost about £2,000. The roof of Bishopscourt was very badly damaged by falling chimneys. The whole of the lower storey will require re-papering, and there is a large amount of glass to replace, chiefly m the lower storey. The building was strained m places and otherwise damaged, but it is hoped that repairs may be effected for a little more than the £500 generously voted by General Synod. St. Augustine's Church has had the floor very much distorted. The cost of repairing it can hardly be ascertained until work is begun upon it; when the floor is opened up it may disclose work which should be done to the foundations of the walls, though they appear to have suffered very little. Some repairs will have to be effected to the Vicarage at the Port, but the church, fortunately, has escaped lightly. The Taradale Vicarage, which is an old building, fared badly, but the repairs should not prove very costly.

The Vicarage at Puketapu has been, badly strained, and the roof broken. The piping has been broken m places, and the drainage system shattered.

The beautiful Memorial Church at Crownthorpe, which was erected by the late Mr. J. H. Coleman at a cost of some thousands of pounds, has suffered considerable damage.

The church at Hastings has had the tower badly strained, and it is possible that this may have affected the stability of a large portion of the church. In any case the cost of repair will be heavy. The Parish Hall has also been badly cracked. A similar position appears at Havelock North, where the church and parish hall both require repairs costing several hundreds.

The wooden . church at Clive which was raised on jack-studs has been badly displaced, and the frame of the building strained. At Otane, the church escaped lightly, but the brick foundations of the Vicarage were badly shattered, and the roof was damaged by falling chimneys, besides other damage. In Waipawa, though the church was undamaged and the Vicarage only lost chimneys, another building owned by the Parish, and leased for revenue purposes, was strained and will require the expenditure of about £100. The brick church at Waipukurau, consecrated last year, has fortunately escaped with minor damage to the tower which should be repaired for about £50.

The new brick church, built recently by the Maoris at Tangoio, has been completely demolished; as was also the concrete church at Te Uhi, on the north bank of the Wairoa River.

The Vicarage at Wairoa has been so badly broken that it is past repair. The spire of the Frasertown Church fell, and the church was shifted on the foundations.

The loss at Te Aute College is veryserious. The clock tower collapsed, and serious domage was done to the assembly hall. The upper storey of the north wing fell, and that of the south wing was badly cracked. The lower storey of the latter was undamaged, but that of the north wing will cost about £500 to repair. The Trust will also be saddled with the cost of repairs to certain buildings on the estate. This will run into many hundreds. One of these, for many years the house of Archdeacon S. Williams, will have to be almost completely rebuilt. A preliminary survey of Hukarere School discloses a serious condi-

tion which may lead to the abandonment of the building, m any case the top storey will have to be removed, but a further examination is necessary. Abbotsford Home, Waipawa, fortunately escaped very lightly, no serious damage having been inflicted. But the foundations of St. Mary's Home, Napier, are badly cracked, and require repairs costing between one and two hundred. St. Hilda's Home, Otane> though a wooden building, will cost about £100 for papering and other repairs. • ' ." It is impossible yet to say what repairs are going to cost, as m a number of cases builders will not make a definite tender, and any figure named must be m the nature of a guess; but when all the items of damage have been included, it appears that the sum mentioned at General Synod,, viz.: £100,000, will probably be little, if any, thing, over the ultimate cost of making good the losses. These official losses might have been faced were it not for the heavy private losses suffered by individuals. On the Friday after the earthquake, a mischievous and misleading statementwas made at a public meeting at Wellington, to the effect that with the exception of two or three houses on the Bluff Hill, all the residences m Napier were practically intact, having merely lost their chimneys. This was said by a high-placed Government official, who claimed to be an eye-witness; and something similar has been repeated by the Commissioner of the Salvation Army. It is true that some houses have lost only their chimneys, a few have not even that; but they are exceptions, and there are scores of houses m wood, as well as brick-, which have been completely demolished, or are not worth repairing, and many more, which can only be made habitable by the expenditure of large sums of money. Even where the structural damage has been slight, great havoc was wrought with the contents: glass, china, and even substantial furniture was hopelessly wrecked. A similar condition of affairs prevails also m the other towns m Hawke's Bay, and out m the country, where more than, one large residence has been damaged beyond repair; and the loss by the destruction of fences and by earth movements over large areas will m individual cases run into many thousands of pounds. Then m the towns, the destruction of business premises, with their contents, means ruin for many; and many more who held mortgages

on town properties, or even on country properties, or who held shares m business concerns, find their incomes gone, or very seriously depleted. Many have lost the sayings of a life-time, and hardly anyone has escaped. We may mention m our losses, Woodford House School which, though not the property of the Diocese, is closely connected with the Church. Here the chapel, only recently completed, has been almost destroyed, and serious damage has occurred m several of the other buildings. The beautiful little Church at Eskdale, which was built and owned by the Clark family, has been damaged beyond repair. No account has been taken m these notes of the. fall, of chimneys which occurred m all the Vicarages and Churuh Schools from Wairoa to Ormondville. ,