STORE STRUCK BY LIGHTNING.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 19147, 2 November 1927, Page 11

STORE STRUCK BY LIGHTNING.

CONSIDERABLE DAMAGE. EMPLOYEES' ALARMING EXPERIENCES. [THE TBESS SpieUl StrTice.] AUCKLAND, November 1. _ Auckland was startled about 9.45 this morning by an alarmingly loud clap of thunder quickly succeeding a lightning flash of dazzling intensity. To many residents iu the xicinity of Hutchinson's Store in Khyber l'ass road, where the lightning shattered a parapet surmounting the building, the experience was positively terrifying. "It was like the firing of a howitzer alongside one," said Mr V. E. Elliott, manager of the store. "There was a blinding flash, followed by a deafening explosion, and the noise of masonry being scattered over the roofs of ours and adjacent premises. Almost' at once the office on the first floor just under the parapet which was struck, and in which several employees and myseJr were at the time, becamo filled with smoke caused by the fusing of electrical connections." Of the 17 people in the 6tore at the time the majority suffered a severe momentary shock. Fortunately the fusing of the electric and telephone lines was nob followed fay any moro extensive burning, and within the building there was nothing beyond the condition of the switches to indicate that anything untoward had occurred. Olitem ployeo who was resting his hand on an interior iron fixture when the lightning found -its mark received a rather severe shock. The vagaries of the effect of a lightning "strike" were exemplified m that the wooden verandah roof, although not itself damaged,-was thrown out from the wall of the building an inch or two, being perceptibly ' out of plumb." One pane of glass was cracked. There was evidence that the lightning passed to earth via the water pipes in the building, an interesting effect of this being that when the taps were turned on afterwards the water ran red for several minutes due apparently to the electrical piecipitation of oxidised iron. iho spectacular effect in the street outside was arresting. The parapet, of a style of architecture not. now favoured, is surmounted by a number of concrete balls with a large one at the apex. Apparently it was the '''B centre hall which attracted the bolt. After the crash the centre part of the brick and mortar facade appeared as if it had been struck by a she 1. A gap some five feet in extent showed where the bolt had struck with a peculiar explosive effect. For a distance of 70 yards up the road towards the city and for a chain or so m the other direction bricks and mortar wore scattered. Near-by gardens received, their baptism of projectiles. It w'as extraordinary that no front shop windows were struck. . , Mr A. E. McCartney, a commercial traveller, residing at 17 Norana avfcnue, was driving past the store alone in his motor-car when the lightning struck. Some of the flying bricks and mortar crashed through his windscreen and struck him about the face and head. He sustained minor cuts and abrasions. Flying bricks broke an electric service wire leading into a residence next door to Hutchinson's, and in a shop _ across the road the fusing of an electric wire started a fire in the roof of a room, but the outbreak was quickly; suppressed. In Miller's garage, at least 200 ♦ yards away, mechanics "wi?ro startled -by' a brilliant play of, lightning about a water-tap by. a work bench. Solder was melted -Where a wire was attached, but no damage resulted. In many adjacent houses electrical connexions were thrown out of action, and people shocked by the noise and concussion.

This is, the second , of a house .being struck by lightning in Auckland within the past two months. The other occurred at Birkenhead, where a flash struck a chimney, shattering the masonry and ripping a sheet of galvanised iron off the roof. An occupant of the premises who was poking the firo below had the poker wrenched oiit of his hand, and received a Bhock. On August 30th a flash struck the earth in a vacant section at Mount Eden, effecting many houses, breaking one window and interrupting electrical services.