POIGNANT TRAGEDY

Evening Post, Volume CXI, Issue 31, 6 February 1931, Page 14

POIGNANT TRAGEDY

DEATH IN CATHEDRAL

One resident of Napier, who lived on Bluff Hill, states that all the residents in that locality had a terrifying experience. The house of this resident was shifted ,-from its foundations and the contents'wrecked.' The Napier Cathedral, it is reported, was the scene of a most poignant tragedy. An elderly lady was pinned under the wreckage, which caught fire. It was impossible to release her, and a doctor, covering himself with a wet blanket, entered the burning building and administered the helpless woman'a heavy dose_ of morphia, which soon made her oblivious of the terrible fate which had overtaken her. . Another report states.that the proprietor of the Grand Hotel, Hastings, was in the cellar when the shake came. His fate can only be imagined. His wife was reported to have been killed outright. It is recorded that the staff of Murray, Eoberts, in Napier, had a miraculous escape. Bemembering the injunction that the safest place in an earthquake is under a doorway, a number of the men crowded under one "of the huge circles, only to see the wall crash in on one side of them and the rest of the building pile up on the other side. They walked untouched to safety over the ruins of their building. Four of the banks have been completely destroyed, including the Bank of New Zealand. It would be impossible to recount the many and weird experiences through which the inhabitants went. The majority were disinclined to talk last evening, being still staggered" by tho magnitude of the tragedy which had ivercome them. Many sat out on the jands of the beach, gazing out to sea apparently uninterested in tho ruined town and raging fires behind them. Others were busy erecting shelters in tent fashion for the night, and maybe days, until homes can bo put in order again. Here was also a medley collection of chattels and personal belongings hastily removed from houses, in the line of the approaching fires.