THE LATE GALE IN DUNEDIN.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1071, 3 January 1872, Page 2

THE LATE GALE IN DUNEDIN.

Recent telegrams announced that a violent gale had passed over Otago. Its effects in Dunedin are thus described by the Otago Daily Times: — One of the results of the gale was the blowing down of the turret avid pinnacles that rise perpendicularly from -the northwestern corner of the tower of the new First Church, at a height of 90ft above the ground. We learn that all engaged upon the building, except one, had to cease work at ten o'clock, on account of the force of the wind, which prevented them from standing on the scaffolding. The exception was Mr Godfrey, sculptor, who was working on the ornaments of the front archway, under the towei*^ and who, being pretty well sheltered, continued at his occupation. About, a quarter to 12 o'clock, a small in the space between the turret and the tower, and which was a slender shaft some Bft or 10ft high was lifted out bodily by the force of the gale from where it stood to a distance of at least 4ft or sft, was carried round the outside of the turret, and fell at the church door, a distance of some 10ft in the opposite direction to the course it first took. It would seem that the wind, getting confined in the : space between the pinnacle and the tower, forced the former out for a distance of some feet in a direction opposite to the one the gale was blowing from, and when the wind rebounding from the tower had no moreeffect; upon the falling mass, it was then turned in an" opposite direction by the gale. No one seems to have seen it fall, but any way, in the fall of 9Qft, it made a voyage of some 15ft round a corner. When it reached the ground, it struck with a loud crash and just graced the bottom of the ladder leading to the scaffolding. Mr Godfrey then thought it prudent to beat a retreat, and did so. quickly. However, he determined to collect his scattered tools, and see that he left the scaffold in a firm condition. He got a workman, who chanced! toj be passing that part of, the b'uUdirig, to watch while he went up. 'As he was putting his toola together,/his watcfiman. called out to him, and he had barely'time to get under the archway and cling on. by the mouldings of the ceiling, when the north- wrest turret, and the two pinnacles near it; yet standing, came down with a terrific crash.* The highest point at which , this mass of stone, which weighed about four tons, stood above the ground was some 115 ft, and the lowest 90ft. The box on which he had stood was carried away and broken, as also wps the scaffold on which it was supported, and. the -projecting-part of the lower scaffold was likewise carried away. The , ladder by which he had just ascended was literally crushed into chips. Some pretty large blocks of Oamaru stone went bounding . over a quantity of ashler on level ground, to a distance of 50ft or 60ft beyond the base of theiower ; but, luckily for Mr Godfrey, none of, the material that struck the scaffolding went between it and the roof : of the archway. The part of the turret that was blown down was that portion from which the turret begins to be "hollow, and , from whence it is carried up for a considerable distance on four corners and, a centre support, on which rests a heavy dead weight. We believe that these four turrets were originally designed to be constructed solid, with a, panel slightly recessed, but the .plan was afterwards altered to one of building them on four corners, so that the light could be seen through them, in order to give ; "depth of shade." Afterwards, a fifth support had to be put in the centre of the hollow part qf the turret, to assist in supporting the heavy solid part .above. After 'this accident, so happily : unattended with any serious result, \ye believe it is more probable that the three turrets standing will be taken down, thau that the one blown down will be '[built up afresh. " * L ,-\- : , The roof of Mr Tomlinson's store, on i the reclaimed ground, was almo&t entirely i stripped, and we believe that the galvanised iron has been so much twisted i that it cannot be used agafn. The roof \ Qf the Shamrock Hotel wasi Beginning to i peel off rapidly, when the services of a < tradesman were called into requisition, ] and the damage was quickly stopped. < The boarding forming the walls of what i was once the Planet saw mill, was blown < in around two sides of the building; A i workshop in Frederick street, next to Mr i Sherwii}'?, was blown down. A pqition ] of the . roof of the Christian Disciples' t Church was stripped off. The prisoners' c shed in the old Botanical Gardens was \ injured. The signboard of Mr Findlay, s in the Octagon, was turned from a hori- X zontal to' a perpendicular positibn. c Many of those dangerous projections c of brick and .mprjfl,r, that pas§ . for t otnaments, fell, We haye jieard 1

Mrs H. :S. 'Fish, senior, narrowly; escaped being struck by a flagstaff that fell from the roof a two-storey building in Princes street. ' That milch-abused ob-; struction on which the Cargill monument stands, proved the salvation of an old lady. The fences all over the town were' much injured, and in the streets many. windows were broken. One of the windows in the University building; was .blown in, the frahie going as well as the glass. Had not the other windows on the. same side been stayed up, they too, would have gone. The Museum could not be opened during the day on account of the danger to the glass; ■■-•>■ - : ... ■;.. . AtMprnington, the portion of a chimney in a house once occupied; by. 3Vtr De Carle, and standing about 10ft above the rodf, was blown down. The roof resisted the falling mass, but the iron was much berit. On Pine Hill a large amount of stacked firewood was consumed. ; ;