WELLINGTON EXTRACTS.

New Zealander, Volume 4, Issue 266, 16 December 1848, Page 3

WELLINGTON EXTRACTS.

On Sunday the new church at the Hutt was opened for the < elebraiion of Public Woiship> when Diviue Seivice wns performed by the Rev. R. Cole, to a very numerous and attentive congregation, not less than two hundred and fify pemoiH having been present on the occasion. The building which stands on a picturetquo spot not very far from the Uutfc Bndgp, is of woodi being about thirty-six feet long by eighteen feet wide, aiid was erected in a nubstantial manner by Mr. IJarl Udy from a design by Mr. C'ridLmd It ilar iv :-ome of its leading features to the Te Aro Church, having a turcet at the wet>t end, and a triple window at the eabt end with pointed windows at the sides, but is without tranteptß or other projections. The ground on which ihp church stands was given by Captain Daniel i.— Spectator, Nov. 8. Horticultural Society — At a meeting of the Committee of the Horticultural Society, held on Monday evening at UaiieU's Hotel, the next exhibition of the Society was fixed for Tuebday the 21-t inst. At the General Meeting in March last, the exhibition was decided to be held on the fustTuesdiy in November, but owing to the events of the last few weeksit, hits been deemed advisable to postpone the exhibition for a fortnight. — /6.

Incidit in Syllam, cujiieiis vitate Chnrybdim. Theic can be little doubt that, after the recent severe shocks of earthquakes experienced in this settlement, the buildings in fuluie to be erected will be chitfly if not entirely constructed of wood. Ihis material offers the advantage of olieiipne-s and expedition in building', and security against the dangers to be apprehended (rom the recun i nee of earthquakes. But these urc not the only evils to be guard<d ngnimt. Jf afiie were to bieak out in any neighbourhood where houses are clobi-'ly collected together, its efftots will be still more disastrous to tlie unfor'unate bud'urers, from the in~ flimmabla nutuid of the mateiials, than the (alamity fiom which we have so recently suffered. And what is more to be di ended in accidents of this nature is, that the cureful person is exposed to danger through the careltssness of His neighbour ; und th it when once a me breakn o'it in a principal thoroughfare if the wi.id h blowing s rongly at the time, it is impossible lo s<iy how far its ravages might extend. An effectual mp.ins of piovidmg against this evil would be, instead of weal her boaidinj:, lo fill the spaces between the timlieis of the external framings of the buildings with bricks, so that while the principal supports of the building were of wood, the use of bricks might check, if it did not altogether prevent the spread ot fiic. As

a further security against accidents by fire we think the Local Government should lose no time in providing the settlement with a powerful fire engine, and in forming a sort of fire brigade out of the armed police. The men might be trained to working the engine anil with a little drilling might be rendered very efficient. It is too late to suggest remedies after the mischief has occurred, and the subject is of too great importance to be neglected. The Utitish Government has s°nt ut one powerful fire engine to this settlement which is utiflei charge of the military. But in a town almost wholly consirutted of wood, und when- th« winds sue frequently very hi^h, in an cxteiiHivo confhgiation. or if two fires should happen to bm alt out at the same | time in opposite p^rts of the to*u, one engine wou'd he comparatively of little use. We hope that the sub-j-rt will not be lost sight of by the Local Government —Spectator, Nov. 18.

Nei.sov Since our last publication we have experienced several slight shocks of earthquakes, but none of any violnnop. The strongest we believe, was on the afternoon of Sunday, about half past three o'clock. So late as Thursday night and Fiiday morning: they wcie felt, but we hive not heard of any since. The intelligence received yesterday from Wellig'on shows us that the force of [these phenomena wis greatest on the other side of the Straits, and we Joolc AviUi anxiety ' for news from the North to learn how lai they extended in that direction. The damage done in Nelson by this visitation is very inconsiderable. The only building wlii< h baa sustained any serious mischief is th" hoii'u built on the biach, overlooking the moaih of the Wminca, by the Into fl. A. 'lhompvon, Esq., and thib had been previously shaken by a landslip, which had moved it bodily lorward for a short distance towards the sea. The chimneys of this building were all damaged or thrown down, and one or two fissures made 1 in [hi walls, which are composed of round stones* collet t-*d fiom the beach. The buildings which have been Mifjluly injured are 1113 Wesleyan Chapel, tbe Bonded Stoic ol Messrs Morrison and Sclanders, the upper story of the Flour Mill, tbe houses of Mr. Snow and Mr. Foy, in Trafsi'garstreet, and a mud liousp near the Kel i'ond. Tihs , with the exception of tin* last, are all composed ot brick, but they weie cither known to be detectively built, or of very slight materials, tha walls of borne being only a single biick thick, and others only bait that thickness. We believe that not a ung'e ptope.ly-con- • iructed building has sustained a paiticle uf damage, excepting the house of the Lite Mi. Thompson, which had been previou3'y, fro'ii its i npropei site, rendered insecure. In addition to ihe&n casualties, one chimney was thrown down, and tour or five othurs damaged. It is wonderful, considering the violence of the thocks at Wellington, and their appaient severity here, that more mischief was not done us, when we know how slight tome of our buildings aie, and that many of the chimneys in the settlun 'lit aiv built with clay mi.tead of lime. A gale ot wind, such us is sometimes (xperi enced on the coist of England, would iiavii produced results far more serious. The late phcnoiat'non, like other aecret workings of Nature, is beyond our comprehension, but as both fiom European and native testimony it appeals to be unpiecedented m the memory ot man, we see no rta^on for future anxiety- As an evidence fiom the electric s a'e of the utousphe'e since thecommencement of the shocks, it has bet-n runaiUed in many instances that vegetation has made a progress truly wouderlul. — Nclso/i I'xamincr, October 28. Since our la t notice oi the uaithquake a fortnight since, we have experience! a few sunlit shocks, but mine of any violence; ami now that the ikrm which wa^ temporarily created in tbe munis ol some, hus subsided, we can better estimate* (he damage which these phenomena have done us. li'we estimate this ut jf^O, we know we hliall be coiisideml by many as placing it too high, beiause wrf have he ml it said that, with the exception ot the hte Mi. Thornjs m's houhe, the whol-j of thu damage doni 1 can be repaired for £o ; and we under,tund the lattei cun be repa ted and made hab table loi about X JI( '. This, it will be seen, .s veiy dilferent ftotn theiepoils pubh-bed in Wellington of our diststers, where it nus lepiesetrcd by one j»uinai that "Mr. Tuomps n's house w.ib entirely sluumed," and in tile oibei, that " most ot tbe buck dwellings and chimneys in Nelson wtrt* It vel with the ground " So far, as we stated, is this fio rn being the tiuih, that not a single properly^e'cetcl building bus buttered in the smallest degree.—lbid, Nov 11.