BALL OF FIRE

Southland Times, Issue 21095, 29 May 1930, Page 8

BALL OF FIRE

LOCAL VISITATION

MR. J. W. SMITH’S PROPERTY CONSIDERABLE DAMAGE HOLES TORN IN CONCRETE The grey skies which shrouded the city yesterday morning did not- give much indication of lightning, and the flash which lit up the sky about 11 o’clock in the morning startled many of the citizens, but it did more than startle the residents of Gladstone, considerable damage being done there through the lightning striking the wireless aerial on the property of Mr J. W. Smith. Tfie force of the flash struck the top from the 60ft aerial mast, burnt up the aerial wires and stay wires, shattered several windows, fused the lighting and telephone equipment, and caused minor eruptions in several parts of the grounds. Although there were a number of people in the vicinity at the time they fortunately escaped injury. Mr J. W. Smith’s home, which is a particularly fine modern building, is well-known to the citizens of Invercargill. It stands in roomy grounds on Hollywood Terrace, and is approached by a long concrete walk, which rises on to the terrace by a short stairway. A tennis court is situated on the left side of the path and a bowling green on the right. The aerial mast is placed at the end of the bowling green about 60 or 70 yards from the front of the house, and about 30 yards from the path. The lightning evidently struck the top of the mast and travelled along the aerial wires to the house and down the stay wires to the ground. The aerial and the stay wires were burnt away, only a few feet of the end of each wire being left intact. The wall of the house where the lead-in wire touched it was blackened, and every fuse in the lighting and telephone system was blown out, the porcelain fittings being shattered. Five windows on the ground floor were cracked or broken and two windows upstairs were blown out. Walls and Paths Damaged. The most peculiar effect of the visitation was apparent in the concrete path and walls of the garden. A hole was blown in the ground about 6ft from a concrete wall, and the lightning passed through the wall to leave a gaping hole about 18in in diameter. The same wall, which is about 2ft thick, was struck at the corner of the section, and a small hole was blown through it. Pieces of bricks were thrown for several yards and the concrete cap on the corner post was cut off. On the other side of the • grounds the path was struck in three places. About 20 square feet of the path at the head of the stairway was shattered, 'fine step of the stairway being raised about 6in on one side. Twenty-seven yards further up the path another portion was shattered, and 10 yards further on the section of the path which leads from the main path to the tennis court was struck at the edge. The breaks in the path showed distinct signs of smoke blackening. One of the numerous lights surrounding the tennis court was shattered, but the others were apparently not affected.

A peculiar feature of the visitation was the fact that the flash had passed right over the house, probably due to the fact that the angles of the roof under the slate are lined with copper, passed down a drain pipe at the rear and smashed a hole in the thick concrete at the back door. The radio, which was connected to the electrical circuit, did not show any evidence of damage in the valves, but the switch at the side of the cabinet was blown apart. Part of the slate on the roof was also struck, a piece being hurled out on to the lawn. Adjoining Houses Affected. The houses in the adjoining sections also felt the shock and several- windows were broken. One householder claimed that his house appeared to lift several inches, and the occupier of Mr Smith’s former residence stated that the house appeared -to be cut in two. Mr Smith’s residence did not show any signs of shaking, and Mrs Smith expressed the opinion that the windows were broken by pressure of air from without and not from any shaking of the structure. The electric lights did not show any inclination to swing. ( When the flash struck the aerial Mrs Smith was in an upstairs room, and obtained a clear view of what happened through the window. “It was just like a big rocket or a cannon going off up in the air,” she said when interviewed. “There was a flash of red and orange light’and a crash like the explosion of a big gun. There was no thunder; the flash and the crash came together.” The gardener, who was across the street attending to the fowls at the time, had intended to return to the grounds of the house and would have been about at the head of the garden stairway when the flash struck it, but a heavy shower of rain forced him to take shelter. Mr W. Moorhouse, who is engaged in casual employment on the premises, was working with a carpenter inside the house when the pole was struck. The carpenter was considerably startled, but Mr Moorhouse, who is 71 years of age, beyond merely remarking that the lightning had caused the trouble, was not at all perturbed, and unconcernedly went on with his work. Mrs Smith said that she distinctly saw smoke, and other residents claimed that they could smell sulphur, but the smell was probably due to the burning of the stay wires and the aerial, the latter wires being insulated. ■

The fuses and broken fittings of the lighting and telephone equipment were replaced yesterday afternoon, but the damage to the paths will take considerable time and labour to repair. Large sections of the path will probably have to be removed and re-laid. The windows will not be difficult to repair, the panes of glass broken in every case being small corner panes, the large ones escaping altogether.