CYCLONE IN CANTERBURY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 8035, 23 January 1906, Page 2

CYCLONE IN CANTERBURY.

EXHIBITION BUILDINGS DAMAGED. l'liii riiKss issonvnoN*. CuiiisTcui , iicii,.laniiary i'l. A heavy thunderstorm ienced yesterday. It was preceded bv a violent squall of wind. Although this lasted only a few minutes, it did much damage. Windows were blown in and gardens wrecked.

The chief inisluip. however, was the collapse of a large portion of the I'ahibition buildings, about two li :adred feet being blown down, an I mueh heavy limber smashed. The di inter is not likely lo delay the opening of the Ex hibition, but from the point of the contractors it is a serious one. They have been at work since November, and Hie damage represents the loss of a considerable portion of the work done. The cost ol restoring the framework lo the condition in which it stood yesterday will probably be £")JDIt. I he gale appears to have been something in the nature of a cyclone. 11 came up suddenly, and was preceded only by a mass of dark clouds and a few peals of thunder. It lasted in lull force for three or four minutes at most,

The Exhibition building, situated on a slight eminence, is entirely unprotected, and received the full force of the wind, which came from the southwest. The framework was about 100 ft. long and two hundred feet at the north was wrecked. The heavy beams of the roof were smashed and fell, carrying with them much of the walls and timbers to the floor below.

AVithin a couple of minutes the framework that had outlined the graceful form of the building became a mass of broken timber. Happily there was no one 011 the spot at the time else loss of life would almost have been certain.