SENSATIONAL "CREEP."

Taranaki Daily News, Volume L, Issue 61, 18 October 1907, Page 3

SENSATIONAL "CREEP."

TiIs'ASTRO IS SUBSIDENCE IX ■ V .NEWCASTLE. PBEAT CRACKS IK THE STREETS. BLOCK. OF BUILDINGS SERIOUSLY DAMAGED. DAMAGE TOTALS £100,009. Received Oct. 17, O.M p.m. Sydney, October li. A sensation was created in Newcastle to-day bv the occurrence of an extensive "creep" in the part of the town known as "The Hill." During the early part of the morning, trtidenU heard crunching movements under the ground, but were not alarmed, as such sounds are of frequent occurrence. As the day wore on, however, the noise became more pronounc.d, and great cracks opened out in several streets, houses being Bkak;-n from foundation to roof. Numerous ceilings came ('o .ii, br.ck vails cracked, doors and willows were wrenched out of position, and nearly all the finest re-iJeucea in Ita city wcro damaged^ The areaf affected covers about fifteen teres in e*nt. Not a solitary room in the palatial n-Mence of Mr -l. KWood, known as -Jismond House, escaped damage. Nearly every calling Is down, and every wall cracked, and will coct between JC7OUO and £BOOO to repair. r • A crack extends right across the iloor of the Anglican Cathedral from the eastern door to the ,baptiatry. At first it was thought the creep waß confined to the hill, but this afternoon it was discovered to have worked down the hillt reaching the lower end of King Street, one block away from the centre of the city. « g Burke's new warehouse is seriously jamaged, and the concrete flooring lipped np about a foot wide. A water main burst, and gas is escapbg in various places. It is feared the city water supply is endangered, both (Heroin being in the affected area. Dw present creep is adjacent to the OB* that occurred x year ago, but is bneh more serious. The damage already done amounts to between £BO,OOO and £IOO/100.