HOSPITAL IN PERIL.

Taranaki Daily News, 27 December 1922, Page 5

HOSPITAL IN PERIL.

BADLY DAMAGED. COUNTRY VICARAGE SUFFERS. WIDESPREAD DAMAGE. Christchurch, Last Night. Further details of the earthquake show that hardly any building in Waikari escaped damage, the extent of which is worse than that of the Cheviot quake in 1901. With few exceptions the chimney® in the township are down or damaged in some way. The greatest damage was sustained in the hospital and the Anglican vicarage. There were only two patients in the hospital at the time, a woman suffering from nervous breakdown and a baby a few month® old. The matron and two other members of the staff were present and shared the terrifying experience. The hospital is a two storey wooden building, which was opened in September, 1920. The shake it received was terrible, the building ewaying from side to side, and to this terrifying motion was added the terrific crashing of chimneys to the roof and bricks were scattered in all directions.

The adult patient wa® in a room in the upper storey and bricks from two chimneys crashed on to the roof outside her window, breaking through by sheer weight into the operating theatre below and making a total wreck of it. The plaster work throughout the building was cracked and large pieces -broke away, crashing to the floor®. The roof above the operating theatre looked as though it had been cut with a giant knife, so clean was the hole made by the tumbling bricks. A number of doors were damaged, making it difficult to use them. The matron was leaving the ground floor to go upstairs to the patients when the shock occurred and she was thrown down by the violence of the quake. The troubles of the hospital were added to by the splitting of the concrete water tank, escaping water flooding the outside of the buildings. Another crack was made in the ground near the gate of the hospital, the fissure being two yards long and an inch wide. The vicarage, occupied by the Rev. F. R. Rowle and Mrs. Rowle, is a stout building erected about 45 years ago. It is in line with the hospital, about one hundred yards away, and both buildings are on the side of a hill. The earthquake cracked the building very badly, and the whole of the west side broke up, about thirty tons of stone toppling to the ground and leaving some of the rooms exposed. Mr. Rowle was away attending a funeral, but Mrs. Rowle was in the building and had a terrible experience. When the yvall fell she attempted to get out one door on to the lawn, but it was jammed and she had to use another exit. Mr. Rowle on his way home saw the great cloud of dust thrown up by the wrecked vtfall and thought the building was on fire.

Old residents say that the quake was the worst ever felt in the Waikari and Hawarden districts. Mr. Saundercock, of the co-operative stores at Hawarden, states that hundreds of pounds’ worth of groceries and bottled goods were damaged and it is considered that very few chimneys escaped. At Cheviot the shock was very severe, considerable damage being done to buildings and their contents. One woman was injured, being struck by a falling brick. CHEVIOT SUFFERS SEVERELY. CRACKS APPEAR IN ROAD. DAMAGE AT FARMHOUSES. Christchurch, Last Night. The anticipation that Cheviot would be one of the worst sufferers was unfortunately realised. Very few places escaped without some reminder of the ’quake and the damage is fairly extensive. The chimneys are practically all down or bound to come down. Ail private houses have suffered, and added to the structural damage there arc heavy losses in crockery and household ornament®.

The earthquake was felt at its worst on the alluvial flat, the hill land escaping comparatively lightly There were several narrow escapes from injury. Lady Campbell’s residence is reported to be damaged. A new ferro-concrete building being erected in the township for Dalgety and Co. stood very well, but a lot of th? plaster work was shaken loose- Cracks are visible in the road. The shops and their contents suffered. A local chemist had to clear his floor of debris by using a longhandled shovel. In some of the gardens apiaries were upset. A party of three young people who were on the Leitchfield beach yesterday afternoon had a strange experience. They felt themselves sink with the ground several feet, and water began to bubble up in some places to a depth of fifteen inches. As soon as the ground became steadier they lost no time in getting further from the sea. It is not until Waipara is passed that the really bad effects of the earthquake are noticeable. Between Waipara and Omihi there is hardly a farmhouse on which every chimney is not down. The roof of the beautiful Glenmark church was badly damaged in some places by pieces of falling masonry, a large area of tiles having been knocked loose, while various crosses on the church have also been thrown down. The severity of the earthquake av Cheviot can be guaged by the fact that the heavy safe in most offices was twisted round by the force of the shake. A cupboard in an office containing batteries* was thrown open and the batteries thrown out. In the postmaster’s house heavy articles of furniture fell to the floor.

FELT AT GREYMOUTH. MINOR DAMAGE CAUSED. Grey mouth, Dec. 25. A prolonged earthquake was felt throughout Westland about 3.4 p.m.. stopping the Greymouth post office clock, causing two tolls of the firebell, dislodging articles on shelves, and cracking plate glass windows. The main disturbance lasted the better part of a minute, lighter tremors following. It was the heaviest shock here for years. WESTPORT ROCKED. NO DAMAGE REPORTED. Westport, Dec. 25. An earthquake almost as severe as that on February 23. 1913, was experienced in Westport at 3.4 p.m. to-day. Westport fairly rocked for some twenty

seconds,, but, so far as is known, no damage was done. The town clock and clocks in homes stopped. SHOCK FELT IN TARANAKI. Several residents of New Plymouth state they felt the earthshake distinctly. Its effect was also noticed in the Hillsborough district when the trunks of trees were seen to oscillate near the ground, and it is stated that visitors to the sea beach nearest to Hawera noticed a movement of the rocks.