Wellington Philosophical Society. 499 



it was his botinclen duty to those who had employed him to vindicate the 

 faith he had in the stabihty of brick buildings, and to show as far as he 

 could those gentlemen, as well as others, that their confidence in the 

 foundations of our city was not misplaced ; and also to prove that 

 modern science had in architecture acquired sufficient knowledge of 

 construction to be able to erect buildings capable of withstanding earth- 

 quakes even of a severer nature than they were ever likely to experience 

 here. The subject was an important one, as, without sufficient confidence 

 in the lasting stabilitj' of the buildings, those who made our cities would 

 never attempt to erect any of a permanent character. Thus the progress 

 of architecture would be checked, and the best index of our civilisation 

 impaired. From this point of view the subject was not only an important 

 but an interesting one. As !Mr. ]\Iaskell had quoted Professor Milne, of 

 Japan, as probably the best living authority, which from the tenor 

 of his paper he (^Ir. Jlaskell) evidently believed, ]\Ir. TurnbuU said he 

 would refer to portions of the Professor's work on the effect of earth- 

 quakes on buildings, for the purpose of showing that he was not as 

 infallible as Mr. Maskell would have them believe. When he (Mr. 

 Turnbull) had read several chapters in that book he had come to the 

 conclusion that the Professor, with all his talent, knew little or nothing 

 of architectural construction, as he used words and phrases that were 

 unknown in practice ; and nowhere did he give any specific information 

 as to the mode of construction, or the qualities of the material used in 

 the buildings injured, but contented himself with stating whether of 

 brick or stone, and often not so much. He then quoted the Professor's 

 works at some length, and endeavoured to show that he was not so much 

 an authority as Mr. Maskell would have them believe he was. He 

 referred especially to one statement made by the Professor, " that a 

 civil engineer, writing about the New Zealand earthquake of 1855, when 

 all the brick buildings in Wellington were overthrown, says that it was 

 most violent on the sides of the hill, and least so in the centre of the 

 plains." The Professor had quoted this from the report of the British 

 Association of 1858. Now, they all knew this sweeping assertion to be 

 wide of the truth ; and they might well ask, What about the rest of the 

 Professor's quotations? Seeing this assertion had been made from such 

 a source, and repeated in such a book as the Professor's, he had made 

 inquiries concerning the earthquakes of much-abused Wellington ; and he 

 mentioned T^Iessrs. T. McKenzie and J. Plimmer in particular. There 

 had only been three earthquakes of any consequence since 1840 — namely, 

 in 1840, 1848, and 1855. The earthquake of 1848 was of a much more 

 severe character than the one in 1840, and many of the brick buildings in 

 the city were shattered. Mr. Fitzherbert's free and bonded store in 

 Parish Street collapsed, but was subsequently restored by Mr. Plimmer 

 without taking off a slate. The front wall of the Colonial Hospital, in 

 Pipitea Street, was partly thrown out. A new brick building on Mount 

 Cook had to be stopped in consequence of the shake. Hickson's store, 

 which was also damaged, is still standing at the corner of Old Custom- 

 house and Cornhill Streets. The Wesley Church, in Manners Street, was 

 also thrown dojvn. These were all the brick buildings injured. It was 

 worthy of note that no wooden buildings were injured. The brick build- 

 ings were built then of a mortar composed of shell-lime and clay from 

 Barrett's Point, which with age was reduced to a powder. Old intelligent 

 pioneers assured him that, if the buildings had been constructed then as 

 they are now, little or no damage would have been done. A sensational re- 

 port of this earthquake was drawn up by Mr. Eyre, Lieutenant-Governor, 

 which had a most alarming effect, and greatly retarded colonisation for a 

 long time. With respect to the shock of 1855, he had been assured that 

 no brick buildings were totally wrecked, though some few were injured — 

 in fact, buildings erected before that time were standing yet. Since Mr. 

 Maskell had read his paper the author had visited them, and found them 

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