LARGE CITIES OF THE PLAINS NEAR THE VIIth ISOSEIST. ^5 



while the southern pair were so badly cracked, as to necessitate their 

 removal Curiously enough this is also the case with the Public 

 Library which lies close to the School of Art. The two cupolas on 

 the S. are seriously injured, while those on the N. aie said to be 

 unaffected. 



The New Law Courts (see pi. 19) which are less than three quarters 

 of a mile from the Town Hall comprise a large, 

 well constructed, irregular pile of buildings, with 

 considerable variation in the heights of several portions. However, no 

 independent oscillation has taken place, the two corner brick towers 

 have not separated in the least from the adjacent verandah, there is no 

 trace of a crack between the porch and main building, and the whole 

 assemblage of buildings has escaped with a few insignificant vertical 

 cracks in one of the rooms. The walls of the court room are decorated 

 with ornamental plaster, but only in three or four places have 

 pieces fallen, and these are very small. This immunity may be due 

 to the fact that the court is a new building. According to enquiries 

 made, it takes at least 12 months for a properly mixed lime containing 

 cement to become rigid ; consequently the walls of a new building 

 are elastic, and yield more readily to distortional forces than do those 

 of an older building. I heard of no building in course of construc- 

 tion being damaged. The escape of the two " chattris " overlooking 

 the porch is less easily understood, considering the massiveness of each 

 dome and the slenderness of the supporting pillars. The latter, however 

 are of stone, and to this fact and to the elasticity of the under- 

 lying brickwork must be attributed the successful resistance to the 

 jerk. The arches of the several verandahs contain delicate ornamental 

 stone-work, and this is also quite uninjured. 



On the western end of the gable-roof of the English Protestant 



church was a rectangular-sectioned brick pedestal 



bearing a cross. The latter has fallen eastwards 



and split into two parts upon the gable, the parts having slid down 



on either side and broken upon the ground. The pedestal is 



