NEW BUILDING COLLAPSES.
Satisfactory progress was being made with the new building and the addition had been nearly completed when a disaster occurred which caused much of the work to be done over again. One of the tie-rods in the north portion of the building broke, with the result that the whole arch gave way, falling through the two floors beneath and carrying them with it, as well as the first and second floors in the southern section of the building. The result was that a large portion of the walls had to be taken down and rebuilt, the cost of the damage being at least £1,000, in addition to the delay occasioned. Investigations into the cause of the collapse did not result in any definite cause being discovered, although the engineers who made the investigation reported several points which, in combination, were likely to have been responsible. This collapse had occurred in August, but so expeditious were the builders that by the beginning of December the Society was getting the use of five ovens, and by the beginning of March 1893 the whole of the addition was ready for occupancy.