Excitement in Central District:
Absence of Casualties Considerable excitement washout and al on August pedestrians in Kiangse Road when the roof of the building occupied by the Siemens China the electrical manufacturers and engineers, caved in with a roar sending an avalanche of tiles, cement, stone, and piping onto the pavement.
By a fortunate ily busy street in front of the} ing was unoccupied when the struck it, but a largo sun, sngalfed and thoroughly wrecked.
The upper rooms of the bul were badly damaged, cracks whic subsequently appeared in the walls indicating that the collapse sned the adjacent structure.
The police and representatives from the P.W.D. Were quickly on the scene and barriers were erected at an approximate distance of 20ft. from the building to ensure against casualties in the event of a further fall. Pedestrians were kept well away and traffic diverted to the off-of the Fo 'An idea of the extent of the' collapse could be gained by standing] at the junction of Foochow and Kiangse Roads.
A wide coping had evidently been the first part of the superstructure to fall, This, for a distance of about ift., had ripped clean away from the supporting fabric and had been followed by the tiles and other component parts of the roofing.
An official report gave as the ron son for the collapse the fact that} the woodwork in the roof had become badly worm-eaten during the course of years. The recent, heavy ins possibly accelerated the: weakening of the roof. Actually the collapse was not as serious as was at first thought, when-a theory was advanced that the building'of a heavy structure next to Messrs.
mens' offices had weakened the: latter.
Officials of the Public Works Department made a thorough sur-yoy of the damaged and ati. Jacent sections of the building, and notified the owners, the Chekiang, Industrial Bank, that the Dullding had to be put into a suto condition immediately. to Texas, where they will visita brother of Mrs. Lilley. On reaching England they will make their home in the south, where Inspector]
ihey was born. without permission.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.