Centre Democrat. [volume] (Bellefonte, Pa.) 1848-1989, 1861-04-18

Fall of the Crystal Palace.

During ell Thursday the wind blew over
the bills at Norwood with extraordinary
ierceness full against the front of the Palace
facing toward London. That it was more
violent here than in other suburban districts
is evinced by the broken branches of trees,
the palings, and even garden walls, blown
down in the neighborhood. But, although
the pressure of the gale upon the whole surs
face of the Palace must have amounted in
the aggregate to segeral thousand tuns, not
the smallest percsptible effect was produced
upon it, and, as we have stated, not single
pane Of glass was broken. All stood well
till about u O'Clock on Thursday evening,
when one of the fearful gusts which then
swept over the bill, some men in the carpen-
ter's room heard little crashing of glass and
iron, and Immediately ran out on to the ter-
race garden.
In another minute, with an appalling crash,
the huge tower fell among some trees. and
ley smashed into millions of fragments on
the ground. IN the course of two or three
minutes more the rest of the wing went, by
80 or 40 yards at time, til total length
of about ITO yards strewed the earth, a mere
mass of splinters of glass, wood. and iron. =
Any thing more complete than the destrue-
tion it would be difficult to imagine. The ap-
pearance of the ruin rather suggests that
every part of the building has been careful
ly broken into small pieces than that il has
been merely blown down. A tremendous
explosion could not probably have shattered
the place more effectually. The woodwork
is all in small pieces, the cast iron columns
are broken up ike glass, and the rods twis.
ted and torn into every shape.
Fortunately, there was nothing in this wing
bat the empty pens used at the late poultry
show, and number of garden seats; all
these, Of course, are more or less destroyed
As far as can be judged from the way in
which the ruins have fallen., it would seem
that the corner column nearest the railway
must have had to sustain the thrust exercised
upon it b7 the outer columns yielding to the
force of the gale. As the wind came in gusts,
it is supposed the tower must have oeciIlated
10 such degree as to force the corner COL
umn on which the main atrain came, out of
its perpendicular, when, of course, it snap
ped at once. 1t was no doubt the breaking
of this which the carpenters first heard. when
the tower, thus deprived of its main support,
fell instantly before the next blast. 1t is a
great proof, however, of the strength of the
structure that, when the rest of the wing was
thus weakened and broken by the fall of the
tower, it was not Instantly oYerthrown also.
1t stood for several minutes, and only fell,
piece by piece, as the wind swept down upon
it with almost the force of hurricane. The
strength of either of these wings, however, is
not to be compared with the enormous
strength and compactness with which the
main building is put together. The cost of
rebuilding the north wing, it is stated, wo'd
rot amount to more than about 86,0cO, but
as lately i. was never used for anything but
the poultry sheYs, which can just as well be
be held in the south wing, it is not probable
that it will be rebuilt at all-London Times,
Feb %