Dr W W Moore's private hospital on Napier's Marine Parade suffered balance problems after the 1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake.
Dr W W Moore's private hospital on Napier's Marine Parade suffered balance problems after the 1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake.
One of the more unusual building wrecks in Napier after the 1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake was Dr Walter William Moore's (1880-1954) private hospital called Upoko Poito.
This building was next to the Hawke's Bay Club and was built in 1920.
While most buildings were burned out wrecks or piles ofrubble – Dr Moore's hospital front portion initially had about a 10 degree tilt said to "present the appearance of a veritable Tower of Pisa" due to the back portion of it crumpling and sinking into its foundations. Aftershocks would tilt it even more in the coming months.
The fires that devastated most of Napier's central business district never reached his hospital.
The death of a patient, Mrs C Bickerstaff, occurred under tons of debris when the back portion of the building collapsed.
More deaths would have occurred except for lucky escapes and rescues.
A nurse, Tui Forsyth, recalled being thrown "from one wall to another" before clinging onto a door. With another nurse and sister, they all escaped by jumping from a second storey 20 feet (6m) to the ground and despite landing on concrete, not suffering any injuries.
Michael Fowler
The husband of the deceased patient, Mr Bickerstaff, in search of his wife never found her, but rescued another patient who had been trapped for 30 minutes after the earthquake, suffering a broken leg.
There were two patients at the front of the building facing the Marine Parade.
One of them, Ian Mackay, climbed up outside spouting to the next floor and heroically rescued patient Mrs McBurney. They both then slid down a pole to the ground.
A nurse in the duty room was buried for three hours and lucky to survive but was suffering from severe shock when rescued.
Once outside the hospital, injured patients were taken to a residence next door where a temporary hospital was set up. Dr Moore would be assisted by a doctor from the HMS Veronica.
Nurse Tui Forsyth would proceed to the nearby Napier gaol where they helped prisoners injured during the earthquake saying, "These men behaved wonderfully well and made no attempt to escape." (Nurse Tui also took a patient from Upoko Poito home and put them up in a tent on her family's front lawn.)
The prisoners who were unhurt were let go from the gaol on parole to assist in rescues.
Mervyn Bergen, Ernest Barr and Alfred Hopewell were released by police at the station after their recent arrests so they could be of some assistance.
Rescues were made of patients, including Gerhard Husheer of the National Tobacco Co in Ahuriri and a small child.
Climbing up to the third floor of the hospital, Mervyn Bergen with the assistance of the previously detained Ernest Barr and Alfred Hopewell managed to get Gerhard Husheer safely to the ground.
In gratitude for the rescue – Gerhard Husheer later gave £25 (2020: $2750) for each of the men to a police sergeant to pass on to the re-incarcerated men.
When the cases for the men came to trial their heroic deeds and service after the earthquake were mentioned in a plea for leniency in sentencing. The bench, however, was unmoved.
In an attempt to salvage his surgical gear in the days after the earthquake, Dr Moore had to do the job himself, with no one else wanting to take the risk in his leaning building.
He was observed during one large aftershock coming out onto a second floor balcony and then disappearing to return with a rope which he tied to a railing in case he had to make a fast descent.
Despite the urging of police officials who called out to him while lowering by rope medical items from balconies, he worked through two large earthquakes on February 9.
On March 30 it was decided by the authorities that the hospital should be demolished (as if there was really any doubt it should be). It would be a difficult task.
A year later, in March 1932, the building was still being demolished.
The Napier Club was built on this site, which opened in 1933, and they remained in this building until 2003.
Dr Walter William Moore never reopened a private hospital, but instead went to Hastings to practice.
- Michael Fowler (mfhistory@gmail.com) is a contract researcher and commercial business writer of Hawke's Bay history. Follow him on facebook.com/michaelfowlerhistory
