GREAT FIRE IN TIMARU.

Press, Volume XIII, Issue 1767, 10 December 1868, Page 3

GREAT FIRE IN TIMARU.

IMMENSE DESTRUCTION OF PROPERTY. [JBOM OT/S OWN CORRESPONDENT.] Timabu, Dec. 8. Timaru is in ruins. One of the most disastrous fires ever known in this colony took place here on Monday afternoon, 7th Dec, by which two-thirds of the bueiness part of the town has been destroyed. It originated in a email workshop behind a furniture warehouse on the Great South Road, both occupied by D. Munro. Glue was being melted there, upon a small stove, when suddenly the place took fire, and in a few minutes the furniture warehouse, from which most of the contents had been just saved, was enveloped in flames. • Water was scarce, but no abundance of it could have prevented the progress of the fire, for a violent, nor'-wester raged at the time, funning the flames, and carrying firebrands in every direction. The whole townspeople were in great consternation, eagerly remov in g their effect s, expecting that the all-devouring fire would reach them. Tho flames soon "caught the shops of Knight, painter; Wood, saddler ; Solomon, draper ; French, seedsman ; Younghusband, bookseller; Greer, tobacconist ; Jacobs, watchmaker ; Erskine, grocer; Weaver, tailor; Stubbs, butcher; Perry, solicitor ; Watkins, druggist; Bank of New Zealand ; Club Hotel; Clarkson and Turnbull's drapery and ironmongery stores; the Post-office ; Telegraph-office ; Postmaster's house; Beldy, tobacconist ; Butler, chemist ; Solomon, draper; Bilton, house of E. D. Burne, Union Bank of Australia; King, butcher's shop and house ; Murison, baker; Melton's stables ; Mountford, photographer; brick huildings occupied by Frazer Brothers ; and Pogonowski, barber—a lose of property valued at £80,000. In the: evening the whole street known as the Great South road was a scene of utter ruin and deeolation, for nothing remained but rows of brick chimneys, eurrounded by burning heaps of ashes. A number of special constables were sworn in for the night, to watch the smouldering fire, and to protect property. The insuranco offices involved are the Boyal, the Imperial, the Liverpool, London, and Globe, the New Zealand, Ac. The agents held a meeting this morning to coneider what course to take in the interests of their employers. An enquiry into the cause of the fire took place at the Royal Assembly rooms this afternoon before B. Woolcombe, Esq., and a special jury,and after considering a mase of evidence, the jury found a rerdict of " Accidental fire, idth. ; carelesnesß." Clarkson and Turnbull open to-morrow with the goods saved, in George Gray Russell's atore ,• the Bank of New Zealand, in Mr F. LeCren's auction room opposite; and the Post-office and Telegraph have taken up quarters in the Custom-house. ?The town cannot recover from this blow for some years, and great sympathy is felt for Messrs Clarkson and Turnbull, whoee intereets in the town were large, and who have so largely contributed to advance the trade and prosperity of this port and district. [From the " Timaru Herald."] -Monday last may indeed be called "black Monday " for limaru, as on that day there occurred one of the most disastrous fires that has ever taken place in New Zealand—a fire that in the short space of a little over an hour ewept away over thirty buildings, and destroyed as far as we »t present know at least £70,000 worth of property. Unfortunately the wind was blowing fiercely from the nor'west at the time, and to this cause may be - assigned the reason that so many buildings, both isolated and in blocks, were destroyed, as the wind carried the burning embers and fired the ehingled roofs of houses 200 or even 300 yards distant from where the fire was raging. Aa the "Timaru Herald" office was destroyed, and all our staff were engaged in saving what was possible from the burning building, we cannot give in this issue so full an account of the tremendous conflagration as we should have wished. The following is a list of the buildings destroyed:— ON THE WES! SIDE, MAIN SOUTH ROAD. Mr J), Munro's furniture warehouse; Mr Kiteoa's offices (New Zealand Insurance Company) y Mr Nelson, tailor; Mr painter j Itr Wood, saddler; Mr Seymour watchmaker; Mr Salomon, draper; Mr French, seedsman j Mr Younghusband, bookseller; Mr J Green, tobaconist; Mr Jacobs, watchmaker; Mr Erekine, grocer; Mr Watkins, chemist; Mr Williamson's offices ; The Bank of New Zealand; the post and telegraph offices; private cottage up George etreet; Meesra Clarkson and Turnbull's warehouses ; Mr Beldy, hairdresser; Dγ Butler, chemist; Meesrs Clarkson and Turnbull's ironmongery store ; the " Timaru Herald " offices ; Mr D. Salomon, draper ; Mr Bilton, bookseller; Hr Byrne's private house; executors James |j&g, butcher's shop and house; Messrs McCan and Morgan, bakers ; Mr Hitch, tinsmith. .. 0N THE EAST SIDE, ICATN SOUTH BOAD. >% Weaver, tailor; An empty shop; "emifies of the Timaru Butchering Company ; Mr Perry's offices; the Club Hotel ; Mr ¥puntford, photographer; Mr Melton, prijjftte'jhouM ; Mr Melton's stables ; Mr Turn"flU'e brick building, occupied by Fraser Broa., botchers, and Mr Pogonowski, hairdresser; a private house. *fre'following bujldings were damaged: — Mmn Cam, Munro and Co's warehouse ;

Mr Hutton, grocer; Messrs Todd, drapers ; Mr Green, Ship Hotel. The fire was first seen io break out in a cabinet maker's workshop, at the hack of Mr D. Alunro's furniture wurehouse. The boy usually attending there was for some reason absent for a few moments, and Mr Munro, who was in his front etore, was told that his workshop was on fire. He immediately rushed to the spot and endeavoured to confine the fire to that locality, but all efforts made were futile, as the flames speedily caught the furniture warehouse, and in a few minutes it was levelled to the ground. The fire also extended backwards, and ignited some timber in the yarris of Cain, Munro and Co, and it was feared that the whole stock of timber would he burnt, together with a lurge stock of coal lying in the same yards. But plenty of willing hands were ready, and the timber was saved ; and by the same means the house occupied by wise Kofle, standing at the back of the timber yards was saved, for its destruction was certain if the fire had spread amongst the stacks of timber. The warehouses of Cain, Munro and Co. were in imminent danger, being only about 12 or 14 feet from Mr Munro's furniture warehouse, but a body of men set to work to cover the roofs and portions of the building nearest t'> the fire with blankets, and kept them saturated with water, which was fortunately handy. At one time, the danger was so great that the -windows in that part of the warehouse the most removed from the fire were smashed open, and gangs of men were employed in removing the stock to a building in the vicinity. Aβ soon as it was perceived that the warehouse must be destroyed, a large body of men set to work to save as much as possible of the stock inside the building, and the street opposite was strewed with a quantity of furniture and miscellaneous goods. "We believe a large quantity of furniture was thus saved, but still Mr Munro is a heavy loser, as we understand he was uninsured. Meanwhile the fire burnt furiously, and soon enveloped the offices of Mr Kitson, and the shop of Mr Nelson, tailor, in a broad eheet of flame. From these buildings we are not aware if any goods were saved. The shops of Mr Knight, painter, and Mr Wood, saddler, were then caught, and speedily succumbed to the fiames. At this point an attempt were made to arrest the fire (as between Mr Wood's and the n&xt house, occupied by Mr Seymour, watchmaker, there is a gap of about twenty feet), by pulling down the shop occupied by Mr Wood, but all to no purpose, as long before the verandah posts were cut away, tho fire had taken a firm hold of the building. A few goods were saved from these buildings, but we believe of comparatively small value, and Mr Wood is a considerable loser, although insured. One or two men employed in the upper story of Mr Wood's, in throwing goods into the street, had a somewhat narrow escape as they remained in the burning buildiDg long after the roof and walla were on fire. The people below repeatedly shouted to them and warned them of their danger, but most likely the howling of the wind prevented them hearing, and so they remained till forced to quit by the blinding smoke and flames. They left the building not a moment too soon, for it fell directly afterwards. We are not aware whether Mr Knight was insured, but if not he must be a very heavy loser, as we think but little of his stock was saved. It was about this time that the flames were blown across the street and seized on the house occupied by Mr Weaver, tailor, at the same time con tithing their devastating course on the side of the street it originally started from by extending to Mr Beymour's. Mr Weaver's shop, and the one adjoining, then empty, were speedily destroyed, and the fire then caught the premises of the Timaru butchering company, and from thence extended to the new offices of Mr Perry, which were likewise utterly consumed. From that block of buildings, from Mr Weaver's to Mr Perry's offices, we are not aware what property was saved, neither do we know the value of insurances effected on each building. Mr Perry was fortunate enough to save all his deeds, but some were slightly charred. The shops of Messrs Todd, drapers, Mr Hutton, grocer, and the Ship Hotel, on the same side of the street, but higher up, being on the north side of Beswick street, and fronting the furniture warehouse, where the fire commenced, narrowly escaped destruction. The whole of the shop fronts were charred," and the glass broken by the intense heat. Most of the goods were taken from these premises, but a great many were destroyed by the hasty i emoval. All the time the fire was devouring the building on the east side of the main road, it had crossed the narrow space intervening between Mr Wood's and Mr Seymour's on the west side, and but few minutes elapsed when Mr Seymour's house was in flames. A large portion of Mr Seymour's stock-in-trade ' was carried off the premises, and his loss is, we understand, comparatively small. As soon as Mr Seymour's house had caught, it was seen that at all events the whole of that block of buildings was doomed, and in fact a very ehort time elapsed and the fire was raging wish great fury from Seymour's at the one end to Erskine's, the grocer, on the other. In this block were included the premises of Mr Salomon, draper; Mr French, seedsman; Mr Younghusband, bookseller; and MrJacobs, watchmaker. Every building fell one after the other, like a pack of cards. We do not know the value of property saved from this block, but we believe it to be comparatively trifling to what was destroyed. Mr Seymour was uninsured ; Meesrs Salomon, French, and younghusband were insured. Mr Salomon, though, is a very heavy loser, as only very lately he received a large quantity of new goods, which were nearly all destroyed. We are not aware whether Messrs Jacobs and Erskine were insured or not. It was thought that here the fire would have stayed, as a gap of about seventy yards intervened between Mr Erskine's shop and Mr Watkins', the chemist, but the wind blowing hard down the street carried with it fragments of burning debris, and the lighter particles crossing Mr Watkins' shop fell on the Bank of New Zealand, a detached building standing at least 130 yards from Mr Erskine's shop, where the fire then was raging. At this time the shop of Mr Watkins, chemist, with the offices of Mr Williamson, architect, were *tiU uninjured, and wet blankets were put up on the northern side to protect them. Even before the Bank of New Zealand had taken fire, the fine building of Clarkson and Turnbull, at the opposite corner, had been ignited by the flying fire T»ien it was known that no power on earth could save that entire block. The occupants of the shops and offices at once commenced to bundle the contents of their buildings -into the streets, and to endeavour to Bare the most valuable things. But in

lees time almost than it takes us to tell the story, tho entire block was one sheet of flames. The Post and Telegraph offices were in flames before much could b*- saved, and the batteries J of the Telegraph department wero all lost, [ thus cutting oiF communication until others J can be received from Christchurch. Adjoining the Post-ofliee was the boot and shoe department of Messrs Clarkson and Turnbull, containing a very heavy stock, and the flumes leapt into this shop in a second of time. They then spread to the other parts of the building with equal rapidity until the whole of the- corner premises were enveloped, and it was impossible longer to carry out things with safety. From all their departments in the corner shop, a two story building, and by far the finest in Timaru, we believe that only a little more than a thousand pounds worth of stock was saved. Some of the drapery was turned into the street, but the smoke from the block of buildings to the north, and the intense heat of the flumes, were such as to drivo back the most daring. The loss of Messrs Clark'son and Turnbull must be most serious, as they had an enormous stock, and were only partially insured. The Bank of New Zealand was at this time blazing on the roof, and Mrs Cimholaa and her family had little time to escape, but some of the private property was rescued by daring volunteers. The attention of volunteers was also directed to saving the books and documents of value in the bank, and we are glad to learn that nothing of value in that respect was lost. The fire was making rapid headway towards the top of the hill, to the south of the town. The roofs of the buildings appeared to take fire simultaneously, as they were all made of shingle, and rendered like matchwood by the' dry nor'-west wind. There was a small roadway between the stores of Olarkson and Turnbull and the next building, Mr Beldy's shop, but this was covered over by an upper span containing one store-room. Mr Beldy's place was of course next devoured, and as far as we know ho saved nothing, and was uninsured. Adjoining Mr Beldy's shop, on the south side, was tho chemist's and druggist's shop of Dr Butler, who resided on the premises. A few of the most valuable and dangerous chemicals were taken out of the chop, but everything else was lost, including clothing and bedding, and Mrs Butler and her family only escaped with their lives. Next to Dr Butler's was tho ironmongery store of Messrs Clarkson and Turnbull, from which goods were being pitched into the street, but this lasted for only a moment, as the flames drove men back, and moet of the goods thrown out of tho shop were burnt in the middle of the road, or on the opposite side of the street. We believe the stock was only insured to the extent of £300 or £400. Then came the " Timaru Herald " office, a comparatively new building, one portion of which was let off to Mr D. Salomon. A number of persons were here engaged in carrying out cases of type to an open space at the back, and in taking down presses, <&c. Others were employed In throwing out paper from the windows of the upper room. Before much was done in this way the men had the fire falling upon them through the roof, and were compelled to desist. The principal portion of the newspaper type was saved, bul the whole of the jobbing type, frames, and other materials were destroyed. The paper thrown into the street was burned before it could be carried away, and not a sheet of any description was saved, beyond a small quantity which had been partly printed in anticipation of Wednesday's (to-day's) issue. The presses went through the fire, but as we write we are hopeful that one may bo patched up so as to enable us to strike off a few impressions on Wednesday. The men worked bravely to rescue everything possible, but some of the materials taken into the back part of the premises were melted into a mass; and when we tell our readers that brass galleys were run into a lump with the glass from the windows, they will realise something of the intense heat. Here a dog belonging to Mr Belfield, was burnt to death, as it refused to leave the office as long as its owner remained, and not seeing its owner leave, in the end was burned in the flames. Both Mr Horton and Mr Belfield lost their coats, the latter with a watch in it, and the men in the office barely escaped from the building in time. The building and the printing material were both partially insured. The shop of Mr D. Salomon, belonging to Messrs Horton and Belfield, was of course in flames as soon as the " Herald" office, and Mr Salomon rescued little of his stock, which was, we believe, uninsured. Next in order came the shop of Messrs Inwood and Bilton, with only a space of about three feet intervening, as an entrance to the printing office. Mr Bilton's shop took fire long before any other in the same block, indeed before the Bank of New Zealand. Fire was blown on to the roof from the other end of the town, where the fury of the flames was terrific, but it waa fortunately discovereJ in time, and the fire stayed for the moment. This enabled Mr Bilton to get out his most valuable things, including pianos, bedding, &c, and in which he was assisted by willing volunteers. The goods were placed on the opposite side of the street, but here they caught fire and had to be further removed to the beach. Mr Bilton was insured oq his stock, and we believe will not be a very heavy loser. The fire then rushed into the private residence of Mr Byrne (who is now absent from home) and swept it down the ground in a very short time, but whether Mrs Byrne succeeded in saving anything we have not learned. We greatly fear, however, that little or nothing was saved. We must here break our narrative to notice the opposite side of the street, for long before the fire had reached the point to which we have carried our readers, it had crossed the road and carried down the Club Hotel, from which soarcely anything at all was rescued. Fears were entertained that it would also lay hold of the stores and offices of Messrs G. C. Russell and Co, but that part of their premises most exposed was roofed with slate, and wet blankets were kept on the face of the building, and men were posted at various places to put out the fire driven thither by the wind, which fortunately saved the buildings. Captain Scott, who resides on the eastern or sea side of the I Club Hotel, cleared out his furniture, but fortunately the house occupied by him escaped, as did also, we may say in a miraculous j manner, the stables on the hill, immediately in I rear of the Club Hotel, belonging to Messrs Barton and Gardiner. Wβ took our readers up to. the point when the fire bad destroyed the residence of Mr

Byrne, but it did not rest there for a second. The butcher's shop, the next building travelling southwards, occupied by the executors of the late J. King, about thirty or forty feet from Mr Byrne's house, although a plastered building, was gutted almost instantly. Then the flames carried down the adjoining building, a bakery and pastry-cook's shop, occupied by Morgan and M'Con, where little was saved, and where there was no insurance. Another building still followed, tho shop ard house occupied by Mr Hitch, tinsmith, who lost almost everything. But here the fire stayed. On the opposite side of the street a similar scene of awi'ul destruction was bein» enacted. The house and shop occupied by Mr Mountfort, photographer, from its character, fell a ready prey to flying fire, and soon showed only a chimney standing. Next to this building was a roadway leading to Melton's stables, and on the other side a fine new brick building belonging to Mr Turnbull, which was divided into two shops, one occupied by Fraser Brothers, butchors, and the other by Mr Pognoweki, hairdresser. This building was generally believed to bo safe, but the fire devoured the woolwork in an instant of time, and soon the walls fell in. A small wooden building adjoining of course did not escape. The fire also at the same moment took hold of Melton's stables, where little beyond the horses was saved. All the way along the came street, where the places were much more scattered, there was nothing to be seen but people hurriedly clearing their homes in anticipation of the scourge reaching them. But beyond the points we have named on either Bide of the main street it did not spread, and about six o'clock the worst was over. As far as we can ascertain tho following list will show the amount of liability incurred by different insurance companies, viz. : — Victoria £2200 New Zealand 8000 Imperial 4000 London, Liverpool and Globe 8000 London and Lancashire ... 3500 North British 2500 Eoyal 2000 Total £30,200 • Such is the account, perhaps somewhat imperfect, of the greatest disaster tt: at has ever visited our town —and such a frightful contingency as the scourge of fire visiting Timaru, we have moro than once pointed out and advised remedial measures to bo adopted such as providing an ample water supply. Our suggestions having unfortunately however always passed unheeded. There is no doubt, that if the town had possessed an engine of sufficient power to throw water spy to the height of the Bank of New Zealand, and a supply of water at hand, we should not have to deplore the loss of that buildiDg, or the block of buildings commencing at Clarkson's and Turnbull's, for if it had been possible to have kept the roofs and walls of these buildings saturated with water, there was some chance of their being saved. A great quantity of property was left in the streets all night, and the volunteers were called out and kept watch and ward over it during the night, assisted by a large body of special constables sworn in for the purpose, j The fire was burning all night, and gave a most weird-like appearance to the town, at times burning up with vivid brightness and then again einking and giving out volumes of black foetid smoke. Yesterday morning the ruins in places were so hot that it was dangerous to wa\k over them. Danger was also apprehended from chimneys falling—one or two did fall by themselves, and a few were pulled down to prevent accidents. PUBLIC MEETING. In the evening a public meeting was held at the Royal Hotel, when there was a large attendance, the Mayor presiding. Its object was to discuss what steps should be taken to provide food and lodging for those deprived of their homes. The landlords of the Royal Hotel, and other hotels left uninjured, were authorised to provide food and ehelter for as many of the sufferers as they could. Mr Healey placed three cottages, Captain Cain his bonded store, Captain Crawford the Government landing shed at the disposal of those who wanted shelter. Steps were taken to protect property during the night and a general meeting fixed for the following day. THE INQUEST. An inquiry into the origin of the fire took place yesterday, at one o'clock, before B. Woollcombe, Esq., Coroner, at the Royal Hotel. The room was crowded. From the evidence it appeared that a workman in the employ of Mr D. Munro had lit a fire to heat a glue pot. The fire was lit in a stove in the workshop, and some shavings must have caught firo while the boy was outside. After going into the whole case, the verdict returned by the jury was "Accidental," but as a rider they expressed their opinion that greater care might have been exercised on the part of Mr Munro with regard to the stove in his workshop, where the fire originated.