THE GREAT SYDNEY FIRE

Press, Volume LVIII, Issue 11021, 19 July 1901, Page 2

THE GREAT SYDNEY FIRE

A DESCRIPTIVE ACCOUNT.

CLEGG ? S DESPERATE LEAP.

Tfee lojlowing account of tie great Sydney fire is given ia. ibe "AustraJiaa Star" of lQth July;—

The mammoti emporiam of Anthony Hordern and Sobs* H*ymarket. wa« to-d»y tij* scene of on-e of the greatest- fire? ia t-he records of Australia- Huge buildings forming a nwgaifioeni block were burnt oat and gutted, and at the moment, of writing the fate of a scorched aod blackened remnant

! t rem-bles in the balance. It is not too much iio har that the business of the whole city j has been affected. Thousands of people J were mustered in George street and its environs, viewing the magnificent and awful »>|K:ctacle. >len and women employed in tin emporium stood thin morning on the niiyas of death. There were tragic incidents, which will be hereafter enumerate*!— i i»articulariy one terrible and fatal kap irem j tin? parapet 'of the highest building. The vruoln of the electric tram service uioa« George street was biocked, and the empty cars extended the lull length of the thorough. j fan-. Startled and tenor-stricken face? i w'tre oh ail sides. There was a rumoui i once that the Australian (Jas Company's ; gasometer dose by trae bursting, and thou- | .«*n<is made a fiantic rush towaTds the i w'-ay station. The whole available strength 'of the Metropolitan Fire Brigade vras ua service, but their efforts at subjugation, ; though courageous, irtre doomed to iitilure. It was an uphiii battle, in which the fiery element was long the victor. A LEAP FOR LIFE. .Shortly before haff-past eight o'clock a deep cry of anguish burst from thousands of people. On the highest point of ;i lordly building, from vrhk-ii smoke and fire wei'e bursting, there appeared the form of a man. It teemed to the crowd that there mu*t U hi Lope for him by descending inside iir= building, for the tire was uo'i. }et i<t iv wildest, and most vengeful height". f.\n n was inconceivable th;tt the despairing n:h:i. looking brave enoitza as he stood o:: his funeral pyre, should"not have calculated his chance*. He cams into view through a clcud of smoke, and stood a soli tan-, rteatlimarked picture of courageous despair. On the very pinnacle of a lurid pit of rushing name, 150 ft above the blanched and trembling crowd, he stood. Xo on« knew what to do. A rocket apparatus would hays taved him. "Oh, mv God ! :, cried men and women alike, "Save him. save him. ,. But "t present the tragedy hnd not reached its yirijing and sickening supremacy. He was sometimes obscured by s'-moke, and from his post he could set tbe flames leaping out from the windows below him. Gallant efforts were t<> come from the firemen. There was a in:l) lor the nri-r.scuiH*. but to it;u-!i him teemed impossible. Fifteen minutes pa-sed—twenty—aiH still be stood waiting lor death. It stemerl tint he must dv— either by leaping or by being overcome by the mnoke and rire, until felt back into iiideous infeino that was screaming bslund and below him. The crowd saw him iook back into the depths jus though calculating how much longer h=i was to breathe tiie air of precious life. The ladders were tried, but they were not. long enough. The viewin the sky whs afc times extraordinary. The black smoke was rrnw and then disturbed by a rush of air, and the sun shone on the t?rrib'e scene. It formed part of the fiery .'plrmlour. Tl.-e lonely figure—who recalled an incident in a brilliant pen picture of the burning of Koim—evidently saw thai, the limnen were powerless to reach him. He removed his hat, ;md with bire-i lo the hot sir kne't on the parapet and seemingly prayrd for the gracious "pardon of thr .lifi-rifnl Alrnigiit;.-. "in the rtrcots !'!<■!e w»s sobbing from w.- men. and th?re were frw mtn who were not completely unnerved. The figure ro.-e-he had been tha'spectator of devastation for nearly half an hour. "Oh. mv Ood—-oh, my Go*!!' , came in heart-broken crieH from below him. All h-e could hear WiLS the nsr of ths flames, reports though a hundred Maxim guns were at work, while above him, floating on tbe smoke, ware ! phoes of tapestry and otter good?—blazing fragments shooting from the seething cnuf(lrori. The firemen did their best. They spread a tarpaulin, and for th<; solitary m-'n tbe one ]a«c fhsno for his life hnd "to },-? K"iz?d. He mwit ; have ben frightfully sc~iTlv;:l. for his fn-it was billing. n>> I?;iper3- -150 ft into spner-. j Thorr- js not. much mow to t?]l. ili?re ! is no nce<? to dilate upon th? sensation. , * of lha crowd ?.t tii;it moment. T!k>\- had witnessed such pathos and'tragedy "that were overcome with emotion The man was picked up in a dying condition, arid wr's t;tkjn from Gipn; stif u t to the Sydney Hospital by Constable* (Jonrov and Harper. He wns dead on arrival. Il had bf?<?n a lunnirrd , chances to one against him, even .'••■eing that there was a tarpaulin si retched below h,im. He h-ul crasherl heavily. with the result that his left lsg had

;■„ niniposind fracture, his hands frightfully sci'Htched, his right arm was br? ken, an<j his riglit lei,' had two smnll wounds. ESCAPE OF CM R F.N. Everyone is aware that the firm employ.* thoiisMiiils of hamJis includini; ;m ain;y of women ami gir's. Wiirn it, bacam-? n'liJtcl nbroud that the pl;it« was in i]am«'ti th?rs lvfiii anxioim enquiries regard in this multitude. It was providential that the tire ,'liould not have broken out after tl*?v had reached ilrsir departments. On trooping into tii3 dt.y by trains and U~nus ;u;d they learnt that they had l«?cn Kjmred ths panic by a little over half a-n "lioiir. The imagination is staggered at th? thought of what mijjht h:iv<- beon tiie death-roll had the females been in the building wlien tiie tine started, en its career.

PROGRESS OF THK FTRK. The h'ry is universalis* regarded as the ni'fst disastrous in Sydney since the ei-le-hiated Pitt .street conflagration, by v.'hidi v.iMtlioiises, hunks, clubs, theatres, ;tr.d insurance offices were laid in mine. JJusiiitvw people cominjj into the city fioni the western suburbs found tlit-ir tru-us rudely stopped far up George street west. In (lip}>s street the. fire, w.w fierce**., and siting that its hold was there the strongest :i is supposed to have broken <r.it in that vicinity, j>rob;<blv near the toy depurtment. I'he tiajnew were wafted by tlto stiong breeze to-the adjoining building, and in a very short space of time the whole of the frontugres in Gipps and George stitets were ajighf. The h're rapidly made its vray toward.* the interior of the block, and soon the mammoth columns of brick appeared like m> • many miniature volcfinofcs, belching forth flame and .smoke. The various buiiTiings were only separated by lanes so narrow that it was impossible for the brigades tr> work m them, and the attacks uere made on the various street frontages. Tho neighbourhoods of Belmore Park and George street were by "tkis time so crowded that any endeavour to move about wae out of the question, but a strong body of l>olice kept tJ>e people back, and the firemen ra«t with no interference from that source. Meanwhile the occupants of flic neighbouring premises v.-ere busily engigrd removing their stock, and* pat:k-Att»--3 quickly flew out of the windows as the fire worked its course towards them, (.'■arts and cither vehicles were commandeered, and the household goods were bundled out ready for instant removal.

THE SCENE FROM THE STREET. i Toe spectacle -which presented iteelt" to I the view of the dense crowd which gathered on the crown of Brickfield Hill was one which thrilled. The entire building wa* crowned with flame, while column after column of yellow, green, and blue commingled with a dense mass of grey-tinted smoke, and rolled away against, the* leaden ; 6ky of morning. The fire was awful in it* majesty. Masses of flames spread themselves in every direction. Huge sparks awj flaming pWctrs of timber fell around like rain. Th« firemen worked like Trojans. Brigades from everywhere in the metropolitan area were there, including even thiwo of far Parramatta and Manh\ But the noble effort* of-the men seemed inadequate to oope with the gigantic mass of roaring fire. The hi ream* of water which were poured into the burning buildings appeared jwiwerless to overcome the fierce rago of the vast volume of flames.

I Not for year* have tbe firemen bad «uch * gigWic task. The whole of the , boilduigß wer« ablaze with a fiercenees jTrhich seemed almost uncontrollable. Yet, ;in face of tbe terrible odds, the. men I worked with a bravery, a. detemiicatkm, - a dojg«dne« which told in rhe end. and [a perceptible check of tine advance «f the f fire yeas visible. j Beimore Park was crowded with people, who irere treated to a display never bej fore witnessed. Showers of * Fivarks feli J around, and the flames roared from the } tvlla2)*ed roofs. Ths tpeetAcle as seen from the railway ira* one of atvfnl magTiiticence. ! o{ ptople bound citywards j coiiarrejrated here, and gazed upon a scene •of uns-urptwrd brilliancy, fearful in its un- • cont roil able force asd fury.