AT THE POST OFFICE.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 205, 23 May 1908, Page 5

AT THE POST OFFICE.

the building, saved. Tho danger to tho General Post Oflico claimed a large share of tho attention of tho , on-lookors, but they were driven back time ' ' after time by the dense clouds of smoke "i and sparks. Mr. Donald Roborteon, the See- , rotary of tho Post and Telegraph Department, was early at the sconoj and, by care- * ful direction, did all that was possible to minimise the inconvenience to puhlio busi- ' ncss. Tlio fire spread with such rapidity that doubts wore entertained •as to tho ' safety of the bonding, and mtmy : wilbn" i hands worked hard 'at- tho' removal of tho 1 contents.' , Mr. Robertson and Mr Wain-* Chief Clerk, wore able to .on tho second floor up tin aboist 9.30 p.™ 1 but tutor that th& gsaol^-i^vka^tVim.

possiblo to stay in that part of the build r ,ing, or oven, for a time, on the-first floor, whore tho operating room is. " ' p INSIDE THE G.P.O. , , About 9.3o'pan;, a Domiitcon reporter en- ■ tered the GJ?.O. building: by .the main door, andiascended to tho first floor. The spatter offalling .water on - the stairs, showed - that tho'enemy was not far away. The smoko hung about thickly on the landing, and dimmed the atmosphere'" in tho operators' room. . Ascending to" the noxt floor, however, tho real danger 1 becam'o- apparent. Dense clouds of smoko filled the . upper part of the ■ building,/black puddles of water lay about, and boyond, looking out on tho raging in- : forno, stood a sinall group of- fire-fighters, beating back the hissing and crackling ele•:ment.. .Several lengths, of hose are. always kopt ready for' instant use in such' cases, : and': these 1 -were /immediately brought into operation!. ... ' .- , - 9n tho top floor of the main-Post Office building the .flames attacked the south-west, cornor. A fireproof door hero protects tho Accountant's branch. The fire was.so fierce,- , however, that it. eventually- , forced ; -its way ; through: round tlio - metal door. The, Post and Tolegraph Rifles wero, busy with two leads_ of water from, the fire-plug's inside the building,! and they subdued , the outbreak, but not before, all the woodwork, round the fireproof door on tho 'inside was-burnt' away nnd .the floor some inchos deep under water. • Here tho electric: light: was cut off, and .plunged the whole building in darkness, ren-dering-it extremely unpleasant for-the army of officials, who had, to grope through smoke and darkness; : A great' quantity of. mail. matter had been brought off tho lonic, , and had been stored in the'foreign mail room. This was _removsd:with tho rest of the matter deposited there, and is now safe. These' mails may be considered to have had a very thorough baptism of firo. , .' . ■ , It was feared last night .that the uniforms and signalling'outfit of the Post and' Telegraph Rifles, which were 'stored outside tho main building, had been- destroyed. :•C ■- - _. The : most' effective piece of clearance, was' in tho public post office. Here there are usually thousands- of., letters in '.the' pigeon- 1 , holes: behind the counter, and. great / quantities, of . stamps, newspapers,' and- postal notes in the drawers; Theso were' all removed,: and the office was left quite bare of any' evidence that .it was full of busmbss.\at ■ 3 p.m. ; yesterday. It was impossible to stay there. moro than a few' seconds, . arid ; the pressman, choking and gasping, with;' e.yos streaming, groped his way downstairs .again.

: THE OPERATING ROOM. Under tho supervision of Mr. A. 0. Tovey, ' the operators worked persistently in spite of tho;choking, smoke, and they did; not 1 leave the instruments iuntil, they were; absolutely compelled ta . This was at 9.40. A number ■ of: instruments and 1 spare sets were; carried' across the road to Bahnatyhe's. iii case the' worst'/feara were realised.; Those who were engaged in work' had, a very bad time working , away : in the dense smoke, totally unable to seo each other. - Some of the Auck- . ..land wirqs wore connected "through to' Blenheim and Christchurch to allow the through' work-to be pro'ceoded" with, for the wires .wore not interfered with, the : cessation of work being purely local, although, of course, no station could -work with- Wellington. When the smoko had abated, at about 11:30/ ■ and work became possible," the. oporators returned :to duty, and the .accumulation of •work was taken :in hand. Corririmnication was not internipted, but tho operators wero almost certain to' have .to''remain- on duty < until relieved by the 8 o'clock staff -this morning. The announcement was made at the telegraph 'counter that press telegrams of limited length only would bo accepted, i : ' as/otherwise they would ' arrive'.too late for. . publication. V. IN THE MAIL ROOM. . first' alarnii those in the mail ; room toso tho bags from' their hoppers with all and removed 'some of them ! to tho corner of , Grey and Fcatherston Streets. : Tho greatest. inconvenience and danger was >\in and sorters';rooms. ' : A' ; shimmer.'of "flame: fas seen underneathjitwo, - of the: fireproof ! doors, but the patent;-extrn-; ; giiishers removed --that danger. 'The .smoked subsided eventually, and it was' then seen that 'the maiLroom was in no danger,'. but'.the letters , and mail bags were all placod near th£ doors in tho ©vent of a fresh outbreak. The salvation of the Post Office-building ; teas undoubtedly due to tho fireproof doors,' / of which a' very large number were used. There were 'many windows at the roar of th© building, but all were provided with these doors. ;

VALUABLE FURNITURE DESTROYED. Stored dn O'Brien's ,bnilding was some valuablo'furniture belonging to Mr. R. L; Lovin. ■worth'from £3000 to £4000.' This was-wholly destroyed. In the same building was situated ! the School .Cadet stores branch of- the: Education, Department, the, contents. of which— school nfles, swords, caps, belts,' etc.—Vero c'ostroyed. . ...... '' '. • HARBOUR BOARD BRIGADE. . The Harbour Board fire brigade and aDpliancos were requisitioned shortly after the commencement of the fire: ' Thirty • men, under Messrs. Muirro and Claridge, were promptly in attendance,' and had nine'leads 'of hose playing on the flames. '