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DONAGHY'S ROPE WORKS

SWEPT BY FIRE. DAMAGE, ABOUT £B,OOO. The- May-Oatway indicator at Donaghys ropeworks in Bradshaw road, South Dunedin, gave an alarm at 20 minutes past midnight on Sunday morning. The Central Brigade answered it very quickly. The firemen found the factory like a furnace, and though five leads of water were brought into play, it was a tough struggle to master the lire; indeed, it took nearly two hours to thoroughly extinguish, although the Caversham and South Dunedin Brigades lent valuable assistance. The factory was working as usual on Saturday morning. In. the afternoon, as usual, the machines were not running, and the only persons about the premises were Mr R. M. Pnssmore (the manager) and three men, their duty being to unpack some new machinery—a- job that kept them mostly in the yard. They. locked up and left at 5.45 p.m., and everything at that time seemed to be all right. . -So fire is used about the factory except that which is under the boiler, and quite obviously the trouble did not originate there, for the boiler-house is practically uninjured, there being only a little marie of fire in that part of the premises. As viewed this morning by our reporter, shown round by Mr Passmore, it seems pretty sure that the fire started inside the factory, at the western end, behind what they call a bank of bobbins—a frame of reels on which the Manila twine is wound. The factory is large, about 104 ft x 90ft, brick walls, iron roof, concrete floor. But for a knowledge of the fact that the night was calm, one would suppose from a look at the interior that the fire had been influenced by a strong southerly wind, for the greatest amount of burning is on the northern side, the machines here having evidently been through a severe ordeal, and the roof, where a large quantity of inflammable fluff and dust had naturally gathered, being badly charred, and looking as if it might come down; whilst on the southern wall the machinery is much less affected, and here, and there, amongst the flax and twine, there are places that the flames leaped over. To show how fierce the flame was where it got a "real grip, we may mention that all the leather belting is utterly destroyed. Nobody can sav how_ the machinery will be found after detail examination. Some parts of the machines are delicate, as for instance the combing needles, which are very finely tempered. Nor can one speak with certainty about the structural damage until the experts report. If the roof has to be pulled down it will be a serious matter. It was a clever " save" on the part of the firemen. Had the roof fallen on the machines the great beams would have smashed them. No theory is advanced as to the origin of the fire. The storehouse is practically uninjured. The company have here a fairly large stock | of raw material. I At about 9 a.m. there was the makings of a second fire, a small blaze breaking out in the engine. room. Probably this was caused by sparks having entered by the broken skylight in the night and setting up a smoulder which was fanned by the morning breeze. The hose belonging to the company provided the means of extinguishing this outbreak promptly. Forty-eight hands are on the pay-s'heet, and these and a couple of casuals are now idle, pending an inspection with the view of finding out the actual extent of the damage. There is a. total insurance of £16,000 on the factory, distributed as follows: Guardian, £10,500; Royal Exchange, £3,000; Atlas. £2.000; and Queensland, £SOO. There is also £SOO with the Royal Exchange on the material in course of manufacture. Mr Sincock says that at a very rough guess the loss may be about equal to half the insurance; that would be about £B.OOO. But in this he is guessing almost in the dark.

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Permanent link to this item

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/ESD19150920.2.47

Bibliographic details

Evening Star, Issue 15913, 20 September 1915, Page 6

Word Count
664

DONAGHY'S ROPE WORKS Evening Star, Issue 15913, 20 September 1915, Page 6

DONAGHY'S ROPE WORKS Evening Star, Issue 15913, 20 September 1915, Page 6