DESTRUCTIVE FIRE!

New Zealand Herald, Volume X, Issue 3722, 15 October 1873, Page 3

DESTRUCTIVE FIRE!

IMMENSE LOSS OB PROPERTY. At ten minutes past twelve o'clock-this morning the fire-bells of the city rang out the alarm of fire, and in a few minutes the streets we ro lined with people, all rushing to the scene of the same,'which was found to be in the lower block of the east side of Queenstreet. By whom the flames were first observed, how the fire originated, or how long it had been ablaze before v the bells rang out their warning, wo cannot, of course, pre, tend to give among particulars. That it broke out in tho stores of Henderson and Macfarlane, situatod at the rear of their main premises in Queen-street, is certain. This building, constructed of brick with corrugated iron roof, is only one of a row of similar structures, and owned respectively to tho Bouth by Henderson and Macfarlane, J. S. Macfarlane, Stone Brothers, and (j, W. Binney, containing flax, gum, flour,grain, produce, and. merchandise of every description and of great value. A tremendously strong' wind blew froA the N.E., accompanied by showers, A few minutes sufficed to' convince those present that little could be done to- save the property in the rear buildings mentioned. A few hardy volunteers, however, broke in, and in the short space allowed them, managed to tumble out a quantity of case merchaadise and bales, but so rapidly did the flames spread, and fearful of the falling brick walls in the narrow lane, men dared not trust their lives long in the one spot.

From the building 'wherein the firo comfenced, the heat, driven by the strong wind fiercely and steadily blowing, laid merciless hands on the outhouses and structures in the immediate vicinity, and rapidly communicated itself to the. adjoining store .of J. g. Hacfarlane, thence to Stone Brothers, and subsequently to those of Q-. "W. Binney. In the meanwhile, however, the fire had communicated itself to the rear of the main building of Henderson and "Macfarlane's, and in a few moments laid bare the back windows, disclosing the - large storage of ilas which, bale upon bale, offered tempting food for the flames. By this time the Fire Brigades came upon tho scene, and undecided which spot to attack, notliiDg was done for a while. Nothing at the time could be done, situated as the buildings at tlia rear were with regard to water. No hope offering that the front block could by any ini;ans escape, strenuous efforts were made to remove stock, but only with very partial success, tho dense smoke which permeated through every opening driving those willing to work out of the buildings. Little else was done than to secure accounts, account-books, and office papers and furniture. In front, the- offices doomed were tho3e of Henderson and Hacfarlane, situated in the centra of their block, Messrs. J. and J. Soppefc tenanting that to the right, and Bucholz and Co. the office to the lefß. In the direction of the wharf, and next in order were the premises of the United States Fruit Depot; Eaton, produce merchant s Anderson and Co., ship chandlers ; and Morton Jones ; the Thames Hotel forming the corner. Up Queen-street from Bucliolz's office, were Ellingham's, J. S. Macfarlane's, Leaning's . tinware shop, OK W. Binney'a large auction room and produce store. Above these again, and which at one o'clock -had the appearance of being safe, were the premises of Black and Co., Highley and Co., the U.S. Dining-rooms, Partington's, biscuit-mnker, the wine and spirit store of H. S. Meyers and Co., Jno. Beid's; store, and the Metropolitan Hotel. - At one o'clock the flames burst through the roof at the rear of Henderson and Macfarlane's main building, and belched forth thick,-black, strong smoke, making it almost impossible to remain in the street to "windward, and perfectly so to discern anything. Five minutes subsequently the flames had obtained such a hold upon this block that they burst through J. S. Macfarlane's store into the front street, and five minutes later , made their appearance through Ellingham's. The Brigades at this time were playing upon the fronts of these buildings,'but it _waa only water wasted. So fiercely did the wind blow, the jets were only scattered in spray before reaching the buildings. At a quarter past one the fire rolled in volumes the front row of windows ranging the whole space of Henderson and Macfarlanc's buildings, accompanied" by a tremendous heat, which seriously. threatened the safety of Owen and Graham's and G-. "W. Owen's premises on the opposite side of the street. The fire also belched up through the cellars. At seventeen minutes past one the roof of Stone Bros.' building ignited, although every effort was made_ to avert such a catastrophe. This building being constructed of stone, confined the fire on that side for a considerable time. To tho seaward, however, it ■was making slowly. Mr. O. M. Quintal climbed tho verandah of Eaton's premises, and thence to the roof, where with the assistance of several firemen a hose was got to play, and did much service in preventing the immediate spread of the flame 3 from Henderson and Macfarlane's roof. The high wall, however, was its chief : protection. VFe cannot at this late hour minutely detail every particular of the fire's progress, and may briefly record.

Afc 1.30 it waß found accessary, for the safety of the buildings on the opposite side of the street, to play upon them with the hose.

At 2.20 a.m. the fire had resulted in the destruction of, in Queen-street, Henderson and Maefarlaue's premises and stock, nothing of which was saved. In the destruction of these premises also must be included the offices of

J. and J. Soppet, millers, &c. Bueholz and Co., general merchants. Leaning's tinwaro shop -was totally des' troyed.

Stone Brothers' premises and stock, dftto,

And was in imminent dangor of attaching itself to the rear of Binney's main stores, wherein was contained an immense stock of grain of all descriptions, flour, &c. At the rear of Queen-street tho buildings and stocks consumed were those of Henderson and Macfarlane, J. S. Macfarlanc, nnd Ston) Brothers.

At 2 30 a.m. the operations of .tlio Eire Brigades, with tho assistance of numerous outsiders, were successful in abating the fury of the flames afc the premises of ■Mr. Enton on the one side and of Q-. W. Binney on the other. It was < fortunate thot the lido was full in, as by ■' means of a smoll engine and braneh hose a constant supply of sea water was obtained, and this was ejected by another engine upon the roof of Eaton's Etore, nnd tho firo was at this time kept in check in that direction. Steam was got up in Xhornton, Smith and Eirth's boiler, and tho powerful engine kept working to supply a large liosu which was taken insido Binney's store, and did excellent service. Tho store caught fire insido at tho front several times, but was extinguished by this Menus. it Troa Bimultr.neously with this alight at the rear, but by the exertions of Mr. Grahame, of the Norwich Union ; Mr. Peareo, of the New Zeuland ; and Mr. Heath, of the ScottieU Commercial, it was extinguished, thus, we may fay, saving the whole of the regaining block. The Volunteer Eiro Brigade r ' a ' mo =t incessantly on the shingle roof of the Metropolitan Hotel, and kept that place irom being ignited by the showers of sparks pieceß of burning wood that fell constantly Upon it. Williams' ship chandlery store at e corner of Eort and Queen-streetß, was also in imminent danger of igniting at the roof , r ?™ shower of falling sparks, and was d'Hculty kept from igniting. At 2.'10 the back stores of a. W. Binney iau caught fire. Strong efforts were made save Ihcm, The back window of tho main

building burst out from '.the intense hffit. The flames were stopped by piling sackß of grain against the "windows. Baton's building, in Queen-street, north of Henderson and Macfarlane's, was .saved by o great effort, but much damaged. . At 2.55 the rearmost shed of Baton s, in whioh was stored a large quantity of gum, and saved to this moment by the large briok wall of Henderson and Macfarlano's store, ignitod. A hose was got out by the Insurance Brigade to play upon it, the men obtaining accoss to the sheds by means of walking along the old foundation wall next the Thames Hotel. It was impossible, however, to save the outer one, though the efforts made were successful ■in saving the smallest Bhed, standing between the outermost one and the main building.

At three o'clock" tho back atoreß of G-. W. Binney, which had caught fire, were by the efforts of the brigade, extinguished. Muoh damage was sustained by water, and muoh grain was greatly injured. At tho bond known as Henderson and Macfarlano's, very large amounts of .goods, consisting of spirits and tobacco, were quite uninsured. The buildings destroyed, together with the larger proportion of tho stocks they containod, were 'insured, but to' what amount, or in offices, we.had not been able to ascertain at the late hour we went to press, beyond the facts that Mr. G. W. Binney was insured in the New Zealand, South British; and Victoria for between £11,000 and £12,000 j Mr. Ellingham in the Norwich Union for £1000 (the only los 3 of the oompany), and Henderson and Macfarlane and J. S. Macfarlane for largo amounts in various offices; the Scottish Commercial lose nothing, whilst we believe the Victoria and the Now Zealand Companies are the principal sufferers. ; -At the time the fire broke out, the city had not the benefit of the Domain water supply. A man had to obtain a horse from a gentlewho had ridden in to tho fire, and gallop off to the Domain in order to turn on the supply therein contained. The stores of Messrs. E. and H. Isaacs in Fort-street were at one time in great danger, and a large quantity of ' goods were removed for safety. From the doomed Btores in Queenstreet it wbb impossible to recover much, though very laudable efforts wore made to do so. -i .

The timber inHoldship'eyard was partially removed, but this was soon discovered to bo wholly unnecessary. The roof of the Waitemata Hotel was covered with blankets, and 15 or 20 men were stationed thero with buckets of water to keep them 1 damp.'. _ : 1

We are happy to.be in a position to state that no accidents to life or limb occurred, bo far as could be learned 5 but three gentlemen, Mr. Inspector Broham, Mr. Von der_ Heyde, and.Mr. Robert Kirkwood (of Cambridge), in their endeavours to remove a safe from Messrs. Henderson and Macfarlano's, had a very narrow escape. The three gentlemen at considerable risk had almost succeeded in placing the safe into a barrow, and pluckily stuck to it until almost suffocated, when thoy were compelled to leave the safe to its fate. The gentlemen had barely sufficient strength left to enable them to stagger into the open air.

By far the most dangerous occurrence during the fire was when a portion of the wall of-J.~ S. Macfarlano's building fell in. The south side of the, building first fell, crashing through the roof of Stone Bros.' store, carrying it completely' in, and a fewminutes afterwards a portion of the top of tho front of the building fell into Queen-street, causing considerable alarm, and Beveral persons very narrowly escaped au accident from the falling material. About seven and a-half years ago tho same block of biaildings was destroyed by fire, as also a large amount of property. At 4.30 a.m. tho fire had either becomo subdued owing to. the exertions of the firemen,-or from the fact that the most combustible portions of the stores had been consumed. Binney's bonded store, remains intact, though somewhat damaged, although the stores to the north of it are completely gutted, the walls only being left standing. In fact, at this hour all danger was at an end. We are glad to record that once having commenced their labour, the Brigades worked harmoniously and efficiently, and :it was due to the bountiful supply of water that the fire was brought under command at the timo it was.

We need scarcely apologise to our readers for any errors in particulars which may appear in this hastily, written report, but upon the facts in the main, as related, they may thoroughly rely.