FIRE AT PANMURE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XVIII, Issue 6051, 9 April 1881, Page 5

FIRE AT PANMURE.

] DESTRUCTION OF IRELANDS' TANNERY. Iy yesterday's issue we reported the out- ; break of a fire to the eastward of the city, i but it was of sucli a prolonged and peculiar t nature that up to the time of our going to ' press the impression was that it was a bush : fire in the neighbourhood of Kemuera or ; Elleralie. Unfortunately, however, nothing i so trivial has to be recorded, for at an early hour yesterday morning word reached town ! that Messrs. Ireland Brothers' tannery, *Panrnure, had been burned to the ground, and unfortunately the statement proved to be only too correct. The premises, which were very extensive, were situated on a large lagoon of the Tamaki river, about half a mile off the main road, and about a mile from the village. The buildings comprised a stone edifice, in which were placed the eugine and boiler, over which was a drying shed. The remainder was of wood, in a quadrangular form, covering the pits aud nearly two acres of land, including the departments of one of the best tanneries south of the line. The circumstances connected with the outbreak of the fire are by no means plain. There are strong suspicions of incendiarism, and, in fact, accident seems to be almost out of the question. The detectives are now busy investigating the facts, but so far 110 light lias been thrown on the subject, because there are, no reasons to attach suspicion of incendiarism to any person possessing the knowledge of the premises sufficient to enable him to raze the fire. The clanging of the city firebells at 1 a.m. yesterday roused a large number. The officers of the Fire Brigade, Salvage Corps, and police proceeded some distance towards Newmarket, but returned impressed with the idea that the fire was gorse or scrub at some distance in the country. This was partly on account of the continuance of the fire beyond the time for which an ordinary house would supply fuel. No person, however, was prepared to hear the disastrous result. From an investigation of the premises, and conversations with those who first discovered the fire, we have gleaned the following facts. Operations were suspended at the usual hour, about 6 o'clock on Thursday evening. The premises were surrounded by the houses of the employes, that of the manager, and at a distance of about 200 yards from the works, wore the stables, and the residence of Mr. Ireland. The manager's premises, and the boarding-liouse of the workmen were on the opposite side of the reservoir, and in close proximity was the office. Air. Roger Kay, the foreman of the establishment, seems to have been the first to observe the fire about midnight. ■ It. ■ was then bursting through the roof of : a' wooden shed, adjoining the stone .boiler, house, used as a rollering-shed, and barkgrinding mill-house. From this the flames spread with alarming rapidity, and in less than an hour the whole mass was in flames. On the first alarm the firebell of the establishment was rung, and all tho employes.and a number of the neighbours turned out to give assistance. . There was a fire-engine on tho premises, but . no opportunity was afforded to get it into use,, and very little could be done towards checking the flames, which extended from the boiler-house, over which a -quantity of bark was stored, to the store, • where 3GOO gallons of oil were stored in , tanks, and in other parts of the premises masses of bark were lying. It appears that 1 about 11.30 o'clock George Alexander- i*eturned from the village by the premises, and c noticed nothing unusual, and a quarter of an I hour before that another workman, named c Richard George, - came from the opposite - direction, and saw nothing suspicious. Mr. I Kay, the foreman, was over all the premises e at halt-past 9 o'clock, and everything was t then safe. In all, eight buildings and the f machinery contained in them have been c destroyed. The bark, machinery, and build- e ings were insured for £7355, but a portion of a the insured property has been saved, thus a lessening slightly the loss to the underwriters, t The stock was not insured, although one t shed contained leather to tho extent of about t £1000. Messrs. Ireland estimate the total a loss at £15,000. The stables are saved, a together with some other outbuildings, s Some of the stock in the pits was not materi- I ally injured, and Messrs. Ireland, who take a hopeful view of the position, allege that they will bo able to supply their trade aud I be in full operation again in the course of a ! few weeks. The engine (16 horse-power), I and the boiler (39 horse-power), are of course £ entirely destroyed. The scene at the fire during the early c morning was peculiar. It was evident from f the first that nothing could be done to save the premises, so efforts were made to rescue s the stock as far as possible. As the con- 1 flagration spread, the hopelessness of saving 1 the main buildings became apparent. The s reflection of the fire was strongly percepti- > ble through the districts of Mangere, One- s hunga, Otahuliu, &c., but in no instance was s much alarm experienced, and oven in the village i of Panmure there were few really acquainted 1 with the extent of tho damage which was i n s progress. As soon as opportunity offered in- ( formation was forwarded to Messrs. Ireland i in town, but long before they reached the t scene the premises were burned to the t ground, and all that was left for the firm was a to count up their losses and make the best of J it, and to this they set themselves steadily. Of course speculation was rifo during the c day as to the origin of the fire. It was e manifest it could hardly have occurred in A the stoue buildings, for two reasons. In the p first pl-tce, it was not there it broke out;

aucl, in the next place, sparks from the chimney could not have sot tire to the roof. On the other hand, the long wooden and shingled building, in which the fire apparently originated, afforded opportunity for lire through sparks. In this store there was some machinery for grinding bark, &c., and immediately above the boiler was a storeroom in which a largo quantity of bark was stacked. As the fire rapidly spread towards the premises where the oil was stored the danger became imminent. None were daring enough to approach this portion of the premises. Each tank contained 400 gallons of oil, and as they burst in succession the flames rose through the explosions in a straight column, which lighted the sky for miles around. There was water in the lagoon and water in the dam. There was a fire-engine and apparatus, but, as we have stated, they could not be approached, and the only thing left for the manager and emplo v (5s was to save as much of the stock as possible, and let the flames devour the rest. Speculation arose as to how the fire originated. The manager and proprietors are quite convinced it was the work of an inceudiaty, but they can point suspicion to no person, and from the position of the premises it must have been difficult for any person to approach the place where the fire broke out without being observed. Detective Jeffrey pursued inquiries up to & late hour last night, but returned to town without being able to fix suspicion on any one. The investigations will be pursued, and probably more light will bo thrown on the matter when an official inquest is held. There is one tiling manifest, that as well as the underwriters Messrs. Ireland Brothers are heavy losers, but the firm have not only determined to keep up their trade supplies from the stock saved and what they might find it necessary to procure, but all the men thrown out of employment will be reemployed, if not at their former occupation, in some other way which will keep them for the firm until premises are re-erected and the manufacture can proceed as before. A great deal of sympathy is felt with this enterprising firm in their loss. A large number of men were employed yesterday saving skins from the pits, &c. Great number? of people were present from Pamnure and the adjoining settlements to witness the scene of the fire and observe the amount of damage done. The following are the nett losses of the Insurance Companies, making allowance for salvage :— New Zealand ... ... ... ... £3500 North British 700 Union ... ... ... ••• 700 National ... ... ... ••• 350 Standard ... ... ... ... 350 Victoria 320 Transatlantic ... ... ... ... 800 Total ... £67120