FIRES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXV, Issue 9083, 18 June 1888, Page 10

FIRES.

On the 27th May, a little after midnight, as a couple of wharf men, named Henry Niblock and William Watson, were on their way homo along High-street, they made the discovery that a fire was burning in the premises behind the block of buildings owned by Messrs. L. D. Nathan and Co., in Shortland-strect, facing the Post Office. They at once gave the alarm by ringing the bell at the Insurance Buildings. This quickly brought the Fire Brigade, under Superintendent Hughes, and Salvage Corps, under Captain Field, to the spot. A detachmont of police, under Inspector Broham, also were quickly in attendance. The large warehouse door in High-street was found locked by tho Brigade, and was broken open, when the office at the rear of Sharland and Co.'s shop was found in flames, and smoko rolling in volumes through the establishment. Hose being run out, a stream of water was turned on, and the fire extinguished in a very short space of time. It took a considerable length of time before the building was cleared of smoke, and the men were enabled to inspect the place. When thia # was done it was found to be almost completely gutted. Nearly every room in the building is wrecked, but tho building itself, so far as the brickwork, masonry, etc., arc concerned, suffered but little. Tho origin of the fire is a mystery. The only theory that accounts for tho lire is that tho rats, which are very numerous round the premises, got into the room and upset bottles of chemicals, which commingling burst into flame. This looks the most plausible theory at present. The insurances on tho properties are as follow : — Messrs. L. 1). Nathan and Co. : Building, £2500, Royal office; stock, £3000, Northern Insurance Co. ; £1000, South British. Messrs. Sharland and Co.: Stock, £1000 Union, £500, Standard ; fittings, £300, Standard. Of the policies held by the Standard office on Snarland's stock, £500 was re-insured in the Equitable Co. Mr. Peacock : Stock and fittings, £SSO, Now Zealand office. We understand that Mr. Peacock's stock has been further covered by policies for smaller amounts in other oiltces, though to what extent wo have not been able to learn.

A twelve-roomed house in Grafton Road; the property of Messrs. G. Harker and S. E. Hughes, jun., as trustees in the estate of tho late Mr. S. E. Hughes, was destroyed by tire on the 22nd May. The house had been unoccupied for over two months, and no cause cm be assigned for the outbreak, save that tramps had been sleeping in the building, and had set it on fire through carelessnose. The building was insured. Mr. Harker believed it to be £400 in the South British office.

A four-roomed cottage in Brighton Road, Parnell, belonging to Mr. Gerald Grace, was destroyed by fire on May 29. It was unoccupied at the time, and tho origin of the outbreak is, therefore, unaccountable.

Mr. Stephen Philip de Carteret, farmer, Papakura Valley, called at the Police Station on tho 20th of May, and stated that his stable, hay loft, and cart shed wero destroyed by fire on Saturday, the 26th of May, between two and three o'clock in the morning. The building was insured in the South British Office for £40, and was valued at £100. At half-past one p.m. on June li a fire occurred at Devonport, by which a sevenroomed house, tho property of Mr. Charles Bailey, shipbuilder, occupied by Mrs. Murdoch, was entirely destroyed. The house was built by Mr. C. Bailey in 18S0 at a cost of £400, and was insured for £300 in tho London and Lancashire office. Mrs. Murdoch, who did not reach homo tiil the building was destyoyed, is a heavy loser, as her furniture, which was very valuable, was not covered by any insurance. In addition to all her costly dining-room and bed-room furniture, Mrs. Murdoch lost silver plate, valued at over £100, a quantity of rare china and bric-a-brac, worth £80, and a gold watch, worth £20. She estimates her total loss by the fire to be between £250 and £300. Fortunately, in the hurry of getting out the articles that were rescued, a parcel of valuable documents, containing securities to a considerable amount, were saved. At about one p.m. on Friday, the Ist June, a fire broke out in a detached house on Mount Roskill Road, owned and occupied by Mr. W. Kcyes, builder and contractor. Mr. Keyes and his mother were tho only occupants of tho house, which contained eight rooms on the ground floor and two rooms below, which were unfinished, and were occupied as storerooms for building material, &c. Mr. Keyes says that he was working in the shed at the back of the house, when his attention was drawn by the cries of his mother, and observing smoke issuing from the dwellinghouse. The house, which was totally destroyed, was insured in the Royal office for £-100 and the furniture for £•-'OO in the New Zealand office but there was on the premises in the underneath rooms a quantity of builders' plant, which he estimated at a value of £80, which was entirely uninsured, and he estimated his loss at £350 above the insured value.

About half-past seven p.m. on Wednesday, June 6, a hay shed at Kohimarama Industrial School was discovered to be on lire. At the time Mr. Hogan, the manager of the school, was with the boys, who were at evening prayers. The wholo school and all the attendants at once turned out, and a bucket brigade was formed. For about an hour the fight with the flames continued, but at last, after hard work, they were subdued. The school and buildings had a narrow escape, as a stiff wind was blowing from the south, and at one time the whole of the buildings were in danger, and had it not been for the great efforts made they would have gone. It is believed the fire was wilfully set. Alexander Duncan has been arrested on suspicion. A fire took place on the Gth of June at Remuera, which destroyed a building belonging to Mr. Charles Aldorton, gardener, of Portland Road. The building was unoccupied as a dwelling. It had contained four rooms, but had lately been used for dancing purposes. On June 5 it appears a dance was given there. The building was lighted by the old stylo of wood chandeliers made of two cross pieces of wood hung from the ceiling, into which were fitted sockets for holding candles. These may or may not have been the cause of the fire, but when the dancers left, and the place was locked up by Mr. Alderton, between eleven and twelve p.m. on June 5, everything seemed secure, and there was no sign of fire. The fire occurred between one and two next morning, and the place was destroyed. The building was valued at £50, and there was no insurance on it. A Maori woman named Kakura Keating, who was very old and imbecile, was burned to death on June 12 in a wharo near Gisborne. The occurrence is supposed to have been purely accidental. A cottage occupied by Mrs. Washington, at Ormond, was burned down on June 12, and a woman was severely burnt about the head in escaping. By a fire at Rimu on June 11, the store and dwelling of Mr. Perry were destroyed. Insurances : Building, £200; f urnituro, £50; stock, £250; all in the Norwich Union. A portion of the stock was removed.

The Oil Springs Hotel at Watatutu, Poverty Bay, occupied by Mr. W. Devery, and owned by Mr. A. C. Arthur, was burned to the ground early on the 11th of June. The store adjoining and a littlo furniture were saved. Insurances: £300 on tho building in the Royal, and £100 on the furniture and £50 on the stock in the South British office.

The house of Mrs. O'Neill, in Gallowaystreet, Hamilton, was burned to the ground on the 9th of June, about half-past eight p.m., The occupants were at the Public Hall, West Hamilton, at the Salvation Army meeting, and had left the house apparently secure from fire. Nothing was saved. Mrs. O'Neill's house was insured in the London and Lancashire Office for £200 on the house and furniture. No clue to the fire is known except that on leaving the house to attend the Salvation Army meeting some clothes were left airing on a horse before the kitchen fire.