DESTRUCTION OF THE OPERA HOUSE BY FIRE.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 839, 30 March 1888, Page 17

DESTRUCTION OF THE OPERA HOUSE BY FIRE.

Shortly before 6 o’clock yesterday morning a fire broko out wbich resulted in the total destruction by fire of the Opera H&R3S. in Manners-street one of the finest, theatres in the Southern Hemisphere. 1$ appears that the first discovery of the, fisa was made by the night porter at the Royal Oak Hotel, who, seeing snjpke issuing in thick volumes from the ventilator, at once gave the alarm, at tho Manners-street Fire Brigade Stajacp, * where the fire-bell was promptly r.uqa. Meanwhile the fire had beeh, observed by other persons, and Mr Sraiflh, secretary and custodian, who, fl! s family, resides, in the a* the. back, was aroused by stones his windows, Qomin,g down, 6q to, the stage he foupd tlj.p theatre s filled witlh smoke, and flfime-s.w.eije to, b,e seen jin the woodwork just insjd©. the pit, j and neap to tho stalls' entrance, So dense : was the smo.kq,thnt Mr Smith had only time ' to get im,fc with his wife by the stage door, ; leaving ajl their edoots behind them, eycui. to SOKI© of fjheir wearing apparel. By this, time ! the Fire Brigade under Captain Paga. were in attendance and at work. It was at h rs t thought that the fire had. broken, out in and was confined to the r,oof j ; and. the Brigade therefore endeavored, t° g Q t U P fk e staircase and attack tbfi flames from the top floor, or as near as tfley could get to, it. They had only just reached, the first floor, however, on i a level with the dress circle, when they were I literally driven back by an explosion of gas in the roof. The thick volumes of biack smoke that followed the explosion forced the men back to the ground floor, and when they attempted to return to the charge they found the whole of the woodwork in the social hall and above it a mass of flames, while the joists and other wood in the roof were burning merrily. The whole of the interior, in

fact, wa3 well on fire, and one or two other smaller explosi ons which followed kept the firemen off, and prevented them from doing any good work in opposing the spread of the flames. In the meantime it had been ascertaiued that the fire had originated in the vicinity of the family circle and stalls ticket box at the rear of the oyster saloon, and there is no doubt that the flames, travelling upward along the woodwork, had nearly reached the roof when the explosion of gas gave it a strong hold on the whole of the interior. The Fire Brigade, aided as they were by a splendid pressure of water, did all that could be done to stop the progress of the fire ; but the flames had such a hold that their work was all in vain, and when the fire was subdued some hours later, the Opera House had been completely gutted. The oyster saloon and tobacconist shop in front were not destroyed, the fire having travelled with the wind toward the rear of the building ; but they are badly charred, and the stock in both eases almost totally destroyed. As to the cause of the fire there is no clue, but there is strong reason for suspecting that it was started, whether intentionally or not it cannot be said, by some person or ' persons in the ticket office before mentioned. IS o matches or combustible material of any kind whatever are kept either there or in any other part of the building. The explosion of gas is looked upon as a suspicious circumstance. The pipes run along the roof, and Captain Page’s opinion is that there must have been a great accumulation of gas there to cause tile first explasion. It seems unlikely that this was caused by the pipes breaking or being opened in any way by the heat below. Whether or not it may have anything to do with the fire we cannot say, but we are informed that a gentleman passing by after 5 o’clock yesterday morning saw two men coming out of the yard of the Opera House. The shops in front were closed at a little after 3 o’clock, and everything was safe then. The insurances on the building amounted to £SOOO, made up as follows:—Colonial office, £1000; National, £SOO ; South. British, £IOOO ; Phcenix, £1000; Equitable, £SOO ; Standard, £250 ; New Zealand, £750. The Opera House was built iii ISB6, on the design of Mr W. C. Chatfield, of this city, for a company. It was a brick building, and was pronounced by all the companies who had played in it one of the very best theatres in the Colony, both in appearance and commhdiousness. It was opened on the 17th day of November, 1886, by Maemahon and Leitch’s company. it is a curious circumstance that the Opera House previously built there was also destroyed by fire—in June, 1579, after standing 18 months. Th 3-. one destroyed yesterday had only stood a similar time.