DISASTROUS FIRE IN DUNEDIN.

Oamaru Mail, Volume X, Issue 3825, 24 January 1887, Page 3

DISASTROUS FIRE IN DUNEDIN.

(From to-day'* Ui»»jr Times.) Chw of lb* moat otsaeiv© and most disastrous fuss that bate occurred ic Dutwdin broke; 00l yesterday aflsrncoo, whso th* whole of the) Dunedir* Irno and Woodware Company's premises io Prfaess itnst snath, with th« sxcepeioa of toe furosftsrs) department, situated si tho southern extremity of the block, was • co<npfc«i»ty dtoteejwi. Toe magnitude of tu« eow*Mtra«teo will readily be estimated when it Is stated th*. this ba3ding, of brick and cement, which was in moat pfoonf four storey* B%b, had » fr " 01 to Frioces and Bond-streets of nearly SCO feet, sad * dapfh of about 100 feet. It comprised, beginning **• { * c notthen. en **» the spacious factory and taw mill, entered by tuuidsome> archways from tho stmts buck and treat. Next cacao the offices fronting tSineaa-stree*, and at the buck of them tho wocdware department with » frootagw to Bond-street Th» bardwarw dvportcoest, extending: the whole* depth of tfc* bmidiug, adjoined .his, and last of alt came tho furniture department, the only slip of this magMScent structure which remains comparatitefy intact, la August, 1874, the old crtuniaßU situated oo tho same site, then known as Outbfi* and laroach's factory, war* destroyed by firs, and they were rebuilt; on an imposing scale, and were eoba«iynK.tly brought under the pro pristursuip of a joint stock company. Home four yours agu the company waa wound up, and tho extensive business then pwwd into the bands of the Back of Saw Zealand, with whom the property now rest.

At ths» tin** of writing four unfertonates hats been) extracted alter hours of labor from beneath a mass of iron debris, tons is wsight, sad it Is by no maon* curtain that atorv bodies do no* remain io b« discovsrsd. Two of ths> men were completely burnsd, and were taksa oat of counc quit* dssd. These wsrw Andrew MjJtir, hsad carter and stabtamaa in the employ of th» Company, and * man, believed from Eds appearance to b» a sailer, whose body has not yst besn identified. Doatb in both cases must have been instantaneous, fcuS with Edward Esqtrilant, a young mas of about 23 years of age, and Robert Wallacsv a sailor belonging to the crew of tit« Waimale, it was very ditfsrsnt. These two had their heads sad

» portion of thtit bodns vxysmd and Uj coaseieoa fcad in uaapoalsabla wbiie a tan* band of worfcan wre for boos* ttjiaf to tabu* llMm. It* U*St wo* a«»«ayiiaa«d fast ia tbm cms ci Walker, wfco «m tiiwa to tbm bcapiul at

nh«nii fi </efo«w °off to rnsramb to bis irjnrie* a few kourt tatrr, and yoon? who had te\>o kept stupefied by chloroform dnriog a portion of tho time : occupied in the rescue, «*» extricated in ;» terribl* condition at 7.30 pen. Tho jtwo txpind at U» bespit*! shortly after l») cVoefc. Tbo eatno of tbew deplorable j faatitw* was in lb« first iostacw tho i thousthllws intrepidity with which many ' p*r-, pie tatencd the building to save small \ qa;»r»titft* of goods m they might bo abla '. to I»y their band* on. Tb«re was no lira at 9t.tk« which tbo first volunteers were todtavnting tr> s*ve. It was merely a qtMtttioo of taring property with tho man or coon who worn first struck down, bat it «u different with the others. They met ■ their fearful death in a gallant attempt to tvacrM ofco of the earlier vistim*, and a crtmberof brave men who wore with them at the time n»rr>*ty escaped sharing the 'wm» f*S«\ Thai! tf>e police should pot h»ve> possessed tho force or thn organisation to prevent thi eoncral public Truss tn»h?PS iota the building during the 'narUsr st»#» of tho tiro U creatly tir b» regretted. Sir Robert Stoat, who I wa.* pr*»«ot shortly utter the outbreak, waned instructions to tbo polios to exclude alt psfwic.* »;»*» members of tho Brigade fc»«i the- premise?, hot this was net effec'to.»lly ra.waged. By far tho best way| wintld hato beoo to promptly run bamei»de» accuss th«f rowd* at either extremity lot the htoefe, and aHow none of tho public jto of «rstsp the limit. Very shortly nftf r tho alarm, which wa* given about 1.30 p.m., were many thousand people trt attendance, and it was of course not a VBty easy matter to control to Urge and rxatcd a {fathering. Tho Err, originating Dear tho iequity etfici», about the centre of tho building, gained a firm ho!d atone*}, land spread with soch astonisbiog rapidity ■ that, it was soon evident the whole, or tho erw»ter port, of the buildings roost go. Ualf-aa-hour after tho outbreak tho flaws* bad travelled along to the top storey of tho ironmongery department. At half-past two they had reached tho second storey, and at aboot half-past 3 tho fatal 'necidont occurred by tho fall ;el the floors and stairc «o in this part of | tho building. Tho scene at this time was one of interna excitement. Tho four | brisr»de* and the S-Uvage Corps were hard at wetk. and a hn*a h*d Wen taken on to thomof of tbo Spanish Restaurant, from which point water was poured downwards njwin the boroi»g pile. Numbers of men wero visible inside the building oo tho first and second floors, collecting what furniture, hardware, &c, was most easily movable, and lowering il from tho win* daw by mpe». Princes-street fM strewn in this way with goods, which were removed in vacs as quickly as possible. Oo the opposite side of tbo street the beat was so intense as to bo almost intolerable, and it was found necessary to drench tho shop fronts with water from time to time. Tho work upon which those within the building were engaged wa* obvifjosly exceedingly hazardous, and there win more than one narrow escape. One man was so nearly anfTocatcd that ho hud in rush to tho window, which ho just got open in time, and was rescued by msans of a Udder. Another man named Frddes was upstairs with Millar, who afterwards met his death on the basement, and he soccecdcd in bringing down a quantity tl gunpowder beforo being driven down by tbo smoke. Ho called upon his companions to " clear," and got downstairs and broko oat of the front door beforo tho floors fell. From Bondstreet a number of men could also bo so«n at tho windows, and tbry were working while the floor beneath them was partly on fire, and were repeatedly urged to come down. It is, in fact, surprising that there was not more loss of life than is known so far to havo occurred. THE SCEKE AT THE FIRE.

Signs of tho fire wcro first seen by Professor Black .and Mr James M*Donald, who were passing along Bond-street about 1.20 p.ro., when they observed smoke ixrnisg from tbo lower storey of tho boilding, near tbo northern end. The city sco brigade received tho alarm from tho Imperial lintel fivo minutes later, and »e:a at tbo scene of the fire about [bail-past one. Tbo railway brigade alio i pat la an appearance shortly aitsrwa-ds. Hy this titna tho fire had got a good hold, tho lancer portion fcf tbo building used as » factory being enveloped in tlsmes. From P-incss-atrtct sido largo bodies of smoke and n\»»o could be seen rising throogh ths tool, and through tho doorways and window openings a vast expanse of burning material was visible. Tho brig;ido. however, wcrosoooat workaodbada jet of water playing on tho boilding from the Princwi-strect frontage in a very short space of time. Nine other jets of water were subsequently got to play en different parts of tho building. Meanwhile the fierce element quickly spread, and, in-, crawing In vclome, leapt wildly into the air; great curling wreaths of smoke, too, r»ing high above tho towering flames, which seemed to bid defiance to tho effort* of the brigade*. Every member of those bodies, however, worked with a will, and did something to check, if not altogether to atop tho ravages of the raging clement. After tho first juncture of a hose bad been effected with the main water pipo in Princca-strcet, » lead was got on to tbo top of tho Spanish Restsnraat adjoining) the burning building. I'roni this vantage ground the firemen played oo to the fire below. All this time tbe Saata were raging in tho factory portion of ths building.

Efforts wore made by tho firemen to keep tho tire from spreading to tho othecs, hut without success. But boforo tho ) Aunt* bad obtained a bold, all the books and furniture were remored. About balf-sn-henr froia tho lime tho alarm of fire j waa given tho top storey of tho offices was i in thmes. Shortly afterwards fears were J entertained by many that tho front wall, where the fire bad been raging, would give [way. Subsequently the wall fell with a jtrsmendcus crash, and pcoplo rushed | wildly to get cut of tho way of tho fallj rag material. By this time there was a I dense, crowd in all the streets in tho vicinity of tho fire. Shortly after 2 o'clock the | Era bad spread bvyond the partition wall which separated tho offices from tho iron* rooogery department of the building. The (hates climbed over the. wall in tho first instance, and made their way through tho | roof into tho upper storey. Prior to this a fireman bad gone up into tho building for tho purpose of Retting a hose up, and white he was there the ttamea were seen ragtag above and behind him, cutting off his exit by any passage except the window. Be availed himself of this and sol out on to the parapet in front of the ifeutlding, from which ho mado an easy j passage to the ground by means of a | isdder. While he was in the ironmongery i department a number of men gained j access to the furniture department at the jsouthcrn end of the building, and were soon busy in lowering furniture to the i ground by means of ropes. Nearly the I whole of the furniture was consequently I saved, but a good deal of it was consider* ably damaged by the rough-and-ready ! process of transfer from the building. iTue portion of the building in which the j foroitore had been stored waa also saved 'from the tlimes, to a great extent owing So the efforts of the South Duncdiu Fire | Brigade, who arrived on tho sceno before the southern sod of the building had caught. They quickly got two leads of hose up through the windows of the upper storey and kept them _ at work, pre-eoting the fire from spreading farther in a southerly direction. After tho appearance of the South Donedin Brigade at the fire, the I.calyo Brigido also turned up, so that there were ultimately four brigades at work. The scene *t the fire at times waa one of indescribable confusion. By the time tho fire had gained a hold of half the building the crowd had become very

denre, and a crest'number of persons not b*l«ni{ing t> thu brigades were engaced in rrmr.ving fornhnre from the building. D.iys, lorries, expresses, and other vohicles were going to and fro amongst tho crowd, having been engaged to take tb© tbiegs awsy from tho building. About batf.past 3 it was rumored about that an accident had occurred in the burning building and pcoplo wore wildly rushing about trying to obtain a viow of the spot were the accident took place, or news of tho occurrence. Then again there were frequent alarms of tho walls of the building falling, followed by loud screams, and a hurried movement araoDgat the crowd to obtain a place of safety. Io tho evening an effort was made to poll down a large portion of the wall in Rjnd'Strcot which had a very dangerous look. Ropes were secured lo tho top part of tho wall, and a number of willing hands endeavored to bring tho structure down. Tbo Erst efforts, however, failed, and both the ropes gave way. At a later linur in the evening the captain of the Koraoui, who happened to bo present, suggested that a rope should bo sent over the building by means of rocket 3, which he provided for tho purpose. A new rope was brought into requisition, which hud kindly been supplied by tho captain of tho Waimate, but it was found that tho rockets would not sorvo tho purpose required of them. Fircnnn Gorman consequently climbed up a telegraph post, acd tbrew a brick over tho wall with a rjpc attached. Tho ropo was firmly secured, aod tho wall eventually yielded to tho strong arms of the men who had hold of tho rope, comiog to tho ground with a crash even more terrific than the one which followed tho fall of the wall in Princcsa-streot earlier in the day. During the progress of tho firo the brigade took a clothes-baskolful of gunpowder in fluke out of tho building, which bad been stowed away in numerous Iron safes. There must bavo been other powder in tho building besides, as from time to timo during the day loud reports wore heard of some explosive matter in the fire. Tho portions of the building which were destroyed were tho factory, the offices, the woodware and hardware departments. Tho bar iron and cement stores of tho company, beiog on the oppoaito side of Bond-street, were not touched by tho firo. M r Grant, of the Railway department, kindly placed one of tho railway sheds at tho disposal of the company, and Mr Reid's atoro waa| also placed at their disposal, and to theso places and to tho company's stables tho goods that were saved from the firo were removed. ' Mr Lachlan Maclean likewiso offered to afford the company storage accomodation, but while ho was looking for his storemen tho other effers were made and accepted. Two or three of the firemen met with slight accidents during tho day. Fireman Bowers got bis leg rather badly hurt at ono time, but was enabled to resume duty after reatinc: for a bit. In tho evening a fireman (M'Kinlay) was aho rather severely bruised about the arm by some bricks falling on him. At half-past twelve the Dnnedin Brigade left nine of their own meu and nine of the R-jslyn men in charge of tho building, which wa3 still burning in different parts. Theso were relieved by another detachment at 4 o'clock in tho morning. Too much cannot be said in praise of the tfforts of tho members of the brigados and and Salvage Corps for the manner in which they worked. COMMENCING THE RESCUE.

In a very fow minutes willing hands wcro upon tbo spot, aod sotno eight or 10 men, stripped to their shirts and trousers, began the painful work of digging out the two living men who were to be seen. The basement floor was now kept tolerably clear by the police, and the dense crowd outside waited In breathless eagerness for news. The first man carried out upon a stretcher was a member of the Salvage Corps named Galloway, who had received nasty contusions and injuries about the head. Ho was examined by Dr Mannsell, andbisiujuries not proviog to be so serious as had at first been thoogbt he was able to regain his feet and walk away unassisted. Inside a task of great difficulty and no littlo danger awaited the rescue party. The black mass piled eight or nine feet higlit was almost entirely composed of ironwork—register arates bolts, hinges, apadts, and iron manufactured articles of oil shape* and sizes. It appeared at first sight to be intermixed with and imbedded in what looked liko coal dost, bot this was in reality only tho pecnliar scaly substance that had peeled from the heated metal. Tho men worked with hands, spades, and picks, laboriously drawing oot piece after piece of ironwork and flingint; it back until a pile began to accumulate in tho basement of the furniture store. This work thoy had to perform under the harrowing spectacle of suffering undyr their very eyes. Overhead a couple of enormous charred beamß leant against tho wall, and looked bb if they might fall at any moment, and it was judged prudent to prop up the archway under which they worked, as an ominous crack was seen in the masonry. Ahead stretched a field of smouldering ruins, bonnded by such portions'of the onter walls as had not fallen or been pulled down, and under tho archway stood a small group watching the work and occasionally lending assistance. Prominent among these, was Dr Brown, who had arrived immediately after the accidont and who maintained his post thero for hours until both the still living 'men been extricated. Ho was subsequently joined by Dr Fergusson and Dr M'lntyre, of Timaru, who also stayed until tho work was given over.