THE FIRE IN GEORGE STREET.

Otago Witness, Issue 657, 2 July 1864, Page 19

THE FIRE IN GEORGE STREET.

We have had another serious fire. It occurred on the 24th of June, in George, street; and (it resulted in the destruction of half-a-dozen shops, a workshop, and two dwelling-houses. There was "once more the Providential circumstance that there was scarcely a breath <jlf wind blowing; and there was* again the very unprovidential circumstance that little or no water was to be had. Will this fire, added to the eight per cent, guarantee of the Government, lead to the absolute formation of a Water Company? The fire commenced in Moray Place, in the first house from the corner of Georgestreet. The house was occupied by Mrs Meiklejobn dressmaker; and the furious ringing of the" alarm bell, about twenty minutes before ten o'clock, unmistakably announced the fierceness with which the flames had burst forth.

The Volunteer Fire Brigade and the Provincial Brigade were very quickly on. [the spot; but by the time they arrived, the flames had extended to the dwellinghouse of Mr James Kerr, a compositor in this office, on one side, and to the shop at | the corner of George- street on the other. This shop was occupied by Mr H. Dodd, butcher; and it was completely hung round with meat for to-day's sale. In Moray Place, a small open space was all that divided the Waverley Hotel from the flames; and in George street there was a row of five or six shops before anything like an opening occurred. Lieutenant Robinson, who was in command of the Volunteer Brigade (Captain Hobbs being ill), directed the energies of his men to cutting off the fire in George street ; and Mr Joseph Mills, captain of the Provincial Brigade, set to work with his men to save the Waverley. With great difficulty they got water ; and they succeeded in saving the hotel, although it was at one time on the point of, ignition, and then they turned their attention to the workshop of Messrs Keir and Co., painters, &c, behind their shop in George street, for it also threatened the hotel, through the burning of its contents, although externally it was wholly composed of corrugated iron. In George street, the Volunteer. Brigade first attempted to pull out the front of the shop of Eggers Brothers, tobacconists ; but they had scarcely begun to do so, ere they found that the fire had nearly marched through the premises of Messrs R. Wilson and , Co., grocers and general provision dealers. The getting down of Messrs Eggars's shop, in time to be of use in checking the spread of the fire, was, therefore, hopeless ; and the men were removed to a small shop occupied by a fruiterer, and which was separated by a right-of-way, from the shop of Mr Backingsale, draper, &c. The men worked with a hearty will; but the' place was strong though small; and before it had been got wholly down, the. fire had reached it. To do this it had destroyed the shops of Messrs Eggera Brothers; Messrs Keir and Co., painters, paperhangers, &c. ; and Mr Butement, draper. But here the flames were fortunately stayed. The iron roof n£ the fruiterer's shop was not brought to the ground ; but, what was bettter, it bung slopingly from the uprights of Mr Butement's place, and. it thus formed a sort of shield to the flames. But Me?9rs Keir and Co.'s workshop got on fire, and it was gutted.

As will be gathered, the progress' of the fire was exceedingly rapid: it was aho astonishingly fierce. The opposite side of the street was strewn with goods hastily dragged out, of the shopp ; but it was impossible last evening to guess what was the approximate value of the property; thus saved from burning, or how much of it would be rendered valueless by rough handling and exposure Mr Dcidd's shop burned with fearful 'fierceness for so small a place, owing to the quantity of meat in it 5 and next, in intensity was the blaze from Messrs Keir's'. The Eoyal George, Hotel on the, opposite side of the street was in great danger of igniting— greater than any of the other buildings in the same block, because it faced Mr Dodd's, and was also expesed to the heat from the flames in Moray Place. , But the hotel was happily saved ; but only through the hanging of blankets from the cornice and the windows,, and keeping them saturated with water, The same precautions were adopted by the, occupiers of the adjoining shops. The' flames at times were tinged with singularly beautiful hues, especially those from Messrs Keir's premises ; the glare was very vivid ,• and there were frequent great bursts of burning flakes, which would have been exceedingly dangerous had there been any wind

As soon as the fruiterer's shop had been pulled down, the Volunteer Brigade turned to their engines, got fatermitte, at supplies of water, and directed, the streams so as to prevent danger to Mr Beqkingsale's shop on the one; hand, and to the Wayerley Hotel, from Keir'a wdrkghop, oft -the other. The, Eroywcial' had p^«

viouslyiseett attwotk at' tKe latter point, and the two co-operated heartily. Not more than 35 minutes elapsed from the ringing .of. }he belj, until the, fruiterer's, shop had r been pulled J .dovm. Mr Butemenfs was all but burned out, and no further danger was t6 be apprehended. There then remained nothing but "the chimney staoks and blazing embers of the following premises : 7— , , < „. Mr Dodd, butcher. - . , , . Messrs R, Wilson arid Co, grocers and provision dealers. ' ' - Messrs Eggers Brothers, tobacconists. Messrs Keir and Co., painters and paperhangers, &c. , Mr Butement, draper. The fruiterer, whose name we were unable to learn. . The dwelling houses of Mr Kerr, and Mrs Meiklejohn. . „ Messrs Keir's workshpp was only partially destroyed, but the contents were nearly all destroyed by fire or water. Mr Beckingsale's shop was, , we believe, cleared of stock, and most of the fixtures were palled down. The safety of the Waverly Hotel was early assured, and the stock and fixtures were not disturbed. We shall probably, be able to-day to make an estimate of* the value of the property destroyed ; and jt would be useless now to guess. Messrs Eggers had a large and valuable stock, and so had Mr Keir. The shop occupied by Mr Dodd was the property of Mr Griffin; It was uninsured ; and Mr Griffin estimates hisloss at L2SO. Mr Dodd , was also uninsured; and we heard that he estimated his loss at L3OO. The fruiterer's shop and the house occu-t pied by Mrs Meiklejohn. belonged to Mr R. Smith, a printer, employed in the jobbing department of this office. We are not aware whether he is insured ; but Mr Kerr fortunately is, as regarded his house, and most of his furniture was saved.

• We were unable to learn anything as to the cause of the fire. It was currently stated amongst the lookers-on, that it commenced at Mr Dodd's premises ; but this he positively denies; and says the flames came from Mrs Meiklejohn's.

There was a great crowd speedily gathered ; but the police were able to keep good order, as well as to watch the saved property. Captain Paterson and some of , the Naval Volunteers, rendered all the assistance possible. Both Brigades remained at workuntil after midnight ; and some of the officers and men remained on the spot subsequently! ■ This is at least the fourth fire that haa occurred in the same locality, within the last twenty months? First came the partial destruction of the RoyaL George Bazaar and stables ; . then "" some cottages were burned' down, ' |,in } St. An-drew-street; next, a ,soap. and candle . factory was cleared ■ off,, and the kitchen and stables of the Wavfriey Hotel v were destroyed ; ( and' now that hotel his I had a second very narrow escape. '

ExTfIAOKDiNABY/ Discovery of Httmas Skeletons.— Great excitement exists in the vilI Inge of Tinheadj near Westburr, Wilts, in consequence of a discovery'just made of eight human [skeletons. Some laborers, in excavating on the site of an old house, at about two feet beaeath the earth, came upon eight skeletons laid in different positions, Borne with the arms stretched But, and some with them stretched above the head. They were, we believe, all of the male sex, and near one of them was a rusty butcher's Knife. On the discovery being made known, the astonished villagers collected in crowds. Jt seems thatf an old publichouse Btood upon this spot many years ago, and the legend in the village was that travellers who sought the shelter of that roof on their, way to cross Salisbury Plain were mysteriously missed at various times. = The landlord was an old pedlar, and the oracle? of the village, "ithe oldest Inhabitants," say that their grandfathers and grandmothers used to talk of the repulsive; mysterious, the - "pedlar, who'*generally shunned the society of his neighbors; and kept himself Terr retired. Strange rumours used to be retailed at the fireside concerning this man and his habit} of life, and children were . frightened into quietude by "the pedlar is coming." ' The supposition,, that the individuals to whomthese skeletons once belonged had, at some tone or 'other, come* by v their deaths unfairly, is strengthened by thV*ftct -' that there was no proper burying-plac« hear "the spot, an.d that, the skeletons were huddled 'together, and not laid out as if they had received the proper form of burial.-—? Manchester Courier.'* Thb "Mark Lank Express" on thb Comparative -.Mjh&ts of Beer and Whisky.— ln an- article strongly adrocatbjuß the repeal of the;malt"tax, the 'f Mark lane Express says, : " A sanitary^commissipn'should be at once ordered to inquire into-the relative effects of beer and spirit upon both! the boailv and Jnental powers. 4 * let alt the available. atatiStta i'.be "collected to show.the ajnountof iinmorality in'Scofci 1 lanf, where the rural -population! drinks Vhfeky, comparedwith that of England, w,here they tfiinfc : beer; ;Wejmtsuch places 'as:<?]asgow fat of the. question/ and confine ' the r comparison to the country; with mere drunkenness, of course; as not the only consequence; 4? What, again, has been one of the chief curses ef. Ireland" but the rage foriwhisky, from which _tke,people are now gradually freeing themselves ? The doctors wfll speakastothewholeiome effect ofone wHh'the other on the human 1 fraine^if; indeed. •" anybody requires upon^fliat points 'In V word, ; the. malt-tax^repealewi aw adTOcating in every way the cause of morality, as the people > _would.gera better b^toftgejfiu'- mow under their own cqmjnlMid, aN^Vitiwutf encouttte^iy/the/ ■teowflFy^j^ „ ..'Ha 4^° -r^f lv~~o<s''?f>^.-Kt -