FIRE IN PRINCES STREET,

Otago Witness, Issue 1343, 25 August 1877, Page 4

FIRE IN PRINCES STREET,

Shortly after one o'clock on Sunday morning, a passer I by discovered' smoke issuing .from lie .passage adjoining Messes Weir and Samsbp'ai crockery ware premises' in Princes street,' which leads to offices used by Messrs W. D. Stewatt, , solicitor, Win.' Brown, 1 and others.- 'The alarm' of fire was [immediately ' given,- and.with' copf-' mendable dispatch the Fire Brigade arrive^ jon the -scene. By this time dense, yqlumes }of< smoke were issuing fiom the building,' buf jip s fire was to be 1 seen! "' Access was gained by the right-ofway off Rattray "street, and the' hose was taken by this means /into the back«part|of the, building, ,and';a( stream , of , water played on tOjWnat appeared .to be the seat of .the fire v In. the meantime a hole had 'been'cut'in the pass-, age floor, and another jet of water was directed into the cellar beneath. To determine the position of the fire, Mr Houghton', the secre- 1 tary, donned the brigade's smoke-iacket. and was i lowered through the smoke into the,apartmerit below. He soon found the fife td jbe issuing from some unpacked ;crate's 4 df earthenware, and the-firemen 'knowing where to' direct their energies,- soon; had the fire under contrpl,' and in, a short; time extinguished^ it, very little damage having been , 4 done, apparently to ' the . I stock-in-trade. It was fortunate the fire was, discovered "when ; it was ; l forj in close proximity to xhe burning crates, there was al'-number iof tins of kerosone ; and had these ignited, a great 1 deal of damage must ,haye. inevitably, .ensued before the fire could have Been subdued. .Messrs' .Matthews, Baxter,' .and Co. /have" a' pointing: ■ establishment ' at 'the rear, arid their stock suffered slightly,- through the Brigade having ]to' Sass- ".through their.- premises to. reach those |of lessrs Weir and Samson. . 'Matthews, Baxter,' and Co. are insured in the Northern for LllOO,and Weir and Samson have" policies in- the South^British,' 'Standard;- arid'Na'tiona'li' but theywere enable to say the amounts. ' . ■ I " Messrs Weir and Samson 1 estimate their los? 'a"s considerable, . .It appears that' a brisk fire was left lighted upon, the, hearth on the, da|n-: aged floor, but from appe'afance was' jin now ay •connected with the fire br*its origin,' the Hearth being fully ten yards 'from the portion of the premises burned.'- • .- . <' •!• •■< '* {" ! , An enquiry inta the. cause of this fire.is to be' held shortly. r We. have ascertained r tb4 insur, • ancasto be: Cn the "stock— National' LllflO South British LISOO, Standard 'L's'oo, 1 ' Transatlantic L 450. MoOon the'fixturesi •On the building, for which Mr Brown is agent— London and Mercantile, L 2750. ' „-;'-■ - ;'• Further examination on Sunday showed tnat the fire originated among Home'crates-of'earthen-ware on the righit hand side of the cellar. On ! the top, of ! these were some cases- of -American chairs, and yet orithe.top were five , cases jot .kerosene which. been leaking 30 badly as to saturate the cases and the straw in. , the crat4v and even the floor." l Upstairs, there was a case > and a tin' of kerosene, the latter also leaking and surrounded by a patch about '3ft- by r 6ft. This case was also on the right hand side of .the building, and ( a few, feet, only from the-jpia'ce-where' the floor was, burned through. •'