GREAT FIRE IN CUMBERLAND STREET.

Otago Witness, Issue 1892, 15 May 1890, Page 18

GREAT FIRE IN CUMBERLAND STREET.

£20,000 WORTH OF PROPERTY DESTROYED.

A fire broke out in Findlay and Co.'s factory shortly before 10 o'clock on Tuesday evening, which unfortunately must be reckoned amongst the large fires in Dunedin. Since the fire at Guthrie and Larnach's woo3wwe factory no Buch conflagration has occurred in the city. In this case as in the one just referred to the premises were occupied as a woodware factory, wood yard, and ironmongery store. Messrs Findlay and Co.'s business has been so long established in Dunedin and its operations are so extensive that the mention of the fact that their premises have been destroyed will convey to almost everyone an idea of the magnitude of the loss which has been occasioned, The premises covered nearly half an acre of ground, that is, including the wood yard and the recently-erected tub and bucket factory, and altogether between 70 aud 80 men and boys were employed at r these works who TRfill this morning find themselves thrown out of employment.

alarm of fire was raised two or three minutes before 10 o'clock, some few minutes after the fire itself had been actually discovered, but so rapid was the progress of the flames that simultaneously with the ringing of the fire bell the glare of an enormous fire in the very heart of the town gave signal of the wholesale destruction of property. The Fire Brigade and the Salvage Corps lost no time in reaching the post of duty, and before long several jets of water were playing on the building, and ultimately no less than eight streams were directed, with a view rather of mitigating the flames than of extinguishing them. From the first there was no hope whatever of preventing the total destruction of the factory. All that could be done was to keep the fire from spreading to adjacent buildings. Happily the wind "was low and its direction favourable, so that Messrs Burt's large warehouse in Cumberland street was never really in danger, though it v/as deemed prudent to direct a jet of water upon it occasionally, as it became intensely heated. The brewery was also a safe distance from the fierce body of the fire, and the Anld Scotland Hotel and gaol building?, though in unpleasantly close proximity, were quite safe. The utmost efforts of the brigade seemed at first utterly futile. The flames soon spread over the entire building, and bursting through all parts of the roof well-nigh simultaneously seemed only to mock the efforts made to suppress them. Crowds of people came from all directions and thronged the streets. The fire burned with such terrific force that the greater part of the town was illuminated by it, and the glare was, we ace informed, distinctly vif»ible at Mobgie). The police, under Sergeant-major Bevin and Sergeant O'Neill, mustered in good force and with great alacrity, and by protecting the gear and keeping the crowd at a safe distance gave valuable assistance. A rumour spread at one time that there was a considerable quantity of powder in Findlay's store ; and accompanying this another to the effect that the gaoler had mustered all the prisoners and had them ready for removal. Both stories were apocryphal, and were received with little credence by anyone. No alarm whatever was manifested by the people who thronged the streets in the vicinity of the fire ; and there was occasion for none, while the prisoners in the gaol also remained quiet. Apart from the magnitude of the conflagration as a spectacle, and the destruction of so much property, carrying with it the loss of work to so many hands, there was nothing to cause any great excitement. From the first the extent that the fire would attain was pretty clearly apparent. There was no apprehension of loss of life, as the only man who was in the building when the fire started had left it ; and the walls being low, the risk of accident was small. The heat, however, was intense. The firemen paid subsequently that they have rarely had their powers of endurance so severely tried, and the people in the crowd who were nearest to the fire had ?oon to retreat, aud their example was rapidly followed by those who took up their places. When the brigade and Salvage Corps arrived on the scene fcbe fire bad got a firm hold of all the portion of the building fronting Stuart street, and had made, its way through the roof. With great rapidity it spread until in a very short space of time the pnttre extent of the wooriware factory was in flames, and in about 20 minutes from the time when the alarm was given the fierce element had effected an entrance, by means of the roof, into the upper portion of the hardware premises. The brigade first got one hose to play on the Stuart street portion of the building, then a second one, then the water main in Cumber land 6treet was tappeJ, till eventually eight ho so branches were directed on the building from % 'arious quartern. After about half an hour oi ; bard work tho fipe decreastd iv violbuco. Thi is uo doubt

ttwing ft> the fact that the bulk of the material in the building had been consumed, but the efforts of the brigade were by no means Useless. At the suggestion of Mr Gardiner, who has been manager for Mr Findlay for some time, several jets of water were directed te the vicinity of the office, and by this means the books were saved, the safe was kept from the chance of injury, and some fragments of office furniture were rescued. At other points the fierceness of the flames was frtihi time to time somewhat abated, and the chance of damage to other buildings was thus lessened, while the welldirected efforts from Stuart street no doubt saved the new tub and bucket factory from destruction, As we have mentioned, the fire actually got a strong hold of the hardware premises, entering at the roof. The top storey of this portion of the building was completely gutted, but after a desperate battle the flames here were extinguished, and the only damage to the stock in the lower storey will probably be that caused by water and by breakage. Within less than an hour from its commencement, a fire which involved the destruction of fully £20,000 worth of property was well Under control, and of the mill, factory* and wood yard nothing remained but the bare walls and a few heaps of burning ■debris.

The only man on the premises at the time of the fire was Mr Joshua Moss, the watchman, who had been engaged in that capacity for some eight months. As usual, he commenced his duties last evening at 5 o'clock, just as the mill closed. From a statement he made to our reporter, it appears that one of the first things he did after going on duty was to go through the premises. Ho found everything right. At this time he visited the engine room and saw that all was safe there. The boiler fire was banked up for the night and the furnace door closed, and he saw nothing in the room which would catch fife. After this he did not visit the engine room again, as he rarely goes there. At about 9 o'clock he was working in the yard, and when going into the building at about a quarter to 10 he saw a light in the engine room, and soon discovered that the flooring over the boiler was on fire. He at once ran and gave the alarm, and then went to the hose, which had been put on at 5 o'clock. Two or three men came to his assistance, and he got the water on, but the fire spread with such rapidity that he could do nothing. The boiler, he stated, was bricked over the top, and everything seemed as safe as it could possibly be. The origin of the fire was to him a mystery, but he supposed ib possible that some of the timber-work in the vicinity of the boiler had become heated and had taken fire. Mr John Davys, the water inspector, was one of the first at the fire. He managed to get there at about seven minutes to 10, and saw that the fire was in the centre of the engine room at the base of stack and towards Castle street. Mr Davys met the watchman running out, spoke to him telling him to get the hose, and then, although he was informed that the fire indicator had been broken, took the precaution of sending a boy with the message to the Fire Brigade station.

Mr Gardiner is of opinion that the premises including the mill, wood yard, factory, and ironmongery warehouse, could not be estimated as worth less than the sum of £25,000, and that of this not more than £5000 was covered by insurance. The mill and machinery is entirely destroyed, the hardware department gutted, and very little stock left uninjured, so that the loss will probably be between £15,000 to £20,000.

The insurance is divided amongst the offices, and by reinsuaances probably every office in the city is to some extent affected, bat particulars of insurance were not obtainable. We understand that the New Zealand Insurance Company holds a risk of something like £1000, the Union Company one of £500, and the Standard a similar risk, but how these and the other policies on the building may be affected by reinsurance it is impossible to say. In any event the amount of insurance can only cover a small portion of the loss.

Nothing can be discovered regarding the origin of the fire. There is no doubt that it originated in the engine room, and probably immediately over the boiler, but in what manner it ia impossible to say, and it would be useless to conjecture, at least before there has been a careful examination of the boiler and chimney stack.

An eight-roomed dwelling, on the main road between Fukerau and Otaria, was burned to the ground last Saturday evening, nobody being present at the time. The place was owned by Mr Martin Colling, who had the house insured in the New Zealand office for £200. The fire presumably broke out in or near the kitchen.

Some time ago (says the Ensign) Mr Adam Glover, a settler midway between Otakarama siding and Fukerau, converted his house into a barn and erected a new dwelling some little distance away. On Monday morning the barn was mysteriously burned down : the monetary loss will fall heavily on the owner, who will also necessarily be inconvenienced for a time by his deprival of an adjunct to the farm.

At 6 30 a.m. on Tuesday a fire broke out in the bathroom of the Hibernian Hotel, a two-storeyed brick building in Invercargill. This portion of the building was completely gutted, and but for the good municipal water supply the whole block must have gone. The origin is unknown. Mr A. M'lnerney, the lessee, is uninsured, and estimates his loss on furniture at £300. The damage to the building is estimated roughly at £250. It (together with three shops under the same roof) was insured for £2500 in the National Office, which was reinsured in the New Zealand, North German, and two other offices for £500 each. The portion of the furniture burnt, over which there is a mortgage, was insured in the Colonial Office for £200.