THE GREAT FIRE IS LONDON.

Otago Witness, Issue 2288, 6 January 1898, Page 24

THE GREAT FIRE IS LONDON.

NEW ZEALAND MERCHANTS BURNED

OUT. (Fkom Our Own Correspondent.)

London, November 27.

Bight days ago a most tremaudous and extra ordinary fire occurred in one of the most crowded aud cL swly-buili mercantile districts of London — that l}i:>g immediately east of Alderfgsvte etrett, scuih of tha Metropolitan railway, and north of the General Post Oifise, St. Marfciu'& le Gra-nd ; the area of destruction being priLcipally iv Jewin street, Jewin creseettt, and Hanssell street;. It is ab present declared to have been tbe met destructive fire since tl^e historical bU.z-=s of 1666 ; greatly surpas'irg the ccmp^rativily recent fire of Wood street, and even the moro remarkable one of Tooley street.

Such comparisons, however, are of little prsctieal value end are usually mi*l "ading. Up to the present time only the vaguest notions seem carreufc as to the actual amount of damage caused. Kven the to l al of the insurances is r.ob yet defi' iU?ly ascertained, although it is believed (.0 lie very close to one million sterlii g. Bat thesa figure? represent a comparativc-ly small proportion of the tot&l loss. The whole of the locality is simply one dense mass of huge warehouses, the streets are very narro.v — two vehicles can seldom p%?o one another in the roadways, or two persons on the footpatbs, — aod the warehouses were always full of highly combustible stacks. • Consequen.l.lv tbe insurance comjjanwH have steadily r&fused to insu-e raore th iq a fi-iicliou of the whole values. A'so s an unusually large number of those carrying oa business on the spot seemed to have neglected to tffrict any insurance &fc all, b«iug deterred by the l»i^h rateo charged for wh~.t were considered "hjz^.rdoas lii-ks." The consequence is that aevcial firms hava been all bub ruinf.d, and others have sustained lesses to a very serious extent. It is not e*sy even to say at present how many buildings were actua'ly destroyed, for the devastation has been so compkte that the principal part of the area is simply one heterogeneous chaos of fullen masses of blackened biickwork s-nd twioted iron. It is alnKst impossible evea to pick out ths lines where the respective streets formerly existed. The first estimate waa that fully 150 warehouses had been destroyed, bnt the latest estimate is jut>t about 100. Ninety-eix have been definitely accer ba-nud to be destroyed, and it is believed th-U there are fh c or six which have net yefc been ideutiSed.

How the fire firsb bf gan no living soul can tell. But from the moment of its outbreak it seems to have proved utterly uncontrollable, springing from one warehouse to another and leapicg across the narrow streets and alleys in a way that seems inexplicable, and that utterly baffled the most vigrrous efforts of ths firemeu under Commander Wells. In an incredibly short time several streets and lofty warehouses had become gigantic furnaces, sending forth into the ah* such- volumes of flame and smoke and sparks as had net been seen in London for many a long day, although some people who can remember the great Tooley street fire and its masses of blazing tallow declare that at no time duriDg the more recent di«aster was the visible expanse of fUme so immense or so .yivid. On the other hand, the recent fire was so much hedged in aud hiddf-n by the surrounding buildings that it was never possible to obtain the same clear view of the scene as was obtained from the banks of the Thames and the bridges over the river on the earlier occasion. Moreover, the locality ia this case was so completely surrounded by a strong cordon of police that no mere spectators could get near enough to enjoy anything like a decent view at all.

I need not pursue in detail the course of this appalling disaster ; suffice it to say that one after another of the various warehouses were utterly gutted, and, their floors and roof a having

fallen in, the walls immediately collapsed. Tha firemen were obliged entirely to abandon any hope of extinguishing the fire where once it had got a hold, and had to confine their efforts to preventing a3 far as po'-sible its further spread. For a long time it seemed doubtful wheths? the progress of devastation would ba arrasted. But; ab last the organised and disciplined attacks of the fi>e brigades wi'h their 51 steam fi-a engines and innumerable hydrants began to tell. So vast a qiUntifcy of water was poured upon tha blaziug mass that in spite of the large, proporticn which must havo be-sn evaporated into the air as steam, the firemen were working; koea deep in tha*; which escaped into the» streets. To givasoaie fsiat idea tfth-^ demand made upon ths aqueous supply of London, F may m ntion tba-fc the New River Company alcne supplied 15,000,000g!i.l, equal to 167,000 ton 3. The the started an hour sfier midday, but it was not until the following morning that it could fairly be said to have bten got in hand, and 24- hours after the outbreak tte ruin's were sijili blaz ; ng fiercely. Indeed, even row, more than a week aft^r the event, the burned remains are still hot acd lequice constant attention.

Tb.3 ill-fated loealiby presents such a scene o£ ghas&ly desolation as ha--" r ever beta vjitc63se3 in cue tim. 0 . Usually 'sf'r^r a fire a good many walls ara left Branding, but in the pctsenfc cssa the Kii> jority have f*li€u, and, the spectaela is ®ne of ths grimmest cbac?.

There has b.cn the usual ex post facto dio cu-s»ion and wrangling as to tLeiScie; cy of the brigade, tbe sufficiency of tha water suppl/,-and the superiority or inferiority of the Lo-udon brigades to those of tte variou3 American cities. Ipfco tbis I need cofc en'.ev afc length. Suffice ife to say that the weight of evidence ecems to show tbat thg London btiyaiiea acquitted tlH'naselves very satisfacioriiy. I!i was alleged Iba"; the firsfc ei-giua did not; arrive uufc-l 15 minutes aftec the alarm was given, bub if; liaa eicce ieen proved that tha irst'jnval wt^s Icfb than fouc m : uute?. On othe? points ths disj-utalion sti'l pross^da icerrily^ and uj result has yet been arrived ?£. Should sl^.j shortcornieg^s be definitely proved it is quifce certain tb'afe public feeling will compel aujr ncc3'sa r r requirements to be promptly carritd out.

- Several New Zts.vlanders, I regret to saj-, were among ths £.ufi>rer* from the great ci'y conflagrai.icn, which, by the bye, is ger.^rall? referred to as " Th«i great fiie in London" £9 disfciTigui*hed fvom Lho 231 years oldac great " Fire of Lor don." Me&srs Bing, Harris, and Co. and Mer-sis L D. Nathan smd Co. had their f»fnc--s in Ihe very hear fc of the crowded 20mm< v rri?.i locality which was dev^si^ed by th's co' fls.gr.ifei' 11 — n ime'y, ia Htnir ell •%.' r<*at, — while Me*»rs A^^ot 1 ;, Cram, and Co. and Messrs Bdwar<.]f«, Ct>ynor?tlh, and Co. had ibelu offices c103<5 by, in Jcdu crescent. lam glad, however, to l°ara fiom the leprtiset.tafciveis of. those ft'tns that, Le^oiid t&Q u:i3.vo;-':ab.'e fii.!ccmtort and ii convenience Rttandauu uoon ■iut'ls. a catastrophe, Uieir r.ctn^l losses are ;wfe likely to prove terious, and 50 far aa c*is ho ascer-taire-1 are fchorru^hly covered by inbu-ince.

!<■ w»s forlur ate froai oi:e j-oint oi %isw — a 6 any rate from thsir roiufc of view — tha.'; if <;ha disaster was to eceur it sLould happen on Friday, becftiiße what sto^k they do keep, which I Ifarn is srldooi to a very largo amount x.b a. lime, they uiuilly cleared out aloiost F.a'ifßjfy en Friday morning*.

In a coiivcrralioxt with lie Persy Harrl*, who is CMi'luetiug the L'udon business 'of Messrs " Biag-, H-rri^, and Co. and BL-ssrs L. T>. Nathan and Co., during the a. s .seue2 ot Ll3 father, Mr Wolf Harris, who is on a visit to New Z 'p.la- d, I learned fiat ail tUe books i.utt dned* aod ot'atr Coc-imcnt.? d any v?»lue bel r n.-(iwg to t'aose Qtmd, or kept b^ thr-m, "=7ers pSactd iv ' ecuricy before the iice reached tbe prertue 3 . Thi<i was dee to ih« forethought: cf Mr Harris, who, directly the aJatKi. s;,ti gi /-en, conveyed everylhicg of th'S scvl to tha three a&fes which are now ly'ng ;X ''■ bjltosn rf a small lake of water, estimated :- 1 01 lOtb deep, end uaaec a thick layer oC ihbris ; bufe no doubt is entertained th=,b wken they pre gob out their co'jt nls vriil pro-c to be uni'.-jnrec}.

Mr Harris was able a 5 once to procure aav* premiss at 63 AUUrjgit« sfe-eet, in which he returned busics3 the fcllosvirg day, ai.d evec since then the regular business hns prcete-'ecl as before, nofcwiih-'tanding the inttLTuptiocs caused by H\<i presence of various painter?, ' p>perhaDg.e 0 and whi e^ashrrs, all bard ab \7ork reodering tbe new quarters h&bi v a.bie. Ib is tuo'u yet decide i svhorher this ac'Jris* will be pc rin» l ipnfc ; hon-erer, tbe premises ha.vo been taken for 12 months certain, during which, time the question cf permanent arrangtm^i-ts vrili be considered.

Messrs Edwardd, Chynowtth, and Co. were aleo, I am p'e?^ed to karn, '*ell injured ; and in their case too the prir.cipal cv 1 ca.u?ed by tha disaster will be the t^aaporary iacoiivenle&ee of moving' to ne^v q«artir3.

But one incidei'; of the Sre — of -which Me c srs Edwards, Chynowefch, and Co.'s prem'sra were the seere — mi.y fairly be described ?s a public misfortune to New Z"alai'.dw In a lvcpnt latter I described a new inversion, by a well-krowa Cbristfhurch resident (Pvlir F. Ai-runs, yprw-jsh vice-c.jDsul at Chr ; s' church) — v ; z.,"tfae ro'^rigjaratiog record«r, by which he hoped — and fnj;,areotiy with gocd reason — io geS rid of tLe drawbacks at preienf; Rt*acb!r!g to the conveyance of New Zea?ixd meal and other re» frigerafced produco to Grsa«< Brit?,ia. This ingenious apparatus has been inrpeefced bylai-g,© nnmbers oC influential people representing the various shipping companies, freezing crix;p«nie!<, and other organisations .-i-ffectad by the invention, and I b"lieve that in every caoa the verdict was one of unqualified approval and adraira-iio- 1 . Ths opinion of *hi se i;osb qualified to judge was thafc this invention would, if pioperly taken up and utilispd, mark an epoch in the histoty of tha New ZeaUnct p-oou'e trade. The spot ia Me^prs JMwardsj Chynoweth, and Co.'s offi.it. 3 whero the recorder waa fixed wag a whole day in tha midst of a "burning, fiery furnace, s°veu times heated," aud ib whb noVhtimanly pos.'ibla that it could have escaped destruction. As was only to be expected, not tho slighlcsj trace of the apparal un was to be found. Most unfortunately, Mr Arenas did not deem it ncoe-awy to bring with h^m his drawings and specification.", from which hs could hWe h;ul ancthec instrument constructed with comparatively little delay. He would have cabled to Christ* church for these drawings and speeiSeations to be sent Home to him at ot-.ce, but he finds that; tbe arrangements he has already made will nob permit his remaining long enough iv England to get a fresh instrument constructed ; so tha matter will have to stand over for the prep&nfr. Mr Arenas bears his great; misfortune w,'th characteristic pluck, although he admits that his fato does seem a" little hard, peeing that, after spending two whole 'years in designing, developing 1 , &nd perfecting his invention, the fruit of his toils Bhouid thus have beeu snatched from him by an almost unparalleled disaster at the very moment when this seemed to be assured. However, dnectly he returns to New Zealand he will have other instruments constructed and seufc Home.

Messrs Abbott, Oram, end Co, ths other New Zealand victims of the big blaz" 1 , have / every reason to hope that iheir loss will proved

icfinitesiinal. Their books and papers were sfcdwed away in apparent seenrity within the safes, and if those safes have proved worthy of their makers' reputation the contents ought to come ' out safe and sound when the safes themselves shall have been reecu^d from the bottom of the inland sea where they now lie submerged. Messrs Abbott, Oratn, and Co, have taken up their quarters temporarily at 68 Aldersgate street, where two of the other jNew Zealand firms already mentioned have taken up their abode, and this will be their address until further notice. It is satisfactory, therefore, to learn that, on the whole, New Zealand, with the one lamentable exception already referred to, •will have little parb in the loss occasioned by the great fire on tbe 19fch inst.