SERIOUS FIRE IN CUMBERLAND STREET.

Otago Witness, Issue 2454, 27 March 1901, Page 10

SERIOUS FIRE IN CUMBERLAND STREET.

THE KZ. EXPRESS COMPANY'S STABLES AKD STOIiES DKSTHOYED. Shortly after 6 o'clock) on Wednesday evening the ringing of the firebell indicated that a firo had broken oijt in the centre of the city, and but few minuted elapsed before huge columns, of smoke were teen ascending in the vicinity of Cumberland street, near the Octagon. It was quirkly found that the premises of the New Zealand Express Company (better known, perhaps, as Messrs Duthie and Co # 's stables), situated in Cumberland street, between St. Andrew and Stuart streets, were on fire, and that the fire was likely to be. a serious one.- When first discovered the fire • was apparently in the upstairs portion of the new building, erected quite recently by Mr G. Clark for the' company. This was only completed •a'bout'fiv.e weeks ago, and consists o.f.Uvo^cetoreys, and' covers an area of about three-eighflhs of - dji acre- The lower portion "was -used for stabling the company's horses, tffld'ubove was a cpacious apartment about 100 ft square which was designed for storing goods'^ and in which' a large quantity of furniture, 1 owned by a number of persons, was 'stored. - It would appear that the "firfe "originated among the furniture,, but .the cause of its breaking out it is impossible' to even guess at, as smoking is prohibited* and this place was kept locked and could not be entered without thp knowledge of one of the cpnipany's employees, who had the key.' The furniture was there in large quantity, as may bo judged when its value is put down, roughly, at £3000, and the lapidity with which the fire gained a hold may be readily understood when the class of goods stored there is taken into -Within avery few minutes of the alarm being given the flames had made their way. through the roof, and a large volume of iire roared upwards and threatened to' cutei- 'the old" building, x which i%' attached, vbut divided by * brick W-aIJ fvom the; new portion..' , The v fire was first discovered "and the alancn given' by Mr J. Hay f sloreman for Messrs A. and T. Kurt, whoso premises are close by. He was standing opposite when he" noticed that there was' fire in the portion of the building where the furniture was stored. He at once ran and got a small hose to work, but was driven off by the smoke and the heat, and it was he who despatched someone the indicator at Bastiugs'a Hotel to give the alarm. Mr C. Deans, the storekeeper, was in the old portion of the premises about 6 o'clock, and uplicing smoke in the furniture store, at once beaan to get out the horses, of which there wer© 71 altogether in the two stables. These were driven across the road to a yard opposite, but two or three got -away and galloped off. Some of the animals were, however, in loose-boxes at the back of the building, and these to the number of six, he, with his assistants, was unfortunately unable to get out, and they were burned to death in the flames, notwithstanding the efforts made to rescue Ihem. In the yard close by were some *6 dliffs and furniture vaus a aud A with con-|

siderable exertion, 30 of them were run ou* 1 into the road and saved. Even before this the firo had assumed such alarming jjropor- , tions that those resident above the two or three small business places in the front of the I new building had begun to bundle their j belongings out of the windows, and before ! many minutes these covered the pavement iin front. Their alarm for the safety of their property was, however, unnecessary, for the fire was, by dine of the exertions of the Fire Brigade, kept from coming eit'ier to the front or making its way into the cul I building on the south side, where a number I of horses are stalled and the horse feed kept. i It was, however, a hard fight, and it -nr^ ; only by the most btrouueus efforts *bn.t the I old buildiug was saved. More than crce j the roariag mass of flame confined within . tliG four brick walls of the now buildincr . seemed to be on the pirnl of fastening on to the roof of the stables on the south side, but each time the clanger was averted, though naturally the roof of the building „ suffered considerably. The City Fire Brii gade, who had the assistance of a few of { the men from the Railway and Roslyn Bri- ; gades, reached the scene shortly after the alarm was given, and got seven leads of water from Cumberland street and Moray place to bear upon the flames,'- but it was 1 an hour before the fire was got under control, and even then much trouble was occasioned in the north-west corner of the building, where 450 cases and 14- barrels of mpchrne oil, the property of the ' Vacuum Oil •Company, was stowed. This continued to blaze long after the fire in other parts of the building had been subdued, and even threatened another outbreak," which could, of course, have been confined to • the corner where it was, there being nothing left in the immediate vicinity to burn but itself. The new building was entirety destroyed, and a portion of the brick wall at the back fell at the same time that the roof collapsed. The older portion of the premises escaped with the exception of the. roof, which is considerably damaged,, and will probably have to be renewed, and, as far as could be seen, the shops at the front of the new building, and the -rooms -above them, which were used as residences, were not much injured. The following is a rough estimate of the damage done :— Furniture £3000, hew building £2500, horses £450; plant £200, horce feed (thi3 was kept in the older portion of the promises, and was de3troved by water as much as fire) £200, harness £150, and old building £200;— total, £6600. No doubt m addition to these items there are smaller losses, which will bring the total amount up The building, plant, and contents, is insured in- the- New Zealand office for £8770, •nut' a large proportion of this risk is borne •by .other offices by reinsurance. . Credit is due to the stable man and his assistants over the rescue of the horses. Several firms in town came forward, and very generously offered- the Express Company temporary stabling for their horse.*, and among these generous volunteers of assistance may be mentioned Messrs Crust and Cru3t, D. and .7. Bacon, J. Jeffs, and Dr Coughtrey. The company have lo3t no time in making arrangements in connection with their parcel delivery, and, though inconvenienced as they must necessarily be for a time, their business will be carried ou as usual. The reinsurances on the building, plant, -*tc, of the New Zealand Express Company, destroyed by fire on Wednesday evening, are as follows:— United £1000.:' National £1000, Guardian £1000, Victoria £750, and .Northern £5,00. As before stated, the total insurance, in the New Zealand Insurance Company's office, is £8770. Some of the furniture was insured. It was owned by about 35 different persons, the largest lots, it is understood, belonging to Mrs Larnach, Mr Douglas Larnach, Mr Rigg, Mrs Gibson (of Anderson's Bay>, and Mrs Rutherford (of Timaru). It would now seem that seven, not six, horses were burnt on Wednesday night. • an vice to Mothees! — Are you broken la your rest by a sick child suffering with the pain of cutting teeth ? Go at once to a chemiofc and yet a bottle of Mrs Winslow's SoothtsgBxuvp. It will relieve the poor sufferer inimedi£itcly. It is perfectly harmless, and pleasant to the taste; it produces natural, quiet sleep by relieving the child froni pain, and the Jittl9 cherub awakes ""'as bright as a button. Ib eocthe? the diilil, It --often* the giims, rJlaya all pain, reliuves >and, regulates the bowels, and is the '.z?\ 1 uown lemccly for dysentery, and diarrhoea whether a-i'uig fiom teething or | »ther cause- -Tis W.uatow's Soothing Syrup i is sold by net' . aa de-.vle.rs e/eiywuere at Is 3a<J ! p«r bcUl«r -/•.*« T '

The Oamaru Mail understand?- on reliable authority, that the police raided the different licensed houses in the town on Sunday, fcome establishments being favoured with two or three visits. One prosecution at least i* (likely to result from the attentions of the .police to Sunday trading. An engineer, representing a syndicate, has (been in Rotorua making inquiries with a view to laying down an electric tram line ibetween Ohinemutu and Whakarewaiewa, providing the Government can supply the ttiotive power at a reasonable rate.

A tourist who misled the evening tram on Monday week irom Palmerston to Wanganui, en route to the river triu. whosti wife and children were aboard the ordinary train, chartered 'a special train, costing him close on £40.

At the Wyndham Court on the 12th inst., before Mr M'Carthy, S.M., an elderly man named Duncan Taylor claimed £25 from a young man named John Scully for an alleged assault on January 8. After evidence was given, Scully was fined Jrl 10s aud costs, amounting in all to £10 Pi