FIRE AT BALCLDTH &.

Otago Witness, Issue 2647, 7 December 1904, Page 54

FIRE AT BALCLDTH &.

[ PORTION OF THE CLUTHA LEADER | OFFICE DESTROYED. | Our Balolufcha correspondent informs us ' that at about 20 minut-es to 12 o'clock on I Saturday night the Clutha Leader Office, i situated in the Main street, Balclutha, was discovered to be on fire. When the fire was I observed it had a strong hold of the front premises, and it was^ evident that nothing ' could be done to save the building from destruction. No fire had been lit on the i premises during the past fortnight, and at a quarter past 10 p.m. on Saturday, when the place was closed, everything appeared to be safe. When discovered the flames were bursting out at the rear portion of the building, and, as they spread rapidly, the structure was speedily destroyed. A safe and the books of the business in the front of the premises were saved, also about a. dozen cases of type out of 130, but beyond these everything in the front building was lost. The fire evidently took place in the ceiling over the composing-room. The building destroyed was insurer! in the Manchester office for £150, the stock, print- . ing paper, general stationery, and office furniture being covered in the same office for . £100. The type was insured in the Victoria office for £125, the cases, frames, and printers' material generally being insured in the same office for £75. The value of the material saved is estimated at about £25. The printing and typesetting machinery are situated in a separate building; of brick immediately at the rear of the front premises, and these were practically unharmed, the building bping a little scorched, but the extent of the damage would not exceed 1 £3. Mr Coulter's building on the north side of the Leader Office is built of brick, and this fact saved it from destruction. Some windows in the side of the building next to the Leader Office, however, afforded an opening- to the flames, and damage to * the extent of about £50 was done. There is no fire brigade in the town, and Dr Stenhouse and Mr Wm. Guest played on the adjoining bulling with small hoses fed by force-pumps, and these efforts materially assisted to prevent the spread of the fire. The heat of the fire was so intense that some windows in shops on the opposite side of the street were broken. The building destroyed was an old one, in which the Clutha Leader has been published since it started in 1874, but the premises at the? rear are practically new. The loss is estimated at aboxit one-third over the amount for which the building, stock, etc., were insured. Arrangements have been made fov the publication of the paper as usual on Tuesday morning. The paper has been carried on for some considerable time by Mr D. T. Fleming, who leased the premises and plant. Xir J. S. Fleming, the actual proprietor, is at' present on a visit to Queenstown. Mr Hugh M'llraith, a well-known early settler in Canterbury, was found dead in bed on Wednesday morning. Heart di&eas* Jgy the cause of death.

The petrol motor is making rapid . progress on the water as well as on the land, and so great is th© interest in this phase of it that already there is a journal established dealing with the subject exclusively. It .is published in connection with the Motor, and 1 is termed "The Motor Boat." The -Duke of Cpnnaught had a miraculous escape from death while proceeding ' in his motor car fr-omi Edinburgh to Gosford House, the Earl of Wemyss's seat in Haddingtonshire. ..The motor car ran into a. heavily-laden cart, and"the'car was split \ into two pieces. ..His Rpyal Highness sus- ; tamed a severe scalp wound l . ■ I Referring to the motor industry of | Coventry, England, as being in a flourishing ] J condition, a French expert, who recently t . made a visit of irspection to the manufac- \ luring centre, states that the makers of i large and expensive autos seem to be doing : •well, as are .also, those who are turning , out small . two-seated vehicles. "Ther© is i life in tha motor, industry of England," h© < says, "and w© must expect to see not only s | our export to that country considerably , diminish in the near future, but be pre- i ' pared for a smaller number of orders from ! co!onies s " j