THE DUNEDIN FIRE.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XIV, Issue 4772, 25 January 1887, Page 3

THE DUNEDIN FIRE.

AN AWFUL NARRATION. DETAILS OF THE CATASTROPHE. THE LOSS AND INSURANCE. Dunkuik, last night. Tho following are further details of the great h'ro in Lower Princes street yesterday afternoon : — Shortly after three o'clock the fall of the upper floors of tho ironmongery department and their ponderous contents caused a sad loss of life. At the basenicnt of this department tho room was used as a store, and it cnuld be entered from tho basement of tho furniture department adjoining by a low arched opening some eight feet ia width. A number of° people entered this way and made their way upstairs, passing out articles within reach. Eaquillant and Wallace were among the volunteers, so was Miller. Tk« party also included Mr Pearson, o khe Railway fire brigade, several members of the fire brigade and the salvage corps, and Mr Donaldson, of the Naval brigade. One of them, McKenzie, seeing the unsafe state of matters in the hardware department, called to the workers to desist, and niOßt of thorn did, but one or two of the hindennost delayed to pass out a rack of shovels which stood jusb inside the archway between the hardware and furniture departments. At that moment tho first catastrophe occurred. The strain to which tha Hours above had been subjected was tremendous. The topmott with its contents had fallen upon the one beneath, that upon the next one, and so on, until, at this juncture, tho wholo foil with one great crash into the basement of the furniture department. Tho m^ii escaped, most of them unhurt, but fell back horror stricken and enveloped in smoke and fragments of debris. They kad barely time to recover themselves when a cry for help informed them that one or more of the men lay buried beneath tho burning mass. Returning to the spot the body of the sailor Wallace was seen half exposed, the lower limbs only to the waist being covered. He was conscious, and implored them to release him. He lay just inside the archway to the right hand side, jammed against the wall in a peculiar attitude, and evidently in great pain. Disregarding the imminent danger, for only a portion of the upper floors had fallen as yet, several men set fearlessly about the task of rescuing Pearson. Donaldson and one or two of the firemen present directed a hose at the burning heap and saved the men from instant death by fire, while a few others made attempts to extricate him. Constable Chisholm had hold of him by the arms, and others were trying to prise the weight off the prostrate man with a crowbar and a piece of timber which they U3ed as a lever. It was then the second and more fatal fall occurred, burying several of the rescuing party. Immediately the smoke and confusion allowed a number of people to return to the scene they found tho dreadful condition of affairs intensified. Wallace's body was still half exposed, and a little distance away and to the left hand of the archway part of the head and one shoulder of Esquillant was to be seen. He, like Wallace, was conscious and appeared to autler then more terribly. Of Miller and the other dead body nothing had been seen. None of the debris fell outside the archway, and when th« second crash came Bridger and Wallace sprang from the woodware into the furniture warehouse, but a piece of the material that fell struck Mr Bridger on the ankle. The manager, Mr Henderson cannot conceive any way in which the fire originated accidentally. Everything was safe when the premises were left on Saturday at noon. The watchman was down at 10 o'clock on Sunday morning and found everything right then, and he was on his way to pay another visit of inspection when tho bell rang. One of the clerks walked down from church at half-past one and called at the factory office to get a book, and there was no sign of fire. The fire must have originatod'in the back part, near Bond Street. The boiler and engine house was separated from tho factory by a strong brick wall, and thero was nothing of an inflammable nature in these rooms, all waste and oil being locked up in a safe. One result of the destruction of the property will be that about 150 hands (the bost workmen of the Company) will have to be thrown out of employment. Andrew Millor, who lost his life, was an old and respected servant of the Company, and had for years been tho head carter. He leaves a wife and eight chil-

dren. An eye-witness, relating the occurrence, says Wallace spoke from time to time and bore up very pluckily, but was evidently suffering intensely. Esquillant was in even greater pain and murmured iv entreaty to those around him to put him out of his misery. He also begged for chloroform, and this Dr Brown sent for and administered large quantities to him, but still he waa conscious for the greater part of the time. His father and brother were amongst the onlookers. A little after six o'clock Wallace was freed, bat his condition was terrible. Half of the rescue party were now engaged in digging for the bodies on tho right hand side of the archway, 8 or 9 feet from where Esquillant lay. As they worked a man waa presently uncovered, and immediately beneath this lay the head of another dead man, crushed, with the face downward. After half -an -hour's additional work more bodies were dug out, and they proved to be those of Miller and a man name unknown. The bodies were terribly blackened and disfigured. At half past 7 tho work of freeing Esquillant was accomplished. He had been jammed between the upright support of the staircase, about ! a dozen or more grates falling upon him. The lower portion of his body was practicaliy lifeless when extricated. Great precautions had been made in the buildings in case of a possible outbreak of fire. The walls had been built as closely as possible, and where an opening was required iron doors had been made and perforated iron pipes fixed to the rooms in each department, and through these water or steam could bo applied so as to have the whole place flooded. In the day watchmen were formerly employed, but recently owing to a retrenchment policy the services of the day watchmen were dispensed with. It is generally understood that the building was not insured to half its value, the insurance companies not caring to take heavy risks on such buildings. "The total of the insurances is stated to be £75,000. The value of the property destroyed ia estimated at between £150,000 and £200,000. The only definite information obtainable is that the South British Company have lines amounting to £2000, the National's net loss is £1000, the United Insurance Co.'s £1700, and the New Zealand Company £1500. To-day. A search was made yesterday in case more bodies might be buried under the ruins of the Iron and Woodware Company's Factory, but though it was not exhaustive water was pumped on till a late hour. The only portion of tho premises standing are the drying-room and smithy and the top portion of the warehouse. All the machinery was completely wrecked, and the engine a.id boiler house was red hot. A safe belonging to Mr Larnach, which was in tho burninl* building, was taken out, but was so hot that all papers therein took fire, and these, with several art idea of jewellery, were

destroyed. The correct insurances cannot be known till the strong-room is examined. The following insurances are at present known:— New' Zealand — Mill, £1500. South Britith — Mill £5500, woodware £500, ironmongery £750, furniture £750 : total, £7,500. Mutual— Mill £500, ironmongery £750, furniture £750 ; total ±'2000. Royal— Mill £2000, ironmongery £500, furniture £750 ; total, £2250. Northern— Mill £1000. Victoria—Furniture £2000. Liverpool, London, and Globe — Woodware £2000, ironmongery £2000, furniture £1000 ; total, £5000. Norwich Union — Ironmongery £580 London and Lancashire — OHice £1000, ironmongery £2000, furnituro £2000 ; total, £5000. United— Mill £500, woodware £500, ironmongery £700 ; total, £1700. Union of Now Zealand — Ironware £1500. Sun— lronmongery £1000, furniture £1000 ; total £2000. Pluenix— Mill £500, woodwaro £1000, ironmongery £1000 ; total, £2500. Equitable— Mill ,£2f)o, ironmongery £500 ; total, £750. Continental and English offices not represented in the colonies, £11,250. Total, j £40,090. Later. An inquest was hold on tho bodies of the four men who lost their lives at the fire. The evidence was similar to what has already been telegraphed. The witnesses spoke in admiration of the conduct of the rescuers. The fourth body has been recognised as that of Richard Pascoe, a seaman. The verdict was " That the deceased, H. E. Esquillaut, Robert Wills (?), Andrew Miller, and Kichard Pascoe met their death by accident" A rider was added expressing sympathy with Mrs Esquillant, and expressing a hope that Francis McEwan (fireman), Me Kenzie, and Constables Chesholm, and Clark would receive some fitting reward for their conduct, which was deserving of great praise.