SATURDAY’S FIRE.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 145046, 24 July 1916, Page 2

SATURDAY’S FIRE.

A SCENE OF DESOLATION. SPLENDID .WORK OF FIRE BRIGADE. The scene of;-Saturday’s disastrous fire presents an extremely desolate appearance. With the exception of Mr. Wyborn’s building at the corner of Bgmont and King Streets, which was saved, and.in Devon Street part of Veale’s. shop, -which; is still' standing, the w?;o!o theatre block is'now a mass of smouldering ruins. Charred stumps and sheets of corrugated iron are everywhere. On tho other side of Devon Street, the buildings damaged by the lire present a sadly blackened appear-, anco, while in Egmont Street the Coffee Palace is covered with blister's. SERIOUS DOSS OK MACHINERY. Messrs. J,. B. Mac Ewan and Co. were heavy losers. •• Being the busy season/ and a number of boats having como up recently from Wellington, they were carrying ;..i exceptionally big stock, and the building was full of dairy machines, engines, etc., which were to go out almost immediately. Much of this cannot be replaced. The insurances will not bo known until Mr. AlacEwan arrives from Wellington tMs evening, CONTE ACTOR’S HEAVY LOSS.Mr. A. A; Renner, of TVellmgtohi tho contractor for the A.M.P. building, lost heavily. .Only, the, previous/day he had put, in £SS: 'worth of cement, and the value of the material and .plant was over f-iOO. His loss is therefore about £500.' THEATRE NOT TO BE RE-BUILT. , At a meeting of the Taranaki Amnsementis Coriipany on Saturday it was decided not to rc-huild. It was repotted that the film, “The Martyrdom of Nurse Cavell.V-and'another -foil 'programme, had been lost in the fire.' The' total insurances on tho building amount to £ISOO, which was just the sum Expended in renovations eighteen months ago. The plant and buildipgs were valued at £ISOO, so that the company’s loss is about £3OOO. -/ TO THE FIREMEN: ALL HONOUR! ..Foreman Ford, of the Central Division,, states that ho was roused by the urgent alarm from the station at his residence. He rushed down to the station,. and when ho turned the Melbourne corner into Devon Street he could see the dames sweeping right across the street from tho. Theatre Royal. On arriving at tho Coffee Palace corner he recognised there,.'was no hope whatever of saying the.'theatre, and attention -was directed to'saving the buildings owned by Messrs. Skinner and others. Undoubtedly, he states, the fire began in the Theatre Royal, and notiin the old A.M.P. building, for at this time thp fire was slpl- . ply pouring ‘ from the doors and win- ' dows of the theatre, while tho A.M.P. building ' was practically untouched. AVorking with the mtn in Devon Street, between.. tho.. theatre and" Skinners’ buildings, the heat was terrific. It was impossible to play, tho hose ion. the buildings without. cover of some sort, and the fence round the A.M.P. site was used as a shield to protect tire men with the hose. At times the shield itself caught lire, but it served the purpose and without its lielp they could not ,ha.yp saved these , buddings. Severely burnt hands and, faces tell the tale of the ordeal the brigadesmen went through sp bravely. ./’ - Superintendent Bellringer was loud in his praise -of the work of his-men. ‘■They were simply tip-top,” he said, ‘■and' could not have w-Orked' better. They were.-as game as pebbles, and did not 'study themselves in the’slightest degree. They knew -wh.it we Were tip against.- and-they got into it-for- all they were ’ worth.”' ' Everyone':'else is also proud of, the hrigadesmOn'. " Their work has ‘always been recognised "with gratitude by 'tidVpublie.’ hilt it ik dOubt-fulcwhrHiei-it' has. .erer/bbert bi-ought '• home so forcibly as now. They fodght like tigers, .and-took risks-at times -that amazed the onlookers. .TAT. ", The. Fitzroy divisionrtendered'Uiyaraable help. , .

GENERA!, NOTES.- - - -Mr. Jv H. Quilliain lost his .valuable lam library, a whole life’s collection.Over oijihiocn businesses were put Out of action temporariy fire., y. .Messrs.' Sladden and Rahiicr (sut-rhy-; orsl. ivinl occupied the upstairs portion of Mr. heavy losers. '.'They were. insured. for £2oo* in. the Atlas Office.. , ~ ; . Twenty tins of. kerosene. stored in a kerosene store nfear. Veale’s : shop. Iqame safely through the fire;.despite the fact thatithe store was destroyed and ‘that the eases in which they were packed weiV in some instances ’.completely., burned.

The members of the Theatre*-Royal Orchestra, lost air their instruments and music. Mrs. George, the pianist, lost a very valuable collection of music.. A movement is afoot to give the musicians a benefit performance. ■A curious recovery of money was effected at Mr. L. M. Montoath’s office. A roll of notes which had been inadvertently left on a tabic wore found in the ruins, practically undamaged. A wax model in Auld’s shop present-ed-a- very woe-begone appearance •on Saturday. Tlio heat bad 'melted 'away half her face,-and in consequence'the people whoso habit it is to stand, and stare at shop windows Were less critical tliis time, than sympathetic. The fire caused quite a number ,of telephones to be' thrown out of action through the water getting into one of the underground cobles. The repairing staff were quickly at work, and the repairs were carried out as, expeditiously as possible. _ , , The firemen residing at the Central Station turned out at I o’clock on ebrn.' day morning to put out the embers that were being fanned into flames in the ruins. Rain came afterwards and all danger was removed. . , During the progress of the hre tomblankets were.: lent to the bngadegmen to protect them from the flames.. these have now disappeared. Anyone knowin eg of their whereabouts is asked to communicate with the. brigade. _ DONATIONS ACKNOWLEDGED!

Superintendent Bellringer hais received the following note from Messrs, J. and J. Anld: —“We heartily thank you and your brigade for the heroic'efforts made at last night’s fire to save our property. As' a..small token of acknowledgment please accept our enclosed. cheque for £5.” ' ... An anonymous donation or £1 has also been received, aUd is acknowledged AhnidssJiyAhoiEii-e' Brigade.-'