BURNING OF THE DUNEDIN ATHENÆUM.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 3490, 18 June 1879, Page 3

BURNING OF THE DUNEDIN ATHENÆUM.

■"• The Herald supplies the following account of the fire which broke out at the Dunedin AtheDOGum yesterday morning, and which was first observed by a message boy on that journal : — At two or three minutes to one o'clock the boy saw a glare reflected on the upper windows of Messrs Herbert, Haynos and Oo.'s establishment, and on looking down the right-of-way through which the light cams saw that the Athenaeum Building, was on firo. An alarm was raised, and within a few minutes after the bell at -the central station was sounded. Tho Fire; Brigade was on the spot at about twenty minutes past one, and though, we heard peoplff. : grumbling at what they considered the 6>lay, we really think that tho Brigade did?lnost creditably. Four poworful jets of water were turned on— namely, two from the hydrant in front of the Octagon Hotel and two from the hydrant at tho corner of Princes street and the Octagon. The fire, so far as could be judged, commenced^ downstairs, and got up to the street floor near the site of tho ladies' room and the librarian's desk. In that part of the buildiDg and along tho shelves behind the librarian's desk the fire ' raged strongest. From there it passed into the reading-room, and also seized hold of the ' roof of the outer portion of the library. Very little time had olapsed before the flames broke : through the roof of the library, and through : tho roof of the reading-room, and tho roof ' over a large portion of the building fell in. It ! was no wonder that it was accepted as a foregone conclusion that all the books were com- ' pletely destroyed, for looking in the entrance could be seen a dense body of flame on which powerful streams of water for half-an-hour seemed hardly to make any impression. However, when tho fire was got under, it was • found that nearly all tho valuable books of ' the library had escaped uninjured. " So far as we could judga by the aid of a bull's-eye in an atmosphere of vapour and spray at halfpast two this morning, the damage done is as follows :— Nearly all, if not all of the novels, , and, if wo mistake not, the poetical works on ( tho eastern side of the building (in the old or ( outer portion) have been destroyed. That is I on the left hand side on ontoring. On tho i right hand side, though the roof has been i burnt off, tho novels and other miscellaneous ] wWks have to a large extent escaped injury. ] Those on the lower shelves are perhaps \ slightly damaged by water, those on the ■ upptr shelf or two have been completely j burned. Thus it will be seen. that, this i morning's fire, if it did dsstroy somereadable i books was, by a kindly Providence, discrimiriat- i ing in its destruction, for it made a clean ■ sweep of pretty well all the rubbish in the \ institution. Tho little archway between the old and new portion of the Jibrary was the i preservation of the valuablo books. On one Bide pretty well everything was destroyed; on the other Bide fire and water were set at defiance. The works on science, history, and other works of permanent value, and tho stand on which- the magazines are placed, escaped uninjured, the wator, though it flooded the floors to the depth of a few inches, doing, so far as wo could perceive, no damage in this portion. This is a matter of sincere satisfaction, for had tho firo got into this portion it would probably have taken years to repair the damage it would cause. Tho Beference Library, despite the downpour of water, escaped, thanks to a tight roof. A very largo portion of the roof of tho reading room is gone. Tho firemen worked well, considering tho large body of firo they had to doal with, namely, in the front portion of the library, and over the whole of tho reading room. The building and shops were insured in the Now Zealand for £3500, of which wp believe £2000 is on tho damaged portion. This cannot cover the loss, which is bound to be very groat. The fire commenced at or over tho Librarian's desk. A detailed examination at half-past 3 shows the damage to be as before described. The reading-room is a perfect wreck. The origin of the fire is not known.

[By Tblegbaph.]

DUNEDIN, June 17.

Tho last person in the buildings last night was George Martin, acting assistant-librarian, and he states that on leaving the promisee at five minutes after ten, ho raked out tho fire just behind tho librarian's desk. A few live embers were burning, and there can be but little doubt that it was here the fire originated. It would appear to have burned about 18in from tho fender, and then travelled along the floor about 3ft, till it got hold of some loose books near the librarian's desk. Tho only injury done to the lower part of the building was by water, and this is but slight. Tho Athentcum building and books were insured in tho New Zealand offioe for £3000, but it is claimed that only £2000 was on the portion destroyed. It is etated that the insurance representatives intend disposing of the salvage stock by auction shortly. Mr Hay, picturedealer, who occupies a- shop in tho front portion of the building, loses £77, damage by watery ; * fle; wa» inanred for £300 in- 4 the National office,- It will' probably be thre# months before the Athenaum can be opened again. Meantime, it is proposed to obtain all hooks in possession of the Edusation Board for the public libraries,