THE Wellington Independent

Wellington Independent, Volume XVI, Issue 1612, 27 August 1861, Page 2

THE Wellington Independent

Tuesday, August 27, 1861. SALE-BOOM SMOKING. - It is with much satisfaction that we find Inquests on Fires are now regularly held. It is a practice highly to be commended', and cannot fail to have a beneficial effect. The evidence relative to the recent five in Farish-street ; (or Lane as we see an Otago co temporary more properly designates it,) which we published a week since, has, supplemented- by our personal enquiries, led us' to think that the fire originated in the ignition of a basket of cotton wadding (about 70 lbs.) which had been for several years in the side store. On the afternnon of the day on which the fire broke out, Mr. Myger states he-smelt fire, and the same smell was noticed .by him the day previously, though not mentioned in the evidence. During the day last mentioned an auction sale had taken place, and on the following one the goods were delivered. In all probability the wadding became' ignited by the ashes of a pipe, or by the cast away lucifer of some smoker. The smouldering at first would be very small, and the smell of fire might be so slight as to be long unperceived by persons in the store, though easily so (as in this case) by a person coming into it from the open air. Smouldering often happens for' days, creating no smoke. We recollect alsmell of fire lor four or fivedays being, -many years ago, noticed in the long room of old Barrett's Hotel. There was no smoke, nothing to indicate that smouldering was actually going on, other than a faint smell. Thinking that' it would be in proximity to the fire-place, if any^Yhere, part of the lining was removed, and then part of the flooring was taken up, when one of the joists was found to be so burnt as fully to account for the fears entertained— a day or two longer, on the smoulder meeting with a draught, the building would suddenly have been found to be in flames. The carelessness which many persons evince with regard to matches is matter of notoriety ; but unfortunately it is an evil which Law cannot remedy. It can only be. remedied by individual effort. We do not suppose, that the practice of

smoking in stores and at sales can be c< put down without an effort ; but experi- p ence of its possible consequences is alto- t! gether lost- if the practice receives no tl check. Smoking at a sale or smoking u during the delivery of the goods sold, h was probably the cause of the late fire ; li and the general conclusion in reference a to the. still more disastrous fire which c tools place in the same neighbourhood in 1 1856, was. that it orginated in thesmok- £ ing of a number of natives in a small J room, some of the shelves of'whioh were 1 loaded with packages of lucifers. The ] principals in too many stores set the ex- 1 ample of smoking, and without they re- i tire for the purpose of enjoying their ; weed, they cannot enforce abstinence : from their employes or customers. But the effort to abolish smoking in stores and especially in crowded sale rooms, ought to be, made ; and if made earnestly there is no reason why it may not be done so sue-, cessfully, or at any rate to a very large extent. In Sydney or Melbourne such a thing as smoking during a sale is never tolerated. In our ignorance of this rule, we once walked into a Melbourne sale room, and " put that cigar out, Sir," instantly saluted our ears. We shall be very glad if such a rulers enforced here. The last annual report on fires in London, contains some useful" cautions respecting the careless use of matches and tobacco which are worth quoting. It was recently remarked that, "if from till accidents to life and property were deducted such as ' gflow from' gross and culpable carelessness, the number remaining would be but small." The remark is V'uuliarly 'applicable to. accidents from fire, the very large majority of which belong to the class of " preventive. Accidents may occasionall.) attend even the careful use of candles ; but no satisfactory excuse can be given for the occurrence of upwards of two bundled fires per annum from candles alone. Gas=, the safest light that can be employed, when proved to have caused, in one way ov another, nearly a hundred fives, indicates Mha't it ha 3 been grievously, mismanaged. That intoxication should lead to : serious— often to fatal lesults, creates no. surprise. In whatever way the " tobacco question may be settled (if it ever is setilect), with reference to its moral and physical effects upon the human frame, it is evident enough that the careless manner in which unextinguished tobacco is continually thrown about leads to numerous fives, of which not a few are seiious, some fatal. The use of lucifer matches leads to many fires, the origin of which is probably never known ; the misuse of them to many more. In December last a lady was burned to death in the Hampstead Road, through striking a lucifer match to hok for something in an unlit room ; a portion of the composition set fire to the upper part of her apjiarrel, and she was burned to death before any tissistan CO could reach her. It should be an invariable rule, especially with females, to strike the match from and not towards the person. Fires on shipboard and in railway, trains are frequently caused by these dangerous agents being sent surreptitiously by these conveyances. In August last, a case intended for shipment on board a steamer loading at Fresh Wharf, fell to the ground and iustmtly burst into flames. The contents were lucifer matches. Just' about the same time, a ship in St. George's Dock, Liverpool, was disco v ered to be on five. It was traced to a case of lucifer matches that bad been surreptitiously shipped on board. The case in a state of ignition was got up and thrown overboard. In November last, a fire broke out among the luggage on the roof of a carriage travelling on the Eastern Counties Railway, which for a time placed the passengers in considerable jeopardy. On reaching the Brandon station the fire was extinguished, and a fuzed box found in the debris, showed the origin of the fire. On opening a bale of cotton stored iv the Clarence warehouses, at Liverpool in April last, a box containing about a dozen " superior friction matches," of American manufacture, were found in the bale. Whether they were put there wilfully (as is feared), or got in by accident, can never he known. A little extra friction, or' a slight heating of the cotton, either on board of ship, or in the warehouses, might have led^o awful consequences, and the cause have bceu attributed to any but a true one. Iv hot summers, matches or fuzees, left in the pockets of coats or vests, which have been hung upon the hooks inside chamber doors, \ have in several instances been ignited by the : shutting of the door. '