CHRISTCHURCH FIRE BRIGADE.

Wellington Independent, Volume XXVII, Issue 3121, 11 February 1871, Page 2

CHRISTCHURCH FIRE BRIGADE.

+, — ' (I/xitelton Times.) presentation of medals. The very interesting ceremony of presenting medals commemorative of the Lyttelton Fire, to members of the Christchurch Fire Brigade, took place yesterday evening, in front of the new Brigade Hall, Lichfield street, The men, attired in their new uniforms, assembled at the Central Station a few minutes before seven o'clock, and, as the hour struck, marched off under command of Mr Superintendent Harris and their respective company officers. Arriving at the Brigade Hall, they halted in front of the main entrance, which was occupied by their Worshipa the Mayors of Christchurch and Lyttelton, attended by Mr Gordon, the Christchurch Town Clerk ; whilst on either side were several ladies, the members of the Christchurch City Council, Captain Mitchell, officers and members of the Fire Police, and the local insurance agents ; the rear of the brigade being appropriated to the general public. The medais, of which we have previously given a full description, were displayed on a table in front of the' entrance door. His Worship, stepping forward, said the circumstances under which they were assembled must be a source of gratification to all citizens. The Council had invited the members of the Volunteer Fire Brigade to meet in order, that they might publicly express* their opinion of the manner in which the Brigade had rendered service to the city. They felt that they could not do better, and it was not as a Council alone that this was expressed, but as representing the feeling of the city as a whole. (Cheers) . They displayed great promptitude on jail occasions and the ability manifested in coping with fire demanded some acknowledgment of their services. (Cheers). The Council felt that with such a body men they had nothing to fear, for they were in a position to grapple with any fire that was likely to occur in the oity. (Cheers). The Council were doing all in their power to supply appliunces in the form of tanks, engines, &c, but still thf.re were those in the city who wished for still further provision than . could be made from this source alone, and they came forward most liberally to aid the Council. It was only the other day that several merchants made an application for a new tank in Cathedral square, and promised £1"«JO in aid of its cost. All these appliances, however, would be useless if they had not an efficient brigade to work them. But he was satisfied they hadj indeed, that they possessed the best brigade in New Zealand — (cheers) — and what was more that they had as good a one as they desired to have. (Cheers.) From the Superintendent downwards, the Council had not a single complaint to make, but, on the contrary, everything was up to the highest point of efficiency. The disastrous fire at Lyttelton gave them an opportunity to show this. In a very short time from the alarm a large number assembled and proceeded to Lyttelton, and he bslieved it was generally acknowledged that they did good service. They had that day a gentleman from Lyttelton, who had come over to present the Superintendent of the brigade with a gold medal for the services he had rendered on that occasion — (cheers) — and the City Council wished on their' part to present all the men who were present at the fire with silver medals, » on the same grounds. (Cheers. ) He would first call upon his Worship the Mayor of Lyttelton to present the Superintendent's medal, and then he would have great pleasure in presenting the silver ones to the men. (Cheers ) His Worship the Mayor of Lyttelton, on coming forward, said it was entirely unnecessary for him to make any lengthened remarks on that occasion. The known circumstances attendant upon the fire spoke for themselves; He

had been requested by the inhabitants of Lyttelton to present the Superintendent of the brigade with a gold medal— (cheers) — in recognition of his able services on that occasion, and he had very great pleasure in doing so. He was sure the inhabitants of Lyttelton felt much indebted to Mr Harris, and to the brigade as a body. Christchurch ought to be exceedingly proud of such a body of men — (cheers) — and, on behalf of the people of Lyttelton, he had much justification in presenting a gold medalpro Mr Harris. (Cheers,) His Worship the Mayor of Christchurch then again came forward, and said l;e was sorry a few names of the brigade roll were not on the list of those entitled to the silver medals. This was not because there was any fault to be found with them, but because they were unfortunately absent from the fire. They did not hear the alarm, and weie thus unable to attend. His Worship then proceeded to present the medals, the names of the respective recipients being read out singly, as follows:— G- Ceoll, chief engineer; W. Johnson, branchman , James Wood, H. T. Gourlay, foremen of tho Steam En»ine Company ; John John&tone ; J. Roberts, branchman ; J. P. Calvert, foreman of the hook and ladder brigade ;H. C. W T est, foreman of the No. 1 Hand Engine Company ; H. J. Howarcb, foreman of the No. 1 (L. L. and G.) Hand Engine Company ; D. M. Jacobs, branchman ; James Heath, J. W. Smith, R. Atkinson, A. Johnstone, G. Cooper, J. Triggs, J, Richardson, C. Samuels, E. C. Ashby, E. W. Turton, H. Kilner, J. Robson, G. Fuller, W. Hobbs, J. Witham, F. S. Dunn, R. Childs, J. Burberry, H. Hebden. His Worship then remarked in terms of praise upon the excellent manner in which Mr D. S. Phillips and Mr Heyder had respectively carried out the contracts for making the new uniforms and the medals, concluding by inviting the brigade into the hall to partake of refreshments. On entering, a cold collation, supported by a very suggestive array of bottles, was found displayed on tables forming three sides of a square. His Worship the Mayor presided, with the Mayor of Lyttelton on his right, and the city councillors, fire police, the insurunce agents; and others supporting him on either flank. After the repast had been satisfactorily discussed recourse was had to toast drinking and vocal music. The customary list of formal toasts was considerately curtailed, and joviality was more the order of the day. The Chairman, in proposing " the Mayor and Council of Lyttelton," referred pleasurably to the visit of the former, and hoped that such visitary interchanges between Christcnurch. and port would be increased rather than diminished. The Mayor of Lyttelton, in responding, warmly enendovsed this, and said he hoped it would net be long before he had the pleasure of inviting the Mayor and Councillors of Christchurch to pay him a visit. In proposing the Fire Brigade, the Chairman again eulogised the services of the men, saying that the Council would not wish for any change in any portion of it. Mr Harris rose to respond, but was unpleasantly interrupted by the ringing of the fire-bell. The company at once rose and left the hall, but on finding that the fire was some miles distant from town, Mr Hanis ordered ail his men to return to the hull, and went himself in a cab to the fire. During his absence vocal music was freely indulged in. On re'urning, Mr Harris reported that the fire was only in a gorse hedge- on the property of Mr C. Clark, Colombo road, and then proceeded to respond to the toast. He warmly eulogised the men under his command for the manner in which they seconded his efforts, and said he had such confidence in them that with a practical knowledge of the London fire brigade he could select a detachment of, say, twelve men to compete against a like number of any section of that brigade in a fireman's duties. He combated the statement that the new uniform was an expensive one, saying it would be found much the cheapest in the long run, and averring that he had always been ambitious to Bee them clothed like firemen, as their services deserved, and they could have no better model than the one they had taken — the London brigade. He thanked the City Council and the people of Lyttelton for their conduct towards the brigade, but said he was sorry he could not do tho same with the insurance agents although two of the principal ones in Christchurch admitted that the brigade saved them quite £3000 each at the Lyttelton fire, but neither of them had so much'as thanked the brigade for it. The remaining toasts proposed were, " The Mayor of Christchurch," by the Mayor of Lyttelton ; " The Insurance Companies," coupled with the names of Mr J. A. Bird and Mr D. Craig, by Mr Harris; "The City Council," by Mr Craig, responded to by Councillor Jones; "The Army, Navy, and Volunteers," by Mr Merson, responded to by Mr Craig; ""rhe Subscribers to the Lyttelton Relief Fund," by Councillor Jones, responded to by the Mayor of Lyttelton. Songs interspersed all the speeches, and the whole formed a very pleasant even ing's entertainment. We should not omit to state that the repast was provided entirely at the expense of the Mayor of Christchurch, nor that Mr Neal, on behalf of Mr C. Clark, thanked those of the fire brigade who jfrfii to the fire for their services in extm^ishing it.