The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 26, 1887. THE DUNEDIN FIRE.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1466, 26 January 1887, Page 2

The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 26, 1887. THE DUNEDIN FIRE.

The tremendous fire which on Sunday afternoon occurred in Dunedin is a very serious calamity. Not only has it resulted in the destruction of property to the value of £150,000 — that would be bad enough, even though the direct loss falls mainly on a wealthy corporation — but it has been accompanied by serious loss of life, and will, there is much reason to fear, throw some hundreds of artizans permanently out of employment so far as Dunedin is concerned. The Woodware Company's factory was one of the sights of the city and one of the foremost examples .of the manufacturing industries of the colony. Although, until recently, at any rate, it had not been a financial success, there can be no doubt but that in the future, with the growth and development of the colony, it must have commanded one of the most, if not the most extensive business of the kind in Australasia. Fitted with the very best machinery yet invented, it 1 was able to compete as regards the price and quality of its manufactures with any establishment in the world, and it is a thousand pities to see so large and promising an industry finally crushed. And finally crushed we are very much afraid it will be — that is, for many years to come so far as Dunedin is concered, for it is hardly likely that the Bank of New Zealand will go to the expense of renewing the destroyed buildings and plant, and there is, we fancy, not the smallest prospect of its being taken up by private enterprise. Not lets than 150 families, therefore, will have to seek fresh homes, and their breadwinners will have to look elsewhere for employment, which in these depressed times it may not bs easy to obtain . The mischief done by the conflagration is thus far-reaching, and entitles it to be regarded as a calamity of the first magnitude. Its painfulness is intensified by the fact that no less than four lives at the least are known to have been sacrificed in the attempt to rescue property from the flames, while it appears to be not yet certain that these are all. Much as it may be regretted that those who have perished should have run undue risk, it is impossible to withhold a tribute of admiration for their gallant though reckless bravery, their conduct and that of those who so nobly attempted their rescue being the streaks of life in an otherwise dark picture. Every effort that human energy and fortitude could put forth was made in their behalf by doctors, firemen, and others, some of whom deserve special recognition of their plucky and fearless conduct. The coroner's jury have mentioned four — Francis McEwen, Fireman McKenzie, and Constables Chisholm anß Clark — and we hope that the men named will receive at the hands of the Government some substantial mark of approval, whilethe public also should not be behindhand in providing for the relief of any distress which may be caused among the families of those who have been deprived, perhaps for a considerable time, of their means of subsistence. Until this is done, the colony will not have performed its duty towards those who are most nearly affected by what will long be known as the Great Fire of Dunedin.