Our Contributors.

Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume V, Issue 459, 14 December 1880, Page 2

Our Contributors.

OUR DUNEDIN LETTER,

(FriOM OUR OWN CuKHHSI'OXDEN'T.)

DuNTicnix, December 6 On Fundny rnornin.tr, about :j 80 a.m., :i fire br./ke ont on the rcrlnincl lfsii'l ne.ir tli" "D'liiedin Railway

h : tal : oM. nheroby->iji' buldjjStes and plant .„

belonging to • tho Tramway Company were entirely dost roved, with" tho exception of four cars, which did not happen to bo inside the building at (he time. Nevertheless, two of those cars are also considerably damaged. The tramway shed was a wooden building- 170 feet in. length by 70 feet in width, and its floor was intersected by five lines of rail*, on one of which the engines were placed .wh"i) not nt work, while the others were set apart for the accommodation of the cars. Seven engines have been rendered useless, and of nearly forty carriages, some of which have never been in use, nothing remains but the ironwork. Besides the tramway stock, about £500 worth of contractor's plant, as well as Mr I). Proud foot's electric-lighting a - a ppraius valued at £520. was destroyed by the conflagration. The origin of the fire is a mystery, but its probably the act of an incendiary. Two men who were on the. premises at the time state that they heard the door of one of tjie carriages close, but although a diligent search wj b made they were unable to find anyone. Shortly afterwards, having gone into a carriage to partake' of some lunch, they saw a glare of fire, and found that the place was full of smoke. An alarnvwas immediately given, but owing to the age of the building and. the combustible nature of the closely-packed tram cars, tho fire spread so rapidly that nothing could b3 saved. The stock and plant are insured as follows :—Northern Insurance £2.500, New Zealand £4,000, of which £1,500 has been re-insured in the Victoria Office, and £500 in the Standard Office ; National £500, Norwich Union £1,000, Transatlantic £1,800, South British £1,000, Ham-bnrg-Madgeburg £1,000, and Australian Alliance £500. The insurances on the building are—National £1,000, Northern £500, Transatlantic £500, and Hamburgh £500. On oats there is also an insurance of £300 in the North-

em.' The total amount covered by insurance is thus £15,000, but as Mr Proudfoot estimates tho ■ A T aluo of the stock at £24,000, he is a loser to the amount cf about £9,000. To this must be added loss of income during the busy season which has just set in. This fire is the most destructive, so far as property is concerned, which lias happened in Dunedin for some time, and its result will be productive of gieat inconvenience to the public generally. However, the company intend making the bi'st of ft bad case, and they have given orders for the manufacture of temporary cars in Dunedin, while every endeavor will be made to obtain any available ones in New Zealand or the Australian Colonies. Cable messages Imve also been sent to America and Copenhagen for cars similar to those which have been destroyed. The fire has thrown, about 100 hands out of employment.

Several offenders under (lie Door Duty Act were brought before 1. N. Watt, Esq., R..VL, at the Police Court on Friday tost. As tho.se are the iirst cases which have been detected since the introduction of thi: beer duty stamp on Nov. 1, 1880, the decisions arrived, at in the first three are doubtless of .interest to tho general public. Wm, was charged with having, on or about Nov. 27, unlawfully neglected to affix and cancel the proper duty stamps in a manner required by the Stamp Act, 1880, to throe casks of beer delivered to one P. Cotter, and also with having sold two casks of beer to William Turner, knowing the proper stamp was not affixed and cancelled. Jn the first case defendant was fined £60, and in the second £40, the penalty being at the rate of £20 per cask in each case. In the second case the receiver was fined the nominal sum of 5s and costs. The other cases wero dismissed, a s it was proved that the stamps had been affixed b.uthad dropped off through leakage.