Fire in Dunedin.

Cromwell Argus, Volume IV, Issue 208, 4 November 1873, Page 6

Fire in Dunedin.

(Guardian, Oct. 30.) At a little after 2 o'clock this morning the peal from Bell Hill gave the alarm so startling at all times, but at none more so than when night has fairly settled down. The signal given denoted that the flames were in Bell Ward, and that they were fierce was shown by the fact that simultaneously with the clang of the fire-bell a bright and vivid glare was observable upon the clouds, which swept low and in masses over the city. The direction was seen to be near the end of George-street, and the quickness with which the fire burned up was accounted for by the strong wind blowing at the time, and also because its ravages bad for food a number of wooden houses. Upon arriving at the scene of the fire, it was found that the block of shops extending from Munro's (monumental sculptor) to Moray Place were in flames beyond redemption. Being all of wood, they blazed like kindling, and shop fronts and contents went down in rapid ruin. So intense was the sudden heat that the houses on the opposite side of the street were in no small degree of danger, flames coming forth in great masses, and that so quickly that, before the fire brigade could arrive, the street itself seemed blocked by a volume of lurid light and smoke, thick with flying e.nbere. Fortunately a number of persone

kept; playing upon places.in (including the European; jtfoiel), with, thc> small hose upsd for domestic purposes, ami, sp (prevented the fire getting; across. By the tihie the brigade came up. Which \j&» not a long spaed, it was plaih thiit, frpm Moray Place to Munro!s, the builditigf wet© beyond hope. Happily Munro'a being built of brick, offered a steady resistance to the, spread of the flames, and before long, the hose being got to work, the fire was so far checked and directed to extinguishing the mass still burning as far as the corner of Moray Place. In this they were Bpeedily successful, and one more instance of the ad* vantage of a supply of water and of an efficient fire brigade was given. The,origin of the fire was in Schmidt the baker's, next to which was Jollie's cutlery ; after it Chiaroni, printseller ; then Wilson's, bootmaker ; and after that Johnston, tailor, with Merrel, fruiterers', next to Munro's, where the fire was stopped on the new side. On the left of Smith's, at the corner of Moray Place, was Dime's large grocery store, and this was also burned, the fire being stayed on this side by the intervening street. It is curious that the buildings destroyed were those at which the last fire which occurred in this locality were stayed. It was now the lot of the brick places put up on the site of that fire to prevent the spread of the present one.