AFTER THE FIRE.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 205, 23 May 1908, Page 6

AFTER THE FIRE.

EXTENT OF THE DAMAGE. A: Dohinion reporter ■ went -along to,.tho scene of tho battle about one o'clock this morning, and summed up the position r, Tho Feathci-stoa Street and Panama Street front---agos wero dripping ruins. , At the..Grey Street/corner, whero'are situated, the .officcs , of the New Zealand Government Fire Insur- , anco Department;, the .water had'trickled its way i ato; the upper • floors. of the oflice build-: ■ ings, and-got at'some' ox tho.papers. : Two or three of the officers of tho Department were '' tidying up," and informed.' .tho • pressmcip 1 that, , beyond the presence of tho water, there was no-real damage. The' Parcels Post branch of the G.P.0., ih the bnMns : formerly occupied- 'by: Messrs. Levin and Co., Ltd., was in rather a mess. Water lay and tho ourrent mail was'heaped up' out on the-street. The inten-t-ion. has been .to transfer this branch of the a suite of oiTices in St.' George's Buildings m Brandon Street, and tho havoc wrought at the rear, of the'branch's temporary premises will hasten their departure Ix> their new quarters. In the meantime, the parcels mail 1 for/' current "dispatch is being taken.back to tho present offices. Messrs. Wimsott arid Popple, of the Parcels Office, were fortunately at work when the broke out, and. boforo it roachcd th© back , of the sorting-room they had managed to stow all the parcels away in hampers, and, with assistance, had them transferred into mail-room (mthm the G.P.0.)..' The only parcels that may be found missing are a few that arrived by the Athemc on Monday' from England. ; These were at the, back of the' apartment, and could not .be reached before ■ tho ■ intruding flames and smoke made the task impossible. : . , Inside the main building the water lies everywhere, but work will not b8 interruptedin any way. i ' In the telegraph department " about 11.30 p.m., when the danger was over, tho machines were replaced, and shortly after the first call from the ' outer - world came from Christchurch. .. . THE POST OFFICE TO-DAY. , Speaking to a Dominion representative; Mr. D. Robertson, secretary of tho.Post and Telegraph Department, said the damage was. not very groat, and it was caused principally by 'water. The records, fortunately,, had been'saved. The work of tho Post and Tele'graph Offices .would not be interfered with in the slightest, and • it would go on uninterruptedly in the morning. "Whatever hap-, pens," he remarked, " you will always get your letters, never,fear." THE LEADER OF THE BRIGADE. .Acting-Superintendent O'Brien, when seen' by a reporter, spoke in glowing terms of tho excellent work done by tho Brigade. Tho Fire Police, under Captain Wright, wero also deserving of tho highest praise. Tho Brooklyn Brigado rendered valuable assistance. Asked as to the cause of tho delay in bringing the ladder into use in Panama Stroot, -Mr. OTJrien said that .the wind mado

trouble was that it came in contact with a live rare; and "it took 1 soni,e ; timo getting the wire out of tho way. _ All present wore unanimous as to tho bus-inoss-hke way in which tho acting-superin-tendent handled his mon, and strained every nerve to save tho adja,cont buildings. Ho worked like. a. Trojan, but it was ajainst great odds. NO INSURANCE. An inquiry was made' at tho office of tho State Fire Insurance Department during tho , progress of as .'to whether there, was any insurance on any of the burned buildiugs. . Tho roporter was informed that there was no insuranco whatsoever on the block. THE DAMAGE SUMMARISED. In brief, it may be stated that three buildings wore, totally destroyed—O'Brien's (on the corner.of :Fcathe'rston and Panama Streets),, and tho two,buildings between that and the general Post .Office in Panama Street. Keir'sand Ekins's iato premises were sovorely damaged by. lire and water at the rear,, and tho parcel . post "sorting offico in Grey Street was also partly destroyed ,by fire at the rear. All-the buildings in the block suffered more or less through water, and some, slight ) damage through the- same cause was' done in the General Post Offico itself. THE OLD POST OFFICE FIRE. At ono stage of tho'conflagration. it was feared that the Post Offioo would be claimed by the flames, .hut by 10 p.m. it was practically certain that the-firo fighters ha'd the flames'.iri check.'. .Tho.old-Post Office was destroyed by firo on''April'2S, 1887. 'When it wa3 reconstructed tho building was materially strengthened by the addition of three brick party. l . walls, :_ono i longitudinally and' two transfers o, whiclrwero, carried ,2ft ; above the roof. A number, of special" provisions were made;to minimise tho risk from fire. Water services for fire extinguishing purposes were provided,, two on each -floor. Provision was also' made for dividing the first and topi floors into-sections by fireproof doors in the event' of fire. _ A number of alterations were rnado in rebuilding the structure, the tower curve .being carried to a height of 129 ft. Again the public-are reminded .of tho necessity -of storing their valuables. Cliubb's Safes have-never been known io fail where'a fire or burglary has occurred. Chubb's Safos arid Strong-room Doors are famed throughout tho ■ •world-' to -resist fires, .and burglars. Ch'ubb's Safes are-'held-in stock in Wellington by James Dykes '(of "Gualter, Dykes and Co.), .Attorney' iri",Novr' Zealand for Chubb's Australian Company.—Advt. ,