THE WHARF FIRE.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 453, 11 March 1909, Page 5

THE WHARF FIRE.

DETAILS OF INSURANCES. MORE ABOUT THE LOSSES. TOTAL DAMAGE ESTIMATED AT £10,00.1. Firemen were still at work throu;ji»ii!t yesterday o:i the site of the big blaze wii.oii jv.it alter midnight had destroyed the Harbour Hoard's hemp aod tow shed at tho Railway Wharf. Tho partially burnt and still smoking and steaming bales, and .the blackened remains of tho building, were hosed all day, and in the evening, and tho Harbour Board's steam fire-ougino was at work continuously. A gang of men were employed in salvage operations, which consisted mainly of rescuing such of tho flax and tow as could be got at, and carting it to tho reclamation at Pipitca Point. There it was spread out to dry in/the sun, with a view to such sorting, repacking, and re-grading, as may bo deemed necessary. Littlo or nothing could bo done in the way of clearing away tho remains of the building. Harbour Board officials, insurance men, and others interested, were busy computing losses and making arrangements to meet tho situation caused by tho disaster. VALUE OF THE FLAX AND TOW. As already stated, tho J shed contained about 1500 bales of hemp and 700 bales oti tow. Of these quantities nearly half —namely 700 bales of hemp and 000 bales of tow wero owned by Messrs. Levin and Co., Ltd., whilb most, if not all, of tho balanco was divided between Messrs. A. S. Paterson and Co., Ltd., Messrs. D. J. Nathan and Co., Ltd., and the N.Z. Shipping Co., Ltd. At current prices the value of all the hemp would total about £6000, and the tew about £200. Particulars as to insurances are not available, , but it is.stated t that all the holdings of the merchants were fully insured, and that tho risks wero distributed among a number of offices. Tho usual practice in the flax trans is that tho Wellington merchant, in buying ' from tho up-country miller, arranges simultaneously a sale to a buyer overseas. Ho is thus a middleman pure" and 'simple, whoso profits aro pretty much in the nature of a commission, and tho goods, while passing through his hands, aro always fully covered by insurance. Occasionally a'llaxniiller sends a quantity of hemp or tor; down to tho wharf independently of the merchants, and in such cases tho goods aro usually iininsured. It is not known at present whether any millers have suffered loss in this way' through the late fire., but if so the quantity of hemp affected must bo comparatively small. About 30 casks of tallow standing 'outside tho shed on tho harbour sido were burned or irretrievably damaged. HARBOUR BOARD PROPERTY. The insurance on the J shed and tho hydraulic machinery in it, belonging to tho Harbour Beard, was £5270. This was held by the Standard Fire and Marino Insurance Company, and tho risk was distributed, by re-insurance, among the other companies doing business in New Zealand, to the number of about a score, each taking an equal share.- It will be seen that the disbursement will not be a very serious matter for any of tho companies. All tho property of tho Harbour Board .is . insured by the Standard Company in tho same-way. Tho > J shed and machinery aro regarded as tot- ■ ally destroyed, for it is considered that tho . possibility of portions of tho machinery bo- [ iiYg capable of further use is rather remote. ' The V shed, which lost tho glass in tho i windows of the north end, and had its big ■, doors charred, is insured for £5000, and tho L shed, on the wool jetty, for £750. Tito latter is only slightly damaged. It will requiro partial repairing' at ono end, and some n6w window-glass. Thirty or 40 bales of wool wero damaged - by wat^r,in the V shed, but theso can be > dried and repacked, and the owners will >' -fnot "bo very heavy losers. > ' All the hemp and tow exported from Wol- " lington was graded, dumped, branded, [ marked, and re-packed, in tho J shed. For . tho present as much of this work as possible 3 will lie done in tho K shed. s Other damago to Harbour Board property includes the surface-charring of some of e the wood-blocking on the roadway between - J. and U sheds. Tho decking of tho breast- ' work and adjacent wharves is spotted and 8 charred here and there, but little or notli--1 ing will requiro to bo.done in the way of renewals. Tho. structures of tho wharves I are not insured. I THE INJURED BARQUE. c Tho damage to shipping was practically ' confined to the barque Hippolas. Seven or • eight of tho sails were nearly,; or altogether, destroyed; somo of tho running gear was also destroyed, and some of the yards wort moro or less damaged. Five railway trucks belonging to tho Government wero in the building , that waß ' I destroyed. Their value is estimated at £1000-a total loss to tho Railway Department. -, It is estimated, roughly,- that the total 5 value of tho property, of all owners, deV stroyed by the fire, was about. £IU,OOO. HOW DID THE FIRE START? a Tho. origin of tho firo is still a mystery. i. Export opinion does not favour the theory of spontaneous combustion, even in hemp and tow, and it is further pointed out that previous fires that have been attributed to that cause have arisen in closely packed holds, and not among tho bales aiid looso material a of a storage shed. The men who wero work--6 ing in tho shed knocked off at 5 p.m., and, ■° so"far as is known, nobody entered it after- ') wards. Fused electric wires are also sugII gestcd as a cause of tho fire. It is urged '" in some quarters that an official inquiry 11 should he held into the origin of the fire, and it is understood that this aspect of tho affair was discussed at a private meeting of underwriters yesterday morning.

A QUESTION OF DUILDINC MATERIALS, In conversation with a Dominion reporter yesteidav, Mr. R. Fletcher, a member of tho Harbour Board, said that while the fire was to be sincerely regretted, it might bo not wholly unproductive of good. A few months ago, and again .only last week, he had urged upon his colleagues the desirability ol wholly giving up the practice of constructing wharf sheds of inflammable materials. For some years past all the now' sheds on shore havo been built of brick, but not so those on tho wharves. Even the big sheds on the new King's Wharf are of timber. Mr. Fletcher's idea is that steel plates should he used on a steel framework, a method of construction both light mid fire-resisting. He slates that tho Auckland Harbour Hoard is moving in this direction. , WATER PRESSURE. Statements have been made that the watci pressure available at the iiro on tho wharf on Tuesday night was not all that it should havo been. Asked about the matter yester-. day, Mr. W. H. Morton, City Engineer, replied that the pressure at tho timo of tho fire was nearly 15011). to tho souare inch, which is its maximum. The main along tho Quay'is a six-inch one, hut a twentv-four-inch main is only a short distanco oil'. INSURANCES. The insurances on the building,, which wer» in the Standard Company and reinsured in various local offices, wore: —Main building, £3750; accumulator, tower, and time-bail, £280; two wool-presses, £700; hydraulic machinery, £250; accumulator gear and connections, "£290; total, £5270.