THE LAMBTON QUAY FIRE.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1514, 9 August 1912, Page 5

THE LAMBTON QUAY FIRE.

SAD SIGHT FOR BOOK-LOVERS. FALL OF A TWENTY-TON MACHINE. Thousands of people visited Lambton Quay yesterday to gaze upon the scene of desolation and destruction presented by tho fire-gutted premises of Messrs. Whitcomb and Tombs, Ltd. All day on Wednesday it was a sourco of wonder to many spectators that no attempt was made on tho part of those responsible to remove the valuable stock which reposed on tho shelves, tables, and in tho glasscases—goods which must be worth many hundreds of pounds. A reason for this delay was forthcoming yesterday, when it was stated that owing to the extreme danger of tho coiling of the shop collapsing, the insurance companies were not prepared fen grant, covor, to those members of the staff who would be'employcd hi the removal of tho goods. An arrangement was arrived at yesterday to extend cover to singlo men, and a start was made to remove the contents of the shop yesterday of tcrncoh. > Thousands of volumes of fiction, poems, Bibles, hymn-ljooks, together with desks, fancy goods, and office paraphernalia, were packed indiscriminately on to carts, anil conveyed to tho promises at tho rear «f Messrs. W. and G. Turnbull and Company's warehouse, recently vacated by tho Empire Packing Company, where they will ljo sorted and arranged for aiTJustment by the underwriters' representatives, after which they will be offered for sale to the public. As events proved, the underwriters had plenty of justification for hesitating to give cover to workers within the building. At i a.m. yesterday, a mass of machinery, including a 2fl-t»n double-royal lithograph machine, which has been partly supported on a steel girder, crash-' ed through the ceiling into (he shop below, bringing with it tons of'debris from the floors above, and covering up many valuable glass book-cases and shelves packed with lxwks of. every description. Experts agree that tho greater part of tho northern wall will havo to be taken down, owing to the manner in which it was buckled and cracked by the heat. Tho southern wall must have also been subjected to a very intense heat, but its condition cannot be accurately judged until the debris lias been removed.

Temporary offices have been secured by the firm in Hunter Street, near the Central Hotel, and opposite the firm's bulk stores in the cellar of the A.M.B. Building.