CITY CHURCH ABLAZE

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 214, 29 May 1918, Page 6

CITY CHURCH ABLAZE

ST. MARY'S OF THE ANGELS PARTIALLY DESTROYED ORIGIN A MYSTERY GOOD WORK BY FIRE BRIGADE St. Mary's of the Angels Church, in Boulcott Street, is probably- the church richest in old associations with the Roman Catholics of this community, .and intense regret, mingled with surprise, was manifested in the city between 5 and 6 o'clock last evening when it became known that the picturesque old wooden churcliwas in flames, and stood in dire peril of total destruction. As it is, tho whole of the steeple and part of the rear of the church (beneath the steeple) ■ were gutted, whilst tho other (eastern) half or more has oniy suffered as the result of smoke and water. Tho fire, according to all available accounts, must have broken out in the lower part of the wooden steeple, tho golden cross of which probably reaches the height of some' 70ft. Tho lower part of the structure is square, with open wooden louvres, extending for a section of about ten or twelve feet, and it was from these louvres that smoke was observed to be exuding by a lady who lived in oiu of the houses on the eide of the hill (Harbour View), immediately above the church, She immediately rushed down to the presbytery and gavis the alarm. This was at a few minutes to S p.m. In t'lia little time which elapsed between tho first observation of the smoko and the actual alarm, the fire made fierce progress, for after giving the alarm to the brigade, Father Mahoney rushed into the church to find tho flames roaring up the steeple over his head. His immediate intention was to secure tho Sacramental Service, and this he dTd whilst Father Hall (tho curate) rescued the pyx and stripped tho altar. They then thought of the costly vestments in "the sacristy. Father Mahoney entered the church again to find the sacristy locked from tho tnside, and Father Hall, after securing the key, went across tho tennis court at the back of the church to open the sacristy door from tho outside, but when, at length the door was opened they were aghast at findin" lh,e placo full of smoko and flames, and all hope of saving the vestments had to be abandoned.

In the meantime tho Fire Brigade had responded promptly to the call, and soon had a strong lead playing on to the naming steeple from the roof of the church, whilst another lead was taken through the church to fight the fire in the sacristy section of the building. As night closed in quickly the belching names which leapt out of the louvres in fantastic yeilow banners lit up the scone and cast a lurid light on tho house-fronts above. Being a natural funnel, a terrific draught was created towards and up the sieeple, and as the flames could not be got at from directly below, a Hood ot water was projected through tho louvres, much ot which tailed to get through to the fiercelyburning timbers. The brigade's tusk was obviously a dithcult one. At one time (5.15 p.m.) it seemed almost inevitable that tne whole building must:go up in smoke. Through tho side dooiy ot the church the bmowing flumes could be piaiuly seen by anyone l'rom the street whirling up and round on the far (tho sacristy; side of the building, wlnist masses of iiaine and gicat clouds of smuke belched lroui tne steeple, which appeared to tieiy the bngaue's enorts lo sutiaue we roaring l'arnace wiimii.

At last tho wooden louvres began to go, leaving a larger entrance lor the cataracts ot water to have some real eltcct, wnast a noie was nacked tlirouyn Lhe dome over cue sanctuary, enabling aliotner xcad to lie projected vercicany into the steeple. That was the beginning of tiie uiid. Though fierce tongues ot name still iiew out oi the louvres and iicked tho ral-not iron casing above, the dogged work of the men on the rooi and within tile cliuicii quickly had its effect, Tho Haines died uoivn, and their piaco was taaen by masses of sparks, steam, and smoke.

At 5.11U tho brigade bad established a mastery; but a utile later smoke was seen to emerge from the ridge of the main building, then tiny spurts of lire shot out, aim finally big flames sprang up. The lire had crept along from the steeple, between the iron ridging and. sarking (a space filled with shingles tinder dry), and made a yent about a third of the way along. For a lew minutes this looKed ugiy to spectators, but as soon as tho fire-hghters got to it all danger on that head was averted. Meanwhilo on tho other (the southern) side of the chiirch the blazing sacristy (which had been , well alight from tho start) gave the firemen something to do. They fought it from tho sanctuary plat, form, and from outside, and gradually reduced tho stubborn furnace to bJacR ruins.' Curiously enough the only breakthrough of the fire in the walls of tho j church was in the sacristy. . This was 110 j doubt due to the powerful draught which 1 sucked tho flames towards the steeple, j and partly to the great light put up by the brigadesincn. Daylight this morning ' will best reveal the full extent of tfcu | damage done. I The steeple as a body did not fall, ; though a great deal of its interior timbers was consumed and fell within the church. Tho body of the church 0 ad th'i small sacristy on the Boulcolt Street side of tho church is practically intact, but tho larger sacristy on the south side is completely gutted and the sanctuary has been badly damaged. "It might have been worse,' snd one bystander, it was a trite observation, full of" trptn. The church contains a very nice pipe organ in a gaiiery at Uie eastern end of the church, and both the instrument and the gaiiery, as well as tho main body of the chui':h, aio unharmed save by the ellects of smoke aud water. Tho organ will have t.> be taken to pieces and rebuilt. . Father Mahoney, the paris-i priest, informed a Dominion reporter that tho outbreak of the fire was a complete mjs tery to him. Evidently its origin was in 'the steeple, but he could not surmise what could have caused it < viier than by 0110 of two causes—the fusing <;t an electric wire or by a spark carried in through tho louvres and igniting an old 'bird's nest. The forme* theory' is ' tho more probable one. It all happened so suddenly, and the flames gained hold so rapidly that he was a little dazed by it nil. They had lost all their beautiful vestments (valued at perhaps ,£309), consisting of copes, surplices, etc., and some of the church furniture had suffered. Only recently an extremely beautiful saborium—a large-lidded cup of solid silver, plated inside and out with gold—was imported from America for St. .Mary's ot the Angels. This had been through tho lire, with the result that the gold-plating was melted oil' and the silver was blackcned and scarred. 'The monstrances and church plate were kept in the presbytery and so were saved. Some church books were destroyed or damaged. Father Mahoney stated that only 011 Sunday last lie informed his people from the pulpit that in future it was only intended to Keep one door in the church open, owing to the pilfering which had, he regretted to say, been going 011, and for that reason the sacristy was locked when the fire broke out, which disposes of that placo having been the origin of the lire. Though the lire was practically out at G p.m. water was kept playing on the roof-timbers and steeple until 10 o'clock last night. History of the Churcn. , The site of St. Mary's of the Angels is that of the lirst Roman Catholic Church iu Wellington. At tho request of the Rev. Dr. i\larray, Archbishop of Dublin, the late ltev. father O'Kieiy was asked to take charge of the Catholic Mission here, and when he arrived in 18-JU he found that there was 110 church ac all. After some little time he secured Ihe lionlcott Street site, aad erected (on the sice of the present roomy presbytery) ;i quaint little building, of which a photograph is still to be seen on tho walls of the presbytery. In 1574 that building was replaced by a more pretentious building which was dedicated to St. Mary of the Angels'. In 1850 leather O'Kieiy died, regretted by all, and Father Kearney (who came out with Archbishop Redwood) succeeded hint as parish priest. Father Kerrigan next succeeded to tho charge of the parish, and when he re i

signed (owing In ill-health) lie was succeeded by Father (now Archdeacon) J)evoy, who remained there, off anil on, for seven!eon years. It was during liis charge that (in 1800) the. church was considerably enlarged by widening and lengthening the building according to plans prepared by Mr. \V. C. Chatlicld, which brings us up to to-day. Tlio building now known ns St. Patrick's llall was tho residence of Father Kerrigan.

Archdeacon Devoy was among the many visitors to tho scene of last evening's tiro who had their feelings stirred by the scene of despoliation. The church building was insured for •EIGOO in tne United Officc. Superintendent Tait Interviewed. Superintendent Tait admits that the Tirfu gavo him an anxious 'hour. A wooden steeple was one of the worst places in which a fire could occur from a firufighter's point of vieiv, owing fo the difficulty of getting at tho flames from above or below. It was not until tliej. had cut a hole into tho dome above tho sanctuary and were able to get right into the steeple with a lend that he began to feel confident ol the result. His one great fear was that before he could get to grips with fiio flames sufficient heat would bo generated to fire the big presbytery, which adjoins the church at one corner. Fortunately, his men, most of whom were inexperienced in big fire work, did very well, and they were able to llifat the fire to a standstill. Had tho wind been otherwise than very light his tusk would have beou exceedingly heavy, as the building was a very old wooden one, and the shingles had been left under the iron when the latter was laid on. That practice w>s a bad one for firemen, as the dry shingles acted as a hidden means of carrying tho fire from point to point before it actually showed itself. Tho pressure of water could not have better.