THE NEW RAILWAY GOODS SHED AT DUNEDIN DESTROYED BY EIRE.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3716, 13 June 1883, Page 3

THE NEW RAILWAY GOODS SHED AT DUNEDIN DESTROYED BY EIRE.

GREAT DESTRUCTION of PROPERTY FULL PARTICULARS. Dukedix, This day. At 8.35 p.m. yesterday a fire broke out in the hcav railway poods shed, which was completely filled with inflammable goods, and the names, which spread Avith astonishing rapidity, had the eifect of brilliantly illuminating the southern and central wards. Though soveral streams of water were played on the tire, it was impossible to save the'building , . Superintendent Cormall and Lieutenant Fox, of the Salvage Corps, found a railway constable breaking open the main door oi' the goods shed in order to obtain certain books and other valuable property. By this time the smoke was suffocating, and it was with the utmost difficulty the firemen again closed the door, the opening , of which had been tho means of increasing the volume of flame. The shed, which was of wood, and roofed with slate, was 400 feet long by 30 feet in Avidth, and had only been used about two months. One lot of jeAvcllery in it Ayas supposed to be worth £.3000, and very little Avas saved. It is impossible to estimate correctly the value of the goods destroyed, but an authority has given expression of an opinion to the effect that £100,000 will not cover the actual loss.

Among the goods destroyed were most of thoso included in the following manifests per Westmeath :—l3lO rails, Hon. the Minister for Public Works; 272 packages, Reid and Gray ; 1 do, Bishop Moran; 16 do, G. Bell; 2 do, Matheson Bros ; 1 do, C. Ford; 1 do, W. H. Teschemaker ; 2 do, R. Storm ; 1 do, W. Turpin ; 60 ingots, A. and T. Burt; 48 packages, Park and Curie ; 2 do, Whittinghaiu Bros, and Instone ; -12 do, W. Couston ; 7 do, Ross and Glendiuning ; 6 do, Sagood Son and Ewen ; 2 do, W." Millchamp; 2077 do, A. Briscoo and Co ; '1931 do, 50 tons pig iron, New Zealand Woodwarc Company ; 33 packages, G. W. Munro ; 2 do, Gibbs, Bright and Co. ; lot ditto, order. Transhipments per Wukatipu —28 packages, Gibbs,-Bright and Co. ; 3 do, Tonilinson ; 3 do, Fernhill Club ; 7 do, Cargill and Co ;2o do, Melnam; 1 do, Walker; 20 do, Carter and Co. ; 1 do, White ; 2<i do, MeAvard ; 1 do, Browning and Co. ; 172 do, Dunning Bros. ; 103 do, Bull; 1 do, Hutt; 1 do, E. Smith ; 186 do, order ; 3 do, Haggett; 1 do, Ksquellant; 1 Jo, Lester: 20 do, Tumbull and Co. ; 2 do, Larnach; 1 do. Dr. Coughtroy; 8 do, Nllson; 1 do, New Zealand Drug- Company; I do, Braitlnvaite; 1 do, Wiokinson and Pettit; 1 do, Green ; 1 do, Herbert, Haynes and Co.; 2 do, Halleii; 20 do, Wilson and Co. ; 1 do, Jolly Coimon and Co. ; 1 do, Evening Star; 60 do, Neill Bros.; 2'do, Kugiuoon Lee ; 1 do, Leiber and Co. : 130 do, Turner; 72 do, Pryer ; 7 do, Silverstou; 63 do, Patterson; 1 do, Smith; 1 do, Isaacs ; 100 do, Mackerras and Hazlett; 3 do, S. Mackay; 2 do, McGovin ; 1 do, Walters. Per Tarawera — 1 package, Hailean ; 1 do, Harbor Board ; 1 do, Henderson ;35 do, Mercer Bros.; I do, Wong Tape ; 6 do, Butler Bros. ; 1 do, Canning and Lloyd ; 2 do, Sa;good, Sou and Ewon ; 8 do, Robertson : 1 do, P. HaymanandCo. ; II do, J. Speight nnd Co. ; 1 do, Western ; 16 do, R. Wilson and Co. ; 1 do, Elliott ; 1 do, Noonau: 1 do, Maxwell; S do, Marshall and Copeland; 50 do, Neill and Co. ; 41 do, New Zealand Drug Company; 3 do, Grigg and Co. ; 2 do, Peacock; 13 do, Banter and Co. ; 1 do, Vickers ; 1237 do, New Zealand Woodwarc Company ;18 do, Lightband, Allan and Co.; 17 do, Watt and Co. ; 22 do, New Zealand Shipping Company; 20 do, Order. The fire burned very fiercely until midnight, and at ono time it was feared that the goods in the Harbor Board's shed near the wharf would have ignited. James Thompson, the railway employee who was responsible for the locking up of the goods shed, states that he carefully did so at .) o'clock p.m. yesterday, -when there was no sign of fire in. the ofiiee grate. He locked all the doors of the shed, and can make no suggestion whatever as to the origin of the fire, which broke out near the south-west corner of the building.

Shortly before •') o'clock nine or ten wagons i'ull of goods were shunted into the. shed for safety. Two Avatchmen were employed by the Railway Department to look after the goods sheds, and one of them went round the building- at 6 p.m., and also at 8.15, when everything appeared to be quite safe. The first watchman is on duty regularly from 5 p.m. till 3 a.m., and the second man is employed on daily from 8 p.m. till about 6.30 a.m. The regulations aa to smoking in the goods shed have already been strictly enforced. There is no insurance on the building or the goods destroyed. A large proportion is said to have been insured, but particulars have not yet been compiled. It is probable that an inquiry will be ordered by the Minister of Public Works. " A man named Brown .says lie saw the fire before it had a great hold on the building. It originated at the southern end. There are various other persons who claim to bo the first to discover the fire. Since the erection of the new railway sheds two night-watchmen, Charles Rubins and V\ r . Yeith, have been constantly on duty, the latter especially being instructed to keep an eye on the new imports sheds. Ho reports:—At S.lo he went round the shed next Cattray-street, crossing the wharf (the one destroyed), and tried all the doors, everything being then all right. Shortly after 8.30 the alarm sounded, and a few

minutes afterwards the south end of the building was one sheet of flame. The wind was blowing in the direction of the Harbor Board's sheds abutting on the wharf a few yards distant. Fears were entertained fur'the safety of this shed, and it was deemed advisable to keep two jets of water playing on the roof, which luckily was of corrugated galvanised iron construction. Fears were also entertained for tho safety of the cross wharf and the newly-built steamer Tort Jackson, which was lying alongside ; the latter, however, slipped her mooring and stood some distance orf. By tho time the Fire Brigade had arrived the names had so firm a hold of the building that it was impossible to save anything. After some delay, there being a scarcity of water, two jets' were brought to bear on the northern end of the building in the hope of saving , a quantity of valuable jewellery. These efforts of' the brigade, however, proved futile, and the whole length of the building was one sea of rlaino ISO yards long. "The scene at this stage was a grand one. Tho main portion of the southern half the building fell in with a crash, and the names shot higher and higher into the air, lighting the houses on the heights of Mornington, and throwing out in bold relief the outlines of many of the larger buildings iii Bond and Princes streets, and lighting up a considerable extent of the harbor. The grandeur of tho scene was impressing. Tho firemen worked cheerily, and were assisted by relays from the onlookers in pumping water from the bay, but all the:r efforts could not stay the progress of the devouring element, and before 10 o'clock the shed was a heap of burning ruins.

The shod was well filled with merchandise of all descriptions, including tobacco, rice, groceries, several cases of valuable jewellery, and many other articles, iimonKt which was a IG-horse power gas engine imported to drive the printing and electric lighting machinery connected with the Otago Daily Timed and Witness office. The entire cargo of the s.s. Tarawera, and a great portion of the cargo of the s.s. Wakatipu, and several packages ex Wcscmeath, were amongst the goods .stored in the building. The loss incurred by the consignees of the goods will in most cases be very heavy, ns the marine insurance lapses on the goods being discharged from the vessel, whiL very few of the merchants are in the habit of reinsuring goods immediately after they are landed. Among the firms whose good.s were destroyed may be mentioned the following:—W. and G-. TurnbuU and Co., Mackerras aiulHazlett; A. and J. Macfarlane, Ncill Bros, Otago Bible Tract and Book Society, J. Rattray and Co., Robinson, McGregor and Co., Boss and Glendinning, James Wilkie and Co., R. Wilson aud Co., J. S. Williams, Werthcim Sewing Machine Company, Braithwaite, Mitchell, Sago, Gibbs, Bright and Co., H. J. Mowatt (Mowatt), Miles Arthur aud Co. (Timaru), New Zealand Drag Company, Hallenstein Bros., New Zealand Express Company, McLean and Stewart, Lower, R. M. Shaydt, Grigg and Co., British ami New Zealand Mercantile Agency Company, .F. Freeman, Singer, and Borons and Silversion.

At a late hour last night a large quantity of tobacco and a good deal of jewellery, all very much damaged, were recovered. It was at this end of the building some four cases of jewellery, consigned to Eerens and Silverston, were stored, and the police constables, while rummaging among tho ashes and dying embers, on several occasions came across gold and silver watches, bunches of keys, and other jewellery, which wore placed in a cab and driven away to the railway offices in Dowling-street. The Daily Times machinery was found in the station uninjured. Several largo firms are covered by floating policies. The Star office consignments by the Weutmeath and Tarawera were delivered yesterday. It is believed that £5000 will cover the insuranco risks, and that £2500 will cover importer's losses.