THE GLOBE. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 1881. HOTEL FIRES AND THE PUBLIC SAFETY.

Globe, Volume XXIII, Issue 2181, 21 February 1881, Page 2

THE GLOBE. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 1881. HOTEL FIRES AND THE PUBLIC SAFETY.

The action of the City Council in refusing to renew the license of the Oddfellows’ Hall unless more extended means of egress were provided, calls to mind the defective arrangements of many betels in Christchurch, which have no proper means of escape in case of fire. Considering the numbers of people who live in hotels, residents of the town as well as travellers, it is highly necessary that due attention to this matter should be made a primary consideration with tho Bench and the police. Some years ago in Wellington, which at that time was, with some justice, facetiously denominated the City of bandboxes, attention was directed to the imperfect construction of many houses containing a large amount of bedroom accommodation, without possessing anything like proportionate communication and outlet. The consequence of this was an agitation, which resulted in a complete reform, for the time, at least. At an annual meeting of the Licensing Commissioners, a number of licenses were refused pending a complete alteration in the construction of those buildings, and no fresh licenses were granted unless it could bo shown that the most complete arrangements were made for escape in cases of emergency. Later, in Dunedin, we have witnessed the melancholy results of fires in crowded localities, and without attributing the fatal consequences which then hefel, to architectural irregularities, it may safely be said that in one instance the building was deplorably deficient of one most necessary condition, and, looked at in this light, must always have presented a most suicidal appearance. In Christchurch, certain of the hotels which have been standing for a number of years, and are built of wood,, remind one strongly of rabbit warrens, so numerous are their

compartments and complicated their designs. One house, standing directly in the centre of the city, surrounded by other wooden structures in unpleasant juxtaposition, is, on the second floor, a perfect labyrinth of bedrooms and other compartments. It presents upon the whole a kind of lodging-house puzzle, with which long residence may have familiarised the inmates, but which to a stranger must be a marvel of intricacy most wonderful to behold. Is it not dreadful to contemplate in imagination, the possible consequences of a fire breaking out in such houses as this referred to. Seldom a night passes over without some strangers taking up their quarters in these large hotels, and it is safo to say that few men, on a first acquaintance with same of them, could, when roused from sleep in the dead of night, find their way out of the mazy twistings and turnings. If the dread of fire be added to his natural confusion, without saying anything of the fact that a person’s head is not supposed to be at its brightest or clearest on being awakened by an alarm from his slumbers, we can, in fancy still, well pity the unhappy wretch in his dilemma. There is a yet more serious consideration. We have been supposing the case of a sober man (who wont to rest in the full possession of his faculties), being puzzled to escape from the terrible fate of premature cremation; but, supposing a man to have gone to bed intoxicated, which, in whatever way you look at it, is not altogether a rare circumstance in large hotels or small ones, what chance would he have in the case of a fire suddenly getting hold of a dry wooden building, whoso interior is of the mystic character we have described P A very small chance indeed. In making these remarks, we have not been actuated by a desire to say something sensational at the risk of creating a scare, but simply to draw attention to a matter of general interest to the community. There is, however, really no need to excuse or qualify anything as yet said, or which might be said, provided the truth were spoken. The facts remain as we have stated, and the Licensing Bench would do well to consider tho matter when next they have occasion to meet. Not only ought a proper amount of passage accommodation to bo provided in all hotels, with sufficient outlets in different directions, but the licensees would do well, for their own sakes (in the case of extensive buildings), to furnish fire escapes, in the shape of manropes,—which one hotel-keeper in Christchurch introduced into his house some months since,—or other appliance that ingenuity may suggest. Christchurch has hitherto enjoyed a wonderful immunity from serious conflagrations, considering what a large proportion of the houses in the city are built of inflammable materials; but this circumstance, for which we are partly indebted to our excellent Brigade, and partly to good fortune, should not make us too confident lest some of us should pay the penalty whilst we are reposing in fanciful security. In any case it is the moral duty of all men to protect life and property, and the Licensing Bench are under an obligation to see that every hotel licensed should possess the requirements necessary for the proper entertainment and security of the public. As “ a word in season,” wo hope these few remarks may he productive of some benefit by drawing attention to a highly important matter which ought to have received attention long since, but seems to have been overlooked in the easy-going style peculiar to that refined condition of inactivity popularly known as the " Government stroke.”