THE LATE FIRE IN DUNEDIN.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1232, 10 July 1872, Page 2

THE LATE FIRE IN DUNEDIN.

The following particulars are furnished by the Otago Daily Times of the fire at " Dunedin, recently reported by telegraph : A fire was discovered in the glass and china warehouse of Messrs R. Macleod : and Co. , Princes street, at about twentylive minutes to four o'clock yesterday morning, by Constable Fitzpatrick. The, fire-bell did not ring till twenty minutesafter; but when: it did, the firemen turned out with promptitude, and soon had streams of water directed against the building. By a quarter-past four, or so, all danger of the. fire spreading to the buildings on either side was over. We hear that before the arrival of the -firej men the front shutters were pulled down; it is said by members of the police force," and to this the spreading of the fire is to some extent attributed. A length of hose burst also, but was quickly: replaced by another piece. The amount of insurance over the premises and stock was as follows: — New Zealand Co., on stock, L2OOO ;'■'■ on building, L500.\ Northern Co., on building, LSOO ; on stock, iiIOOO. London and Lancashire Co., L2OOO on stock. Victoria Co., LIOOO on stock. The- total is thus L6OOO on stock, and LIOOO on building — L7OOO, and "not LBOOO, as was reported. The building . is of brick, and the property of Messrs Calvert and Campbell; and the back wall will at least, which was much injured, have to be rebuilt. The books were in a miner's safe, and were only slightly scorched in the binding. Nothing^ is - known as to the origin of the fire. 'Mr Macleod and one of the storemen locked, up the premises at the usual hour on the previous evening,, and noticed nothing unusual. There had been a fire in the fireplace in the afternoon, but by that time it had burnt quite low, only a few embers being left. The only woodwork, near the fireplace Was that of tbe desk and staircase. There were half a dozen cases of kerosene at the back of the shop,,, and a tin in one of them had been opened in the afternoon before for tbe purpose of seeing the quality of the oil. -Strange to say,: while the wood of the cases in which;the kerosene tins were enclosed was burnt, and some of the solderings of. the ; taps was melted off, the contents of the tins, even to those of the tin that had been opened, did not ignite, although they actually boiled. The; oil was Devoe s. The goods in the wholesale shed in the yard behind were uninjured. We hear an inquiry into the cause of the fire wilL beheld. ■: f;