Australian Items.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 16, Issue 808, 28 July 1870, Page 3

Australian Items.

GREAT FIRE IN MELBOURNE. Fbom the Melbourne Leader we gather some particulars of a great fire which occurred in Melbourne on the sth July. Our contemporary observes: — Never in the history of the Colony has so great an excitement been caused by a fire as that which arose when the news became general that the Theatre Comique, or Varieties, had been burnt to the very walls. The Varieties building was insured in the Australian Insurance Company for £IOOO, in the Victorian for .£IOOO, in the Australian Alliance for £IOOO, and in the National for ,£IOOO, making a total of £4OOO. Mr Marten, of the Shilling Store, has secured his stock in the Sydney Insurance Company for £3OO, and Mr Schobert his in the Australasian for £SOO. The stables, which have been totally destroyed, are vested, in the trustees of Messrs Punch's estate, and are insured in the National for £IOOO, and the Australian Alliance for £IOOO. The stock and fixtures of. Mr P. Cohen, tobacconist, on the east side of the Varieties, are insured iu the Adelaide for £IOOO ; and Mr Davies, the photographer, whose studio was completely gutted, has no insurance effected. Mrs 6. Staff is also uninsured. The damage in the respective cases is estimated at £SOO and £l5O. Messrs Prevot and Bessiers. who are in the Victorian for £IOO, and the Imperial for £IOO, estimate their loss at £l2O. Messrs Garton's losses are in a small measure only covered by insurances in the Pacific and Australasian, of £IOOO each. As yet it is almost impossible to get at the utmost extent of the damage done, or to sa} what originated the fire, although it is very evident that it first broke out in the Shilling Store, 96, Bourke-street, occupied by Mr Jj'rank Marten. This man states that he locked his shop up at 2.30 a.m. on Tuesday, having securely turned off the gas. When he left the place his boy was sleeping at the back of the shop. He had hardly reached his residence in K,ussell-street when hearing cries of fire, he rushed back and found his shop enveloped in flames, which soon communicated with Varieties, and in a very short time, from the inflammable nature of the materials used in the construction of the place, the building was completely distroyed. The boy, who was sleeping at the back of the shop, having been aroused by the flames, made his escape by the rear into the stables, and by that means into the street. Thejfjre Brigade, under Superintendent Soad, were promptly on the spot, as also a large body of police, under Inspectors Brooke, Smith, and Burton, who did good service in keeping the crowd back. Although there was a good pressure of water, the brigade were unable to get the flames under, and their exertions were soon turned towards the preservation of the adjoining buildings, for at one time it was fully anticipated that the whole of the block would be burnt down, but fortunately, the adjacent buildings were saved by great exertions. Immediately adjoining, and at the rear of the Varieties, were the large livery stables of Messrs Garton and Kelly, containing at the time about 80 horses, in addition to a large number of carriages, buggies, and vehicles of all descriptions, as also a large stock of horsefeed. Upon these gentlemen the greatest loss will fall, as they estimate the damage done at £SOOO, of which only £2OOO is covered by insurance. As soon as the fire broke out, Mr Garton made several attempts to liberate the horses, but notwithstanding all his efforts, twenty-six of them perished in the flames, and many of those which were removed were so much burnt that it is doubtful if they will be of any further use. This loss of Messrs Garton and Kelly does not include that of many gentlemen who had their horses and carriages at livery there. Of these Mr Stanford is the heaviest loser, his amount of loss being estimated at £7OO, consisting of two buggies, a carriage, three horses, and American waggons. The pair of bay horses he loses were valued at £SOO. Mr Aarons, the trade assignee, also loses about £2OO. having had burnt a horse, carriage and wagonette. The horse and buggj belonging to the Melbourne Bill Post ling Committee were burnt also. A

horse, the progeny of the celebrate*! stallion King Alfred, was also burnt Neither Messrs. Stanford or Aarons were insured. Mr Zeplin, the lessee of the Varieties, was the next heavy loser, and estimates the value of the property destroyed belonging to him at £3OOO, of which only .£SOO is covered by insurance. Mary Tucker, a y&ung woman, aged 22, was rescued from the burning building by constable Flynn, Brigademan John Thomson, and a man named George Taylor. She was a domestic servant in the employ of Mr Zeplin, of the Varieties. She retired to bed shortly before midnight, sleeping in a room at the rear of the building. That day (Monday),* Mr Zeplin had removed into the Varieties, and occupied at the time of the fire the upper storey, the rooms facing Bourke-street. The large hall of the Varieties was thus between Mary Tucker's room and the apartments occupied by Mr Zeplin, the gallery on the right, or western side of the hall, beiug the only means of communication. The girl was awoke from a sound sleep by Mr Zeplin's voice calling out fire. She immediately jumped out of bed and put on over her uight clothing two petticoats and a print skirt, thus unfortunately leaving the upper portion of her body, which is severely burned, exposed to the flames, which by that time were makiugfurious havoc with the building. The most extraordinary circumstance is, however, that the clothing we have described, although begrimed and saturated with water, when the girl reached the hospital, was unburnt, the body itself presented a shocking appearance from the action of fire. As soon as Mary Tucker thus partly clothed, was able to realise her awful position, she opened the door of her room and made a dash along the burning building, and managed to reach Mr Zeplin's apartments. She was actuated, she says, by a desire to save something if possible before the flames had got too great a hold upon the building, and seems to have considered I that her own safety was secured if she could only reach the front rooms of the establishment. Upon entering Mr Zeplin's room, however, she found the smoke pouring into it in thick volumes, and her first impulse was to rush to the window, open, it and scream for help. The pale face of the terrified girl that at this moment was seen at the window sent a thrill of horror through the spectators, who knew how slight was the possibility of rescuing her from her perilous position with the miserable appliances at command. Every instant the smoke got thicker and thicker, and the girl felt that in a few moments her senses must leave her, and that she must perforce perish. The flames too, by this time were rapidly gaining on the building. Giving up at last in despair, the poor creature threw herself upon the bed, and there alone with her Maker, in her agony, prepared to meet what seemed her inevitable doom. She resigned herself to die, she says, for she felt certain that the hand of death was upon her. Overcome at last by the stifling atmosphere, she fell back insensible, and there and in that state would have died but for the gallant conduct of her rescuers. The poor girl's condition appeared very desperate when she reached the hospital. The body was pulseless and cold, there were severe burns on the back, on both arms, and both legs, and the face was slightly disfigured. The shock to the system had been terrible. Every attention, however, was paid her under the direction of Dr Moloney, and by the repeated application of stimulants she came round gradually to consciousness. By this time she has recovered from the shock, and the chief clanger now to be apprehended is from congestion of the lungs, which is of frequent after occurrence in cases of burns, and in this instance, the girl having been suffering from a severe cold at the time of the fire, the liability of the lungs becoming congested is of course increased.