DISASTROUS FIRE IN INVERCARGILL.

Mataura Ensign, Volume 7, Issue 356, 13 May 1884, Page 2

DISASTROUS FIRE IN INVERCARGILL.

has. been the scene of ariothe r fire, the thii^d serious one within a month. Between one and two o'clock on Saturday morning a tall blaze was seen issuing from the photographic studio. o,£ Messrs Nicholas an 4 D.qugall, 'situate in ' the upper storey of ' tqe r.ear premise^ of Messrs L. Eodgers and Oc^'buildings in J),ee street. At this time a] little well applied water w.qujd hay.Q un. 1 doubtedly easily mastered the flamesl But there was t~ fl inevitable delay, and at last the 'flames made their way into the main , building. Here and in the street the scene ! was a most exciting one. Hundreds of will- : ing hands were removing everything portfthlg j Looked at from $he qutj3ide, as} thff $ ao ! e § ' made their way through, the ' spacious ware- ( house, filled with an immense assortment of . fancy goods of every description, works of ! art, musica.l instruments, books,etc, reminded ! one of some qf Maptin's pictures qf the in : fe«mal regions. It was filled with a s.trug- i gling crowd of people, apparently in hppqIqss d^ordgr, bi^t eacl} in reality doing his. best to savb (something from destruction, ] Upstairs others were at work lowering down as much as possible. Among other things i saved was a piano belonging to Mr F. W. 1 Burwell, who occupied one of the offices up- • stairs. The shop of Mr Hayes (chemist) on 1 the northside, and also of brick, was cleared of its contents., which of course, from their f nature, received great damage. By this time .• it became evident that" unless the" wind \ should rise (the night was fortunately calm) the fire would be confined to the building in which it began. The stout party walls ou ! 1 either side afforded a perfect protection be- I low, while the efforts of the Briga.de and others above prevented its -extension by the ' *

roofs. The interior of the Imperial Hotel, wi.ich had been cleared of its furniture, etc, wore a badly wrecked aspect. The upper rooms were deluged with water, the ceilings broken and smoke-stained, windows broken, etc.. bntj it gmis safe from tho lime the root ot the Leviathan Depot went m with a crpsh. The fire was discovered by an inmate of the Imperial Hotel, Mr G. F. Richardson, who had been in town the previous day at the meeting of the Co-mty Council. His bedroom ■v- rarest tho studio. He was awakened ' .-,..:. nud, so soon as he realised the v ..a,.-, ho sot to work to awaken the whole of , the inmates of the hotel. i As to the origin ...f the fiie nothing is known IMr Dougall stiit cs that everything was safe . when he left at five o'clock the previous afternoon ; that he had drowned out the only fire used in the gallery. His partner, Mr Nicholas, who was in the studio an hour later, observed nothing unusual. Both j gentleman agree in stating that none of the t chemicals used in their business are of a kind liable to spontaneous ignition. The following is the complete list of the insura .ces:— Messrs Kodgers and Go's buildings: Australian Mercantile, LSOO (L 250 reinsured) ; II iyal, LI SOO ; North British, L 2500. £• ick : Australian Mercantile, LIOOO (LoOO roiii-.uv !) ; North British, L 1500; Hamburu-.VLi.^luburg. LIOOO ; Eoyal. L 1000; London and Lancashire, LSOO, and LSOU on fittings ; Equitable LISOO. On Messrs Nicholas and DougaH's/iPhotographic gallery, LGOO in the Colonial office (L3OO reinsured). On the stock of J. D. Hayes, chemist, L3OO in the Australian Mercantile Union, and L3OO with the New Zealand. On Mr F. W. Burwell's piano, plant, and stock, LIOO in the Colonial office. Ir>.peiial Hotel : LSOO on the building in the Colonial, LSOO in the National, LSOO in the and G-lobe ; furniture, LSOO in the "hitter office, and LSOO in the South British. ANOTHER OUXBitEAB:. On Sunday evening just as, people were wending their way home from the variouschurches, the firebeli was again rung, and it was soon discovered that the building next the late depot of vlessrs Rogers and Co. was on fire. This soon obtained an unmasterable hold upon that jjartof the structure occupied by Mr J. D. Hayes, chemist, and speedily spread to the store of Messrs Macfherson and Prentice, under the same roof. The flames were with some difficulty confined to the one building, which was a large one of brick. Messrs Rodgers 1 building was erected some years before the one occupied by Mr Hajes. In building the Litter they had to dig into the wall of the former to bed the joists, some of which prob'aU y got thus into contact or proximity with those belonging, to the original building. By this means the fire ' was communicated. The following were the insurances: — Building, LIOOO in the Liverpool, Lpndon aucl Globe ; LIOOO in the North British ; and LIOOO in the Colonial, (LsOo reinsured). Messrs McPherson and Prentice's stock, L'soo in the Victoria and' LSOO in the Equitable. Mr J. D. Hayes' stock, L3oOlnthe Australian Mercantile Union and L3OO with the New Zealand. • ■ • •■ ' • • „.