A BIG BLAZE.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 1744, 23 October 1917, Page 3

A BIG BLAZE.

CENTRE OF DANNEVIRKE DESTROYED. . ESTIMATED LOSS NEARLY £200,000. PRACTICAL. DESTRUCTION OP TWENTY-NINE BUSINESSES. Dannevirke, Oct. 22. Dannevirke will have good' cause long to remember the Labour Day of 1917, a most 'disastrous fire devastating the heart'Of the commercial area, which is now a scene of desolation. The fire bell was to have been given a trial ring at 6,30 p.ra., structural'alterations having just been .completed, but four hours earlier it was given an urgent test on account of an outbreak in Andrews’ Hotel, an old wooden structure situated on the corner of High and Station streets, and one of the relics of the days when coaches played a part in the through trip to Wellington, A westerly gale was blowing, which fanned the flames from the rear of the hotel, and within three minutes the whole of the upper portion was wrapped in flames, licking up greedily everything in their path. The occupants of the place barely had time to make an exit, and some housemaids had to be rescued from the balconies. Within a few minutes the whole place was destroyed, and flames jumped the wide street to the Dannevirke Co-operative Association’s big storehouse opposite Andrew’s Hotel, and soon this was a roaring inferno, endangering also the Club Hotel, facing the railway station. Fortunately the wind was blowing 1 away from this, and though in grave danger for a' time, it escaped. Not so the Masonic Hotel, another ancient wooden landmark, on the east side of High Street. This caught as the flames from Miller’s shop spread south, and soon both sides of the main thoroughfare were being demolished with incredible rapidity. Despite the efforts of the firefighters, the flames spread east and west, north and south. The Dannevirke Gas Company’s gasometer on a section at the rear of the Masonic Hotel were right within the danger zone, the fences all around being destroyed, but the flames were kept back from the gasometers. The fire started shortly after 2 o’clock, but it was well on towards 5 o’clock before it could be said that the Dannevirke and, Woodville brigades had got the upper hand. Even then the danger was not all over, huge masses of burning debris being visible in all directions. There was no loss of life and no serious accidents. Places not far from the serene of the conflagration were salvaged by -hundreds of the onlookers. Furniture, drapery, crockery, in fact, an unimaginable collection, of articles of all descriptions littered the highways and byways within half a mile from the blaze. Dannevirke has undoubtedly received a terrific blow commercially. An estimate of the loss is absolutely impossible at present, but it will run probably to within the vicinity of £200,000, if not more. The places destroyed, all practically a total loss, were as follow: Andrews’ Hotel. / Harris and Son, livery stables. John P. Engelbretsen, draper. Theodore Wysocke, tailor. Richard Roake, auctioneer. Lee Wong, laundry. Dannevirke Co-Operative Asso* / elation, Ltd. Arthur Henry Hill, tobacconist. . Peter J. Nymand, jeweller. Roose, tailor. Thos. J. Flynn, bootmaker. B. O. Thomsen, hairdresser. Edward E.. Prior, chemist.' James Neagle, motor importer. Rose, Ltd., builder. John Pcrcival Doods, music store. Lucy Miller, confectioner. Lionel P. Bartlett, bootmaker. Drummond, Hodder and Co,, ironmongers. / George L, Bartlett, hairdresser and tobacconist. Arthur C. Webber, bookseller. George A. Charman, restauranteur. Malcolm McCallum, watchmaker. Masonic Hotel. Quing Kec and Co., fruiterers. - Armstrong ! and Morrison, drapers. A Dannevirke and Herbertville Coaching Company. Collet and Sons, iron foundery. The Dannevirke Co-operatiVe Association were probably the biggest losers. The stock was valued at present prices at approximately £50,000, while the insurance was about £25,000. This firm employed 70 hands. :