The Nelson Evening Mail. FRIDAY, MAY 1, 1868. FIRE IN HARDY-STREET.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume III, Issue 102, 1 May 1868, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. FRIDAY, MAY 1, 1868. FIRE IN HARDY-STREET.

Last night, shortly after 10 o'clock, and just as the audience were leaving the Harmonic Society's Concert at the Provincial Hall, the firebells pealed out the alarm, and a general rush was made to Hardy-street, the upper part of which, near the Institute, proved to be the scene of the conflagration.

It will be remembered that three twostoried houses were situated nearly oppo site that building, the centre one of which* being that in which the fire was found to have originated, belonged to Mr W. Lightfoot and was occupied .by Mr Darby, the front room on the floor being temporarily used by Mr Rawson, dentist, as a consulting room. The adjoining houje, towards Collingwoodstreet, belonged to Mr Brent, and was occupied by Mrs Donkin as a lodging house. On the other side of Mr Lightfoot's house, is another of similar character, occupied by Mr Haines, and this building was almost miraculously preserved. All three houses were of wood, and shingled; fortunately, however, between the house tenanted by Mr Haines and that belonging to Mr Lightfoot, a narrow passage intervened, about three or four feet wide, whilst the roofs of the other two houses were connected, and the destruction of the one almost necessarily involved that of the other. The. fire originated, as we have already stated, in the centre house, in the front parlour of which Mr Rawson and Mr John Greenwood were at the time engaged in making some dental preparations, and whilst pouring out some methylated spirits of wine from a two-gallon' tin, which by some accident was overturned, the contents became ignited from the flame of a lamp which stood close by on the floor. No sooner had this taken place than the floor of the room became one mass of fire ; Mr Rawson escaped by breaking through the window, and jumping into the street, whilst Mr Greenwood was much burnt about the legs in getting into the passage, Mrs Darby was alarmed, and had happily just sufficient time to rescue her children, who were sleeping in the bedroom overhead, and who, finding the passage below already in flames, were forced to make their escape through the window at the back of the house.

The flames almost instantaneously gained a fearful ascendancy, and it was evident from the first glance that the two houses nearest to Collingwood-street must inevitably fall a sacrifice. The hosereel and hydrant kept at the rear of the Institute were very speedily brought to the scene of action, and the latter being affixed to the fireplug at the junction of Hardy and Collingwood Streets, the hose was quickly in operation, many members of the Fire Brigade being in attendance and working, as usual, with the most unwearied zeal and activity. Another hydrant and hose, from the Government Buildings, were also soon afterwards attached to the fireplug, and whilst the other hose played upon Mr Haines's house, the preservation of the other two houses being plainly impossible, the second hose prevented the extension of the flames at their rear, by playing on the outbuildings in the direction of Panama House, the inmates of which were in no slight state of alarm.

There can be no question that to this judicious disposition of the means at the

command of the Fire Brigade may be attributed the comparatively limited amount of damage done on this occasion, and most especially the preservation of Mr Haines's house, the walls of which, although in such very close and dangerous proximity to the fiercest portion of the conflagration, were not even scorched. A considerable amount of property was removed from Mrs. Donkiu's house, but some valuable instruments belonging to her lodgers, and also much of her household furniture were destroyed, the flames communicatiug so rapidly with the upper part of the house as to render their removal impossible. The destruction of property was therefore confined to the two adjoining houses, nearest Collingwood Street, and in little more than an hour the fire had burnt itself out, leaving nothing but charred beams and smoking embers to mark the scene of the conflagration. Although the damage committed by this fire is not of very serious extent, it will, we regret we state, fall very heavily upon some of the sufferers. Messrs Lightfoot and Brent are each insured to the amount of £175, in the London, Liverpool, and Globe office, and their loss will probably amount to £100 respectively. Mr Darby had only entered upon his tenancy of Mr Lightfoot's house a few days ago, and has lost all his furniture, including a valuable •pianoforte recently imported, and his loss will probably be not much under £300. The total loss is assumed to be about £1,000, of which ouly £350 is covered by insurances.

This, the first opportunity on which the Waterworks have been brought into action for the extinction of a fire, has thus supplied a most satisfactory test of their value, for it is impossible to surmise how great a destruction of property might otherwise have resulted ou this occasion.

We regret to be compelled to refer to some very ungracious and certainly unmerited strictures on the management of the Fire Brigade, which appeared in an 'extra' published by the Colonist this morning. It must be obvious to any dispassionate person that in the excitement which ever prevails on such occasions, some shortcomings must often occur, however desirous each individual member of the Brigade may be to do his utmost to meet the emergency. In fact the most serious difficulty with which the Captain of a Fire Brigade has to contend, is the over anxiety of his subordinates to exercise, so to speak, their own private judgment, and the responsibility of directing and controlling their operations judiciously and inofiiciously is confessedly very great.

It must also be remembered that our Fire Brigade is entirely composed of individuals who volunteer their services, and who receive no gratuity whatever for the fatigue and the injury to their clothing to which they are inevitably exposed on such occasions. We would also remind the Colonist that, thanks to the niggardly treatment which the Brigade has received, especially at the hands of the Insurance Agents, that body, to whom the community has been so largely indebted on so many previous occasions, is now in a state of positive impecuniosity, and, in fact, but for the kindness of the Provincial Solicitor, would have been unprovided with even the slightest refreshment at the termination of their arduous labors last night.

The Colonist complains that the hosepipe was not directed occasionally to the roof of Mr Wagg's house, which is situated at some distance from Mrs Donkin's, an open space intervening. We are assured that this house was never in danger ; in fact was not even blistered, and what slight wind prevailed at the time was blowing in the contrary direction. Besides, any unnecessary expenditure of the water in that quarter would have seriously endangered the preservation of Mr Haines's house, which was in immeasurably greater jeopardy. It should also be remembered how frequently a large amount of property is thus unnecessarily destroyed, and we may add that Mr Stanger Leathes, on his late visit to Nelson, gave an apt illustration of this statement, in the fact that on a recent occasion in Sydney, where the damage done by fire was only £700, £10,000 worth of property was destroyed by water.

We have been requested by Captain Knight to state that the Provincial Solicitor gives the most positive denial \ to the assertion made by the Colonist this morning, to the effect that he, as Captain of

the Brigade, had refused for some time to atteud his representations with regard to the direction of the hose on Mr Haines's house in preference to the burning house adjoining, and that, on the contrary, he immediately gave directions to that effect. Captain Knight also states that the Editor of the Colonist had no authority whatever from Mr Adams to make such an assertion.

We find that, through some neglect on the part of the Secretary, Dr. Cotterell, who has been nominated surgeon to the Brigade, has not yet received the notification of his official appointment, although he offered his services gratuitously to that body. Happily no accideut occurred last night to bring them into requisition, but the probability of such a contingency suggests the propriety of at once repairing the omission.