THE "FIRE-PROOF" PANTECHNICON BURNT.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume IX, Issue 97, 24 April 1874, Page 2

THE " FIRE-PROOF" PANTECHNICON BURNT.

[Australasian Correspondent ] One of tbe most disastrous fires of our time broke out the other evening nobody knows how, in the most fashionable part of London, at tbe Pantechnicon, a largo warehouse in Belgravia, elaborately fitted for the security aud preservation of.private goods. »Thirtythree years ago " the nobility, gentry, artists, coackrnakers, musical instrument makers, and the public geueraliy," had their attention called by advertisement to " this extensive establishment now open for the reception of carriages, wines, musical instruments, and paintings, either on sale or commission, or for their preservation." "No expense has been spared," the nobility, gentry, and coachmakers were assured, "in order to erect a building that should be proof against the destructive ravages of fire, and in which will be found complete accommodation for warehousing the valuables of noblemen and gentlemen in their absence from town." To this former end, "tho whole of the ceiliDg has been lathed with iron rods, and covered with a composition that will resist the strongest fire, and which will not fall down or crack if water be thrown on it." From that time till last week the establishment has stood unharmed, and grown in size and importance, till it sheltered more valuable property probably than any other private building in England. It covered an acre and a quarter of ground and rose five stories high. Every precaution was taken at the time of its erection to make it fireproof, atid the common verdict pronounced it a safe place. But one afternoon last week there was a smell of burning, and presently fire was discovered; the firemen and the workpeople rushed to their fire-engine, but could not get enough water. The iron doors which separated one room from another, were quickly closed to cut off the danger, and tarpaulins were thrown over all the goods on the ground-floor. The fire brigade Boon arrived, but the Binoke was thickening and the spot not easily reached, and the water supply for some minutes inefficient. The flames then leaped up in tremendous strength, and

barracks were hurried up in detachments, but no human effort could avert destruction. The fire burnt on far into the night, over a wide area. One side of Lowndes-equare had a narrow escape; a long wall of the pantechnicon fell, cruahiug green-houses and outbuildings, unduly a change of wind saved the house! beyond. The glare of the flumes was visible for many miles; Hyde Park was lighted by them as by a full moon. One amateur fireman was killed by the falling of a wall; 7 a young gaurdsraan, who was helping, bad his leg broken from the same cause; and the Duke of Cambridge, who was ono among hundreds of aristocratic visitor, jumped back just in time to escape serious injury. As to the destruction of property, even now it cannot be estimated. The building alone cost £200,000, but its contents were the luxuries of private mansions, and not to be measured in tin ir value by figures. Wealthy families travelling ou the Continent bad stored their treasures here; und members of Parliament aDd others, out of town for tbe season, bad deposited tbeir valuables in this safe-keeping. Sir Richard Wallace, tho munificent patron of art, who had stored many of his collections iv the Pantechnicon while his town house was being rebuilt, is said to be the heaviest loser. His property destroyed is roughly estimated at £120,000, including armour worth £6,000. The destruction of pictures has been without precedent. Sir Frederic Sykes loses a collection valued at £14,000; another gentleman a lot which he had recently purchased for 15,000 guineas. Sir Seymour Fitagerall has lost a collection of rare porphyry vases. A thousand works of art, of various merit have perished; historical documents, long carefully treasured, have been consumed; so, also, pianos without number, and costly furniture of every kind. In the vast mass of ruins it is still impossible to say what precious things have been buried. Thero are between two and three thousand depositors, and it is feared that that the larger number were uninsured. The carriages in the basement Btory were easily dragged into the streets. The pr ncipal portion of tbe plate also appears to bave been saved, the strong room in which it was stored hiving withstood the flames. Nothing is known as to the origin of the fire. The public faith in fire-proof buildings is cow irretrievably shaken. Tbe failure of the water supply in the first moment of alarm points to danger in other quarters, and tho old question is revived as to the risks under which we live iv London. Mr Edwin Chadwicb, for instauce, draws an alarming picture of what might happen should a fire seize one of the high warehouses near St. Paul's Cathedral. It is satisfactory to be assured by the firm that owns the highest and largest building in that locality that they have alwaya/ large tanks filled with water on their roofs— an example which might be imitated with advantave in all neighborhoods where the danger is great