DESTRUCTIVE FIRE AND LOSS OF LIFE.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 5147, 21 September 1877, Page 3

DESTRUCTIVE FIRE AND LOSS OF LIFE.

One of the most . destructive, fires that bas taken placuiu Wellington for tome years occurred on Septeriiber ll„,wheu, the,, shop, and business premises of Mr. Alcorn, draper, on.Lambtoaquay, 1 were, with their valuable contents,,, conn pletely destroyed,' ’. Added' to .tliis loss, of property, 1 was-that'of life, I 'orie'.of Mr. Alcorn’s children perishing in the fllrnes. The 'premises which' ; have been : burned were well known-to people'-in Wellirigton, 1 and consisted 1 of a two-ttoried building running 1 brick sonic distance from the street,- and-a large and lofty show-room of one story, lighted by a capacious lantern at the rear. The buildings were composed: of corrugated iron and ; wood. and the shop took up the whiple-pf, the ground-floor of ■ that in-;fqojit,: the, first;-flopri.being- used 1 as,a dwelling-house by;IVCr. Alcorn and his familyi . -• -The. fire broke out w-ith moat alarming suddenness. Wheri the business pPrtipri of the preri4|se3:wa3 ! qlPsed' atjsix o’clock’in s the even-' ing everything wris safe’arid apparently fveq from dariger. > At about ‘ten - minutes prist > eight o’ clock some persons passing noticed’ smoke, sprirlcS, and small jets of flame issuing from the roof and cornice.-which, ran along the front of the {building. .-Almost-at the same; 1 moment' Mrs. Alcorn, who was sitting in the. front room with five of her children, was alarmed -by her servant rushing into the room and crying, that tlie shop was on lire.. , Mrs. A|corn{s sixth; child, a-boy of three years of age, was sleeping in a room towards' the rear, and, his mother made a desperate effort to reach' and rescue him, but was beaten ''back by a perfect mass bt smokP arid , flame, 1 which came driving into 'the vyhole- front of the building,- rind compelledber4;o seek siifety for herself rinds remaining!, 'ohildrenn on” thp verandah, j which ;they - reached -, j through- the' first:fl()pr window,;-. £jhe Wap iso lpvesspd hbre.by lhe adyariqing flames tflat-shq hqd to throw {oqe of . the chi|3ren—; tfle .pepplp who had by this time gathered she ' and,-tfle other' 1 children, were ,quickly gpt to grouijd{in i their trirri.' 1 Siioh was her natural terror! arid distraction under'the'olreumsfarices' •thajli sfle [and;hetlfriWily-;ft:ere- separated for some tirije,|MisuAb;orn:!herSelf; and her baby finding 1 temporarys refuge ;at : Mr.,Willeston’s, tfle { tobacconist, apd tflp,; children , being! convoyed by, Irinffly ’handautoaMr, .Ookeris .Occidental Hotel, where ; theyj were -.immediately. cared' for. j Subsequently the family .was re-; united. but only to find that one rivas; missing',■ the child whom, Mrs. Alcorn was unable to rescue. Mr. Alcorn himself was from homo when the fire began,: and, returning only in time to hear that his little son was supposed to be in the now completely burning house, was

I 'wifi difficultyrestrained, plunging, into the" flamesi;^/I'hei Boennjtiwas / Qf ft- very sad I description} and redded to the 'customary • excitement' attending' upon ■the'dccurren'cdof a greatjfire. ; j .?) ", ;c ■ 1 - ■ln ithe - meantime the persons who, as has been mentioned', first noticed, smoke and flames , emerging from the’roof, had ".given the alarm, ahd. tho firebells ringing out, jjoth brigades and .a . great;- crowd of' .spectators ’ were- quioklj' on the’spot: ;; The Central Brigade," whose station is but'a'stone’s throw from the seat of the con-flagration,-were the first to put in an appearance, but tlte promptness with which the Wellington Brigade came, up ,was the .theme- of general praise". ' At this moment, unfortunately, one of those accidents happened which so frequently prevent a quickly applied effort precluding much' subsequent damage. Several lines of hose had been coupled up, and the water had been set well to play upon the burning building, when just as it seemed that the fire might be got under before the whole of the premises and stock were destroyed, the,water stopped flowing, and for fully five minutes the firemen were compelled to stand idly by, watching, whilst the flames, which by this time had broken through the roof and sides in several places, roared and spread over the whole building, threatening two closely adjoining shops with destruction, and completely enveloping the showroom at : the rear, from the lantern roof of which a perfect volume -of flame rushed--up to a great height, illuminating the houses along the Terrace, which runs above it, and lighting up a large portion of the town. At this time, the scene was a most exciting One. There was a very large crowd on Lambton-quay in front of the fire, and the Terr'acb was thickly lined with onlookers. The firemen stood idle perforce on tbe.street, and some who had climbed to the roofs of the adjoining buildings, and had penetrated to the rear, dragging their hose after them, were compelled to stand still useless .whilst the flames increased, and shouts and , cries went up from the bystanders, it seeming to everyone as if the conflagration'must presently reach, an extent at which it would be difficult, if not impossible, to stop it without many buildings besides those "of Alcorn’s being destroyed. But after a most painful" interval the water supply came on at its full pressure, and in an incredibly short space of time the brigades, working with wonderful unanimity at every point and vantage ground, had the flames under control, and the magnificent. supply of water which has fortunately been provided for this city was appreciated at its proper value. Aided by its volume' and force, the firemen, with a skill, bravery, and energy that can scarcely be spoken too highly of, had theii enemy soon at a. disadvantage, and before half-past nine o’clock' all danger was past, and the fire was not only prevented from spreading beyond the premises in which it originated, but was reduced to a blackened, steaming mass of cinders.; There was, fortunately, a brick wall between Alcorn’s and Mr. Lubning’s, the tobacconist, the next adjoining building on the southern side, that towards which the wind blew the flames; but there was no such protection ■ in the case of Mr. Gamble’s, the tailor, i whose shop was on the northern side. In both cases, however, no injury was done beyond that caused by the' hasty removal of the goods from either shop. , So soon as 1 ever the state of the ruins permitted it search was made for the body of the poor little child which had perished, and at [ten minutes past eleven o’clock the remains were found by Captain Wbiteford and Mi:. Nelson, of the Wellington Fire Brigade} and were conveyed to the ■ engine station of the Central Fire Brigade,- where they lie awaiting the inquest, which will be held as soon as possible. . i ‘ ' ' 1 . The origin of the fire of ceurse it is impossible to guess at this moment.' Though its great outbreak, so to speak, was most sudden, it is only reasonable to suppose that, auoh a volume of flame must have had a considerable time to gather. | In other words, by the time the alarm was given—that is to say, by the time the fire was first observed, it must have had a pretty fair period in which to have gathered strength. This of course will point to the conclusion that the fire'must have been either smouldering unobserved during the day and acquired strength after shutting-up hour, or that some unnoticed cause had. just sprung into origin at the time Mr. Alcorn’s was closed. There seems little doubt, however, as to' the locality in which the fire commenced. All observation points to the upper story. ;Th'e insurance on the building and stock were South British, £IOOO ; Phoenix, £IOOO ; Standard, £SOO ; a policy in the New Zealand for £SOO lapsed in March last. ■ Tn reference to the late destructive fire on Lambton-quay, Mr. Alcorn has received the following letter from the Governor’s Private Secretary : “Wellington, September 12, 1877.—Bear Sir,—His Excellency the Governor and Lady Normanby have desired me to enquire after Mm. Alcorn, and at the same time to convey to you, and Mrs. Alcorn their sincere sympathy; ini your sad bereavement.—l am, dear sir, yours faithfully,- lewin C. Maling, Captain 23rd Begiment, Private Secretary,—S. W. Alcorn, Esq.” ' The following" letters have been forwarded to the captains of the Central and Wellington Fire Brigades :—■ f< Wellington, September 12, 1877.—Gentlemen,—Having been present at the fire on Lambton-quay last night, I cannot refram from expressing to you my admiration of the conduct of the fire brigades. I have frequently been present at fires in America and elsewhere, and I can 'safely say that I never saw firemen act with greater promptitude, coolness, order, and courage than the men under yoUr command did last night. The arduous duties' which you have voluntarily imposed upon yourselves are of vital importance to the inhabitants of any town, and especially so in a city: like, Wellington,' which' is chiefly' constructed of wood; and I think if,only just that I should avail myself of this opportunity of conveying to you, and through you to the men under,your command, my, appreciation of the .'efficiency to which you have attained, and of the.greatpromptitude with which the brigades upon all occasions turn out on the first alarm of fire.—l have .the honor to be- gentlemen, yoUr. mpsf obedient servant, Noemanby.—To Superintendent A.’ - Wbiteford and members 'of the' Wellington Volunteer Fire Brigade, Wellington.’’," ; Wellington,; September 12; r 1877.^-Sir, —I have, been requested by bis Excellency the .Governor to fonvard’ to you the enclosed letter, : afid to inform you that a duplicate of •the ; sanje has-been-sent to Captain Lewis Moss of the Central Volunteer, Fire Brigade, i—l havei the' honor to be, sir,, your most obedient servant, Irwin C. Malino,- Captain 23rd Begiment, Private Secretary.—To Superintendent! WHiteford," Wellington Volunteer 1 Fire Brigade, Wellington.” ’ - ’ INQUKBT ON THE BODY OF THE CHILD. ■ An inquest was held at the Central Fire ißrigade Station on Wednesday on view of the body of Winifred Alcorn, the little girl who was burned at the fire which occurred on her , father’s premises, Lambton-quay, the previous .night. j ,A jury, ;of whom Mr. Felix Jones was foreman, was Sworn. i’ 1 The Coroner, in addressing, the jury said the inquiry related solely to the cause of, the death'of the poof child who was, burned in her bed the previous night. , With the cause and origin of the fire that jury had nothing to do. ; He might tell" them that' the body of the child was so 1 burned that it could not be identified, but if-the jury/: desired to examine it there it jWas :in, the,room for them; but it was not a pleasant sight. , , . Qua , of the jurors expressing a desire to see the, body (which was dying in- a > chair in the room, covered with a; sheet), it was uncovered. It appeared, as described by the _ Coroner, so i burned as to be beyond identification. . • i Archibald ’ Wbiteford 1 deposed: I ain captain of the Wellington Fire Brigade. Shortly after eight- o’clock last night I was called to the fire at Mr. -Alcorn’s. After the fire was put out I was told that there was a child missing, and was' directed to go upstairs to a room in which I 'was told the children usually slept. On searching" the room it was found fiat the "floor had given way and fallen to the ground beneath. On making search below an iron bedstead was found standing on end near the wall. On looking underneath it I found the remains

'of ii Child!, , Tlie body, was .'quite-., charred. and burned black,- so that identification was. im- ’ possible., • 'I did hot, see - any'remains bf.blan- ’ ’kets or. bedclothes. ■' There was hbthing'bnt the Burnt and charred- body remaining. We put it into a sheet, and removed ■it ‘ to' the room . where this inquest is how'being held. ' . r ■ Samuel Wesley .Alcorn deposed :!am a - draper, living in- Wellington, and the occupier of the premises. About eight o’clock on Tuesday'night I carried my child Winifred from the sitting-room to her bed in another room. She would; have been four years old next month. The room was lighted by gas. There wasmo fireplace or fire in it. .The child was nndressed and asleep when I’put her to bed. The gas was burning low when I went in. I turned it on for a minute or two whilst I placed the child comfortably in her bed, and then turned it down low again; The gas was not near enough to the bed to ignite it. . Between ten minutes and a quarter of an hour afterwards ' the servantgirl ran into the dining-room, and said that the shop was ■on fire. X rushed to the dining-room door and into the passage, and immediately saw a body of fire coming up stairs from the direction of the shop.. I ran to a front window up stairs and got out on to the verandah and down into the street in order to get to the water-hose at the back of the house. I did, .not enter the house. I applied the hose, and there was full pressure of water on. (The Coroner said he was very glad to hear this, as it showed that there was no scarcity of water-snpply as had been currently reported.) By this time the firemen were arriving' and applying their hose ; but there was some delay in getting a flow of water., I do not know the cause of the delay. lafter wards saw my wife being helped down from the verandah by,a ladder, and I learned afterwards that three of my children had been rescued in the same way. Two other children had been got out through the kitchen ; but I did not know this at the time, and thought they were missing ; but I was told by Mr. Thompson that they were safe, and that all the children but one had been saved. I then was sure that the missing child was Winifred, the deceased. After the first alarm, the flames gained ground upon us with such rapidity that my wife was hardly! able to escape before they : were upon her. She made an attempt to get to the children’s bedroom, but was driven back by flames and smoke. Between 11 and 12 o’clock I was informed that the body of the missing child had been found. To-day I have seen the iron bedstead upon which the body was found, and can identify it as the same bedstead upon which I had placed the child shortly before the fire. The Coroner said this was all the evidence that would be produced at this inquiry, and he thought it would ’be sufficient for them to arrive without difficulty at the cause of the poor child’s death. The jury returned a verdict, “ That the deceased was accidentally burned to death.” coroner’s inquest. An inquest was held on Sept. 19th at the Theatre Royal Hotel, before Dr. Johnston, coroner, and a jury, of whom Mr. G. Denton was foreman, to enquire into the circumstances and origin of the late destructive fire on Mr. Alcorn’s premises, Lambton-quay. , The Coroner observed that the enquiry was held at the request of one of the insurance companies, in accordance with the usual custom in such cases ; but he did not think that any definite conclusion was likely to be arrived at as to the cause of the fire. . There was no suspicion entertained of foul play. However, it would be for the jury to say, after hearing the evidence, whether they could say what the origin of the fire was, or to adopt the other alternative of returning an open verdict. Samuel Wesley Alcorn deposed-: I am a draper residing in Wellington, and was the occupier of the premises on Lambton-quay which were burned down on the evening of Tuesday, the 11th September inst. The shop was closed at 6 o'clock, and I remained about, half an hour after the assistants left. The gas was turned off except the jet at my desk. There was no lire or fireplace in the shop, and no candles. I turned my gaslight very low down, but not quite out, when I had finished my work. I then went upstairs to the sittingroom, and remained there until the alarm of tire Was given, at about 8 o’clock, by the servant girl, Alice G-ough, who said the shop was on fire. I went to the door, and saw the reflection of light from below. I then ran to the front window, and got down by the verandah post on to the ground, calling out “ Dire.” I then went to the back of the house, where a hose was placed, and having fixed the hose turned oh the water. A man took the hose and commenced playing ou the fire, and I proceeded to look aftermy wife and family. Almost immediately the fire burst through the windows. My own opinion is that the cause of the fire was an escape of gas which reached the small jet which I had left alight. There was nothing hanging near the lighted jet which could have ignited. It. was my custom to leave the gas lighted at the desk. It the alarm of fire had not arisen I should have gone back to the shop in a few minutes afterwards to return to my work. When the alarm was first given the fire had got thoroughly hold of the shop. The gas fittings, so far as I knew, were satisfactory. : I had not had occasion to get any of the pipes repaired in consequence of rats having eaten them through, but on one occasion some time previously, shortly after taking possession of the premises, it was discovered that a nail had been driven into one of the pipes beneath the floor, which caused an escape, and the floor was taken up and the damage repaired. Clara Valentine deposed : I was nurse at Mr. Alcorn’s at the time of the fire. I was then in the kitchen. It was about 8 o’clock. The kitchen window looks on to the dome in the roof of the showroom, from which a bright light was reflected, and there was ' smoke coming upstairs. The other servant crirl, Alice Gough, ran out of the kitchen, and almost immediately called out that the - shop was on fire. She then ran to tell Mr. Alcorn, and had just time to get back through the smoke to the kitchen. There were two of Mr. Alcorn’s children in the kitchen. We got them out through the window, and got out ourselves on to the roof of Mr. Gamble’s premises. We could then see the fire through the dome. It looked as if the whole of the showroom was on fire.' We could not get out in any way except by the window, the fire was so quickly upon us. 1 Mr. Alcorn was recalled, and stated : The gas pipe leading to the desk was a composition pipe. My little girl, aged eleven, went down stairs shortly before the alarm was given to a . small room behind the shop to get something from a tool-box. She had a match with her. She blew it out and brought it back to the upstairs room. Whilst sitting up stairs I heard a noise as if something had fallen, and said to my wife, 41 What noise is that. ’ I thought it was something which the servants had let fall in the kitchen, but subsequently understood from them that nothing had fallen. My belief ia that the fire was caused by the explosion of gas. If the premises had been set on fire by an incendiary, it would have been impossible for the whole building to be on fire all over at • >nce.

Lewis Moss, Captain of the Central Volunteer Fire Brigade, deposed: I have attended at many fires in Wellington. I was at Mr. Alcorn’s premises immediately after the alarm of fire on the night of the 11th instant. X live in the immediate neighborhood. On my arrival on the spot, which was within a minute or two of the alarm being given, I saw flames coming out of all the three front windows. The hosereel was brought on to the scene in a few minutes afterwards. On looking round the premises, it appeared that the greatest body of the fire proceeded from the showroom. My opinion is that the cause of the fire was an explosion of gas. The whole building was in two minutes' time after the alarm was given a mass of flames. It contained inflammable materials, which would be likely to feed a fire. 1 The Coroner observed that he was himself in the neighborhood at the time, and remarked how quickly after the first alarm was given the whole building was in flames. ■ His own opinion was there was a very strong presumption that the fire arose from an explosion of gas, but whether there was sufficient evidence for the jury to arrive at that conclusion it would be for them after consulting together to say.

The jury, after a brief deliberation, returned a verdict that the fire was accidental, hut how or by what means it was caused there was no evidence to show. ,‘ . The citizens of Wellington' have not been, unmindful of the exertions of tbs Central and Wellington Brigades at the late fire on Lamb-ton-quay. The conduct of the officers and men on that occasion is the theme of universal praise. A subscription, limited to two guineas each,, was gotkip in order to make up a sum for distribution amongst the members of the brigades as a small token of appreciation of their services. : The captains of the respective brigades have 'subsequently received the following letter : “ Lambton-quay; September 13. “ Dear Sirs, —The gentlemen whose names are annexed have each handed me £2 2s. for distribution amongst t’ae members of your brigades. The wish of the subscribers is that it should be equally divided between the two companies, and that any mrther distribution amongst the members should be left to yourselves. On behalf of myself, the subscribers, and my neighbors generally, I beg you will convey to the members of your respective companies the warmest thanks for their untiring exertions, by whose well-directed assistance our properties were saved on Thursday evening last.—l am, &c., ' , 1 “ W. G. Jackson. “ To Captains Moss and Whitefovd.” List of Subscribers ;—Messrs. W. G. Jackson, Mulligan, Wilson, Wiggins, Reason, Hill, Meyers, Willeston, Bragge, Laing, Coker, Hannah and Do., Hart and Buckley, Wilson and Richardson, Kirkcaldie and Stains, Barraud and Sons, Kohn and Co., Woods, Crosbie, and Co. Captain Moss has also received a cheque from Mr. W. James for £3, as a donation from him to the Central Brigade. Superintendent Whiteford, of the Wellington Volunteer Fire Brigade, thankfully acknowledges the receipt of £3 from Mr. W. James, and also from Captain Moss the sum of £lB 18s., being half of £37 16s. subscribed as a recognition of the services of the Brigade at the late fire On Lambtcn-quay.

We are happy to state that Mr. Alcorn has met with substantial sympathy in his heavy loss. The day after the fire a subscription-list was started, when sums ranging as high as £SO were subscribed by the leading business people of the city.