DESTRUCTIVE FIRE.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIV, Issue 5682, 16 June 1879, Page 2

DESTRUCTIVE FIRE.

ENORMOUS DESTRUCTION.

OVER TWENTY HOUSES DESTROYED. ABOUT £50,006 WORTH OF PROPERTY BURNED. ABOUT FOUR ACRES IN RUINS. One of the most disastrous fires which has yet been experienced in Wellington, if not in the colony, broke out at about eight o’clock yesterday evening in Manners-street. The fire commenced in the Imperial Opera House, the precise locality, as far as we can at present ascertain, being between the dome and the upper circle, though how it originated is a matter of uncertainty. Three men who were in the building at the time began plnv'cg upon the flames with a hose that is kept on the premises, but this effort upon their part was futile to arrest the progress of the devouring e'ement, which quickly broke out on the roof. By tins time the alarm had been given, and the brigades, with their reels, were quickly on the spot, accompanied by immense crowds of people. Some considerable time elapsed before the hosemen could get a stream of water directed upon the burning building, and when they did the pressure was not strong enough to force tho jet sufficiently high to reach the burning roof. Attention was then directed to a lower building adjoining the Working Men’s Club, Stratford’s corn store, and by means of ladders the firemen scaled the roof of this place, and thence ascended to the root of the Club and Opera House. Hoses were then hauled to the top by ropes, and for seme time as good a stream as the brigades could command was directed upon the burning roofs, the fire having by this time spread to the roof of the Club. All this time numerous willing hands were engaged mov’ig furniture and other goods out of the three buildings named, the furniture from the Clnb being faken to the yard of the Wesleyan Church opposite. Mr. Joyce, stage manager of the company under engagement at the Opera House, worked hard to save the wardrobe, and in doing so he had a narrow escape of losing his life, for he fell down and was nearly suffocated by the smoke. It soon became apparent that it was impossible to save the burning buildings, and an effort was then made t« prevent the fire from spreading to o.hcr buildings in the immediate vicinity, the Wesleyan Church and the branch Bank of New Zealand being threatened. To prevent , this the firemen began playing upon these and other buildings, but the feeble stream of watef was insufficient for this purpose; and the upper portion of the steeple of the Wesleyan Church igniting, the fire soon spread to the other portions of the edifice, the whole of which was speedily wrapt in flames. ' The roofs of the surrounding buildings also caught shortly afterwards, the fire spreading towards Dixon and Cuba streets. The flames arose to a considerable height, and throw out an intense heat, which was felt for some distance, their illuminating power being also very great. The crowds which assembled were immense, every possible vantage ground being covered with spectators, while numerous were the assistants at the allimportant work of checking the progress of the conflagration. Others again were engaged in the removal of “ household gods ” from threatened habitations, many: of these goods being seriously damaged by the handling which they received. The police were present in large force,, and did good service. Sergeant Price cut off the service pipe leading from the gasmain to the Opera House, and plugged it up, thus preventing the flames from being, fed by the gas. , . ..A: Amongst'the buildings destroyed were the Opera House and Working Men’s Club, with Engleman’s and the other shop in front ; branch Bank of New Zealand ;/ Wesleyan Church ; Eddie and Jack’s brewery ; Graves and Fleming's drapery establishment; Mrs. Elder’s confectionery establishment ; Riokerman’s boot ditto; McLellan’a ditto; Marryat’s tobacconist ditto ; Simeon's tailoring ditto'; the old Market House ; Williams and Cameron’s saddlery; Emery’s hotel; Brown’s upholstery; Nag’s Head Hotel; Dixqn-street Schoolhouse ; Hogarth’s timber-yard,; ' Warcup’s boot-making establishment; ' Smart’s oyster shop; a lot of old sheds behind the Opera House ; Scott’s ironmongery establishment; Young’s oyster saloon; besides a • large number of smaller houses. The fw was ultimately checked; at, Duff and Houghton’s Wellington Coach Factory, but not before a - considerable quantity of goods was damaged there. '' The Te }Ato grocery store had a narrow escape of being destroyed, and this was - also the, with Smith’s TeAro House, only the determined manner in which the numerous helps worked to prevent their ignition being the means of saving them. On' ,the latter house there were between thirty and forty people (amongst them being a number of Naval Brigade men) constantly engaged in throwing water by means of buckets upon a large number of blankets which bad been spread upon the more exposed portion of the buildings, and in a right-of-way between the Dixon-street school and a private house another posse of workers prevented the fire from spreading, up Dixon-street by keeping the latter tenement well wetted. The members of the two fife brigades were very energetic in their work, and at times displayed an amount of bravery bordering upon recklessness, but we could not help remarking in common with many of the bystanders that their zeal was occasionally misdirected, and they appeared to be under no responsible, leadership. Between seventy and eighty Naval Brigade men were present at the fire, and worked very i

hard for the common good. Adverting to the scarcity of ■ water, upon the occasion of last night’s fire, we are reminded that some time ago Dr. Diver, in the City Council, advocated the purchase of a floating steam fire engine, the advantages of which, in the event of fire, are sufficiently obvious to need no comment from us. This proposal was, however, objected to by Councillors Eisher and Allen on the score of expense ; but had these Councillors foreseen such a disaster as it is now our duty to record, chiefly through the scarcity of water, we imagine they would . have been , less strongly opposed to such a desirable expenditure of civic fuhdsl Of the property destroyed,; the .value is roughly estimated at £59;OO0 a detailed list of which will be found below. The Imperial Opera House was insured in the New Zealand and South British offices for £6BOO, the risk being supposed to be equally divided between the two. This building was only opened in May last year, its total cost‘being £10,459, made up as follows Cost of building, £7732 ; stage fittings, £753 ; decorations and scenery, £709 ;"gas fittings;' Ac., £490; stall and house fittings and furmtufe, £773. The Wesleyan - Church is believed fo be uninsured, the risk, however, being provided for, it we are not mistaken, by a fund established for such contingencies. The branch Bank of New Zealand. was -also , uninsured, although there was an insurance formerly upon, the building. The safes of this ■ hank were, we believe, in the vaults beneath the building, and if so can be recovered., Miss Beatrice, the popular actress, lost all her jewellery by the destruction of,,the Opera House, and it was also rumored that three horses had been burnt in the; Nag’s Head stables. A painful report was also circulated to the effect that a man who" was on the roof of the Opera House when it fell in l disappeared amongst the burning ruins, but we hope this rumor will not be substantiated. : ‘ One o’clock jlic. The firemen are still busy in keeping the burning debris from doing any • further damage. About half-past twelve one of the Abeams of Stratford's corn store dame "down with a terrific crash, and a bystander had a narrow escape, as it fell close to where he was looking on. -A quarter of an hour afterwards an alarm of fire was given, and Superintendent Whiteford and a party of men immediately proceeded up Cuba-street. When they had got about 100yds. it was discovered that only a chimney at the rear of Mr. Hannahs boot shop was the cause : of the alarm.' There was no danger whatever, and the flames were quickly extinguished. ’ . ' The conduct of the young man who stood on the top of the verandah at Te Aro House, and stuck to his post, hose in hand, through volumes of smoke and clouds of sparks, has been spoken of very highly by all who saw him. We believe he is a young man named Price, who has charge of the showroom at Te Aro House, and who has been in Mr. Smith’s employ for a considerable tiine. - It was reported that a man had been killed at the Imperial Opera House ; but, so far as our reporters could learn from a large number of firemen, including Superintendent Whiteford, there was no truth in the rumor. He was informed, however, that one of the Wellington Eire Brigade had got struck with an ‘ axe, and that another had fallen a'distance of about 15-feet ; the latter got considerably burnt, and his face, we regret to hear, suffered severely from the fall. We are glad to be able to state that, these are the.only, casualties of any importance, so far as we could ascertain. '

The following is a list of the estimated damage caused by the fire—in offering a list such as the one appended, we do so with some misgivings, as we are in many instances quite unable to vouch for the accuracy of some of the estimates given,—many of our readers will doubtless be able, to correct the unavoidable errors for themselves : Imperial Opera House (building) ... -£7700 Do (stage fittings and stock, &o.) ... 2700 Engelman, fancy goods- , warehouse (stock) ... ... ••• 1500 Eddie and Jack (building, inclusive of Working Men's Club) ... ■■■ 2500 Eddie and Jack (stock) 1500 Working Men’s Club (furniture and stock)... ... ••• 800 Stratford’s corn store (balding and stock)... ... ... ... 2000 Bank of New Zealand, (balding and furniture —uninsured) ... ... 1000 Warcup, bootmaker (stock) ... ... 100 Smart, oyster shop ... 200 Hogarth, timber yard... 1000 Pirie’s buildings (including Graves and Fleming’s drapery, Scott’s ironmongery, Elder’s fruit shop, and Kickman’s boot shop) ... ... .. 1750 Graves and Fleming (stock) ... ... 5000 ■.Mrs. Elder (stock) ■ ..... , 150 ’.Scott (stock) ... ... r ! ... . .... . 2000 jßickman (stock) - , 800 Wesleyan Ohurchi (building, and organ which latterly cost £300) ... ... 6000 Wesleyan scheolhouso... • .... ... 700 Simeon, tailor (building) ..... 400 Young, oyster shop (building and stock),.. . ...... ■ ... 300 Brown, cabinet-maker, (building and stock) ... ,-I .... , ... , ... 1000 Nag’s..|iead Hotel and stable... , ... 1500 db. - (furniture aud stock) ... .500 Emeny’s Hotel and cottage (including stock, Ac.) ... ... 2500 Market Hall ... ■ ... ... _ ... 500 Williams, Cameron, and Co-, building (including Ashton’s), ... ... 1200 Williams, Cameron, and Co., (stock, &e.) ... ... .. .. ... 500 Ashton, boot-closing shop, (stock, &c.) 250 Cottage next to Wesleyan-school, (building and stock) ... ... 250 Total , ... £46,350 Considerable- damage was' done'to the wellknown grocery establishment, opposite Te Aro House, owned by Mr. Whitehouse, aud also to Te Aro House, most of the windows of which will want renewing." So far as can be ascertained, neither -grocery nor drapery stock received much injury; 'Mr. Nicholson endeavored to remove; his stock, and it must have received considerable damage ; and the same remarks will > apply, we believe, to Mr. O. Smith’s drapery establishment. At the first going off a’large quantity of the furniture belonging to the Working Men’s Club was saved, and nearly all the steward's furniture, which latterwas, unfortunately, uninsured ; but as the greater portion was removed to the yard- belonging to the Wesleyan Church, it suffered’the' general fate. The billiard-tables' had to bd left to their destiny, as some of n 'the; members who were in the act of unscrewing them received peremptory ordersto i leave’ ; the building, as it was no longer safe. Messrs. Rickman, Simeon, and Warcup succeeded in-Removing their stock to a place of safety.- cNeither Mr.'Simeon nor Mr. Warcup'c'hpd') his stock' insured, we '’believe. The Wesleyan; Church and'school, wore not insured in any of the local offices, but we uuderiitahd’ fhat ’there is a general fund, ; into which a certain amount is paid by all the : -churches ’ belonging i'tol' that body;; ' Miss ! Beatrice; .too,;’was;.unfortunate in losing her. .Jewellery, as she left it at the Imperial Opera House on. Sathrday night, as ’was -her general ■custom since she Ms been:herb."The orchestra managed to secure their" instruments and mnsio.i'thfepnano. being-alsoVsucbessfdlly re- , moved! " _ It was very difficult—ini fact, -impossible—to ascertain the Insurances ; but our reporters heard that Mr. Emeriy /vras insured for about £700; which Swill; of', odurse, -fall'far 'short of the actual loss ; and .the building occupied by; Mr. Simeon!.was,insured’ for £460. The iusu- j ■ranee on the Imperial. Opera House was about £7OOO ; and the Working Men’s Club had’ their furniture insured for about £650.' i Altogether, the scene is rhost' appalling to, look at. - Buddings; which 'must have covered three or four acres of ground,;are laid waste, and nothing is "left' but l A'mass of charred embers... ■■ ’ 7 ' : EIRE AT TINAKORI-ROAD. Between;twolve ; .and one 6’clock yesterday the fire i bolls 1 rafiglbut’ an alarm, (and the brigades’ Wfire'qtiibkiy in motion. VOn proceeding to Thdfhddn I ,fit tvas : found that it was only; a chimney that bad caught fire. With the aid of some of the honorary’ members of the Wel-lington-Firs Brigadeiwho live in Thorndon—principally Mr. Charles Gillespie, of the’ Shepherd’s Arms, who - is dn old fireinah, the fire was made short wdrlc of, and the men retired, little thinking that there was such hot’ work in store for them during the evening. j