The Oamaru Mail WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE NEW ZEALAND AGRICULTURIST. MONDAY, JUNE 16, 1879.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 985, 16 June 1879, Page 2

The Oamaru Mail WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE NEW ZEALAND AGRICULTURIST. MONDAY, JUNE 16, 1879.

Th» disastrous tire that occurred in W®tttnjftnn last nil?lit wilt leave a .srnp «n the i'Kmp»»e City tWt »i£i h»v«-to U, i ateUr fitled np. for land ia too valuable there, j e»pe.:iatEy in the Eocality of the tire, to a-hntt lof its remaining idle f«r even a short ! nf tteter. will the' wnbwr» iwwedMMi ' out wfu'tt the vvorkrued.wtU l>e on thi spot, i vt)ill vjrf"tliuttilfOCS Ul tit*' '^ f '- j (ifraS h'tvf | wr>rki!tei> »:ar j'wiitvr* or atf>nciuaeon.'|- ' The of LMMWO worth of praj). r y I shoald be »lesson to the citizens of the city of match-boxes to deal in something more substantial than wooden building*. They : say that they tannot because of the I earthquake*. In the early dsy3 of W el--1 tington there was good ground for fear on account of these natural phenomena, ; but Wellington appears to enjoy as perfect an i immunity now from their damaging ejects as i any other portion of the Colony. Thorofore, ; w« my that the Wellingtonians should, as their ephemeral erectfons give way to decay lor fire, saWtitatu buitdinya that would be i worthy of their city, and give it the a;>I pearance and nuality of pemt«ncnce which ih so marketl tn the ca.<e of other New Zealantl cities. We have little fear that wooden i bttiTdings will occnpy the places of those i that have just been razed. Tiie peojua ot • Wellington will be only too glad to take r this opportunity to commence to remove the reproach which attaches to them on i account of the infer jor—not to say danger©us—character of the materia! otst of which ' their city is almost wholly composed. : and, if the City Council are wise, now that ithe natural convulsions that have been so ; conducive to the prosperity of the timber merchants of the north, have departed for | some more congenial sphere, they will encourage the desires of their citizens for buildings of a better and safer description ; than they now have, by passing a law that no wooden buildings shall be erected within the limits of their domain. Numerous excellent building materials, which, we believe. would stand the test of earthquakes, have been used with considerable success in Auckland. Christchttrch, and Lhtnedin. In the last-inentioned city, more particularly one of the materials (concrete) has been brought largely into tt«o. Daroarn stone, too. we need not say. forms no unimportant ingredient in the composition of our more substantial cities and towns, and a»_ the demand for it is fast increasing, it ia evident that it will figure yet more prominently by and bye. We need not 'say that Oamarn stone is beautiful. The eye of the traveller rests first npon the buildings of this material: it is durable, chenf>. and easily worked : and, what shoutd recommeud it to our \\ ellington friends is that buildings in the South, of which it i» composed, have not been visibly shaken by earthquake.*. The W eltiiiv't'mions will h:\>ve to serioualy consider what we arc suggesting. It u a ease ot earthquakes r*r* ,fJ fire - . Tile latter i-» tiie ni<uv tortnidable etfemy. ribte tire wilt tame insurance _conipanies some sei'ious consideration i>ut it is only a tithe of what might occur in \Volliiis;'ti>n at any time, and they wiii, therefore, not iie s*> j reaity to accept riiki ext-'upt at increased rates. This will be the natural outcome of last nisht's disaster. What intending builders will have to consider, then, ia some means of escaping the pressure r.f necessarily high insurance rates anil the liability ot" burnt out. The effect of such consideration will lio to convince them that t'uv-pror.f materials ave not only the Inst in th*; end. but cost little, if anything, more than wood

Since writing the nJ/ovr, particulars of insurances on buildings and stocks! destroyed by tire, published elsewhere. have come to hand. Thi v y tell a tale of improvidence tor. characteristic of owners of pr».p-rty thronffhont the (Vtony. High premium* will afford no excuse itt this cast? for neglecting to insure. It u quite tnte that insurance companies sometimes combine to extort, but it would scarcely be possible to ask too high a premium on property in such a spot as that npou which tin; tire occurred. It was stteh a ijlorioua locality -■ 3 blaze that "'e J re surprised the tire stopped where it did. Instead of LIOO,OOO worth of property there might have been L.VX>,W)O worth dratiy.yed. Luckily the (lames were arretted at Whitohottse's and Smith's, or the Mock lying between ami Dixon-streets—all of course of wood—and perhaps mnch more property, wottld have suecitmbcd. J *iat there should have been only LJ'2.:::V. insurance on LIOO.fMO worth r.f property destroyed. is evident that, whatever may he the cause, the WVliitgtori people are not fond of insuring. This tire wdl, however cause a revolution in their ideas. They will now see upon what a flimsy thread thetr property depends. and profit by the \erj hitter experience- of th« sufferers—-through their own neglect —by last night s disaatious fire.