THE Otago Daily Times. "Inveniam viam aut faciam." DUNEDIN, SATURDAY, JUNE 14, 1862.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 181, 14 June 1862, Page 4

THE Otago Daily Times. "Inveniam viam aut faciam." DUNEDIN, SATURDAY, JUNE 14, 1862.

The inhabitants of Dunedin, in ordinary matters, are not deficient in business aptitude and shrewdness, indeed they are commonly reputed to be particularly fortunate in having^ to use a cant expression. " their heads screwed on the right way." But there is one particular, and that by no means a slight one, in which their mental vision appears wholly obscured; they'seem quite unconscious that, in the midst of their prosperity, a remorseless deadly enemy hovers over them, ready at any moment to consign the devoted City to ruin. The horrid monster, fire, may be on them at any. moment; thousands on thousands of agencies are at work to summon him, —-not one to bar his progress. A story is told of an adventurous skater, who when warned not to go on the thin ice, said "what did it matter to him, it only concerned the Humane Society." Yet nearer to the purpose is another annecdote; a sleeper, on being awakened with the intelligence that the house he was in was on fire, angrily told his arousers not to disturb him, for his life was insured. Are the lives of the people of Dunedin all insured ? are their stock-in-trade, their goods, their Lares and Penates all underwritten? that they angrily growl when told that a ruthless destroyer ia hovering over them, and dismiss the idea with " it's not our business."

Dunedin is a city which invites fire. The character of its buildings; the crowded state

of its houses; the mode ia which these are lighted up; and the constant use of fires, are all so many pressing invitations to the great enemy. That he has only come once; that in that instance his ravages were promptly stopped, arc not due to any prior precautions taken by the inhabitants. The averting of that conflagration was little short of a miracle; and a still greater wonder is it that the fire king has not again made his appearance. Supposing, for argument sake, we were to say that it is the business of the Government to adopt precautionary measures against fire, and that the authorities negligently failed to perform the duty, is that any reason why the inhabitants should submit to the fearful risk to which they are now subjected ? Would it be any consolation to the merchant or tradesman, who went to bed a rich roan and woke to find himself penniless; to know that his misfortune was an undeserved one ; and that if Government had performed its duty, lie would not have been ruined. As one grain of practice is reputed to be worth more than a bushel of theory, it will not, perhaps, be amiss to give a practical rejoinder. The first few days of the Daily Times, existence was largely devoted towards recommending the establishment of a Fire Brigade, and sure enough its prophecies of coming events were realised in the most upalatable manner, by its own office being burnt down. We are able to say that the misfortune was not in the slightest degree alleviated by the recollection that it was so far undeserved that, if less apathy had been manifested, measures might have been taken which would have afforded the means of extinguishing it. We can assure

our friends that if they build their indifference to fire on the fancied position of martyrdom in which, in case they suffered, they would think themselves placed, the consolation will prove " the baseless fabric of a vision."

In the day that sees the streets of the city decimated with the ravages of fire, the inhabitants will gaze on the blackened ruins where, perhaps, lie buried the hard-earned results of years of frugal industry—they will look on them, we say, with unmingled bitter selfreproach. As we told them the other day, ia respect to the supineness they exhibit in allowing influences of deadly pestilential nature to grow up around them, so we tell them of their apathy in taking no precautions against fire. They will read in the result the doom of a pride, that thinks itself superior to the ordinary ills of mortality—that says to the destroying agencies, like Canute to the ocean, "so

far shalt thou come, and no farther." We are not given to sensation articles, or we would endeavor to contrast the present feelings of blind security in which the inhabitants indulge, with those they would experience with the forked flames rushing through and towering above their city. We would ask them to think of a panic-stricken people hurrying about in wilQ dismay at the catastrophe . their own apathy had brought down on them. Rushing from their burning homes, leaving behind them every possession endeared to them by association; fortunate if the lives of their wives and children were saved—their half naked forms would glare in the light of the conflagration that mocked and laughed at their misery. Where then will be the superiority that has led them to neglect the precautionary measures that common sense invited? The picture is not over-charged, it is neither possible to set a limit to the damage which a fire might do in Dunedin, nor to the influence that ordinary precautionary means might exercise in arresting it. With a fair wind, the flames would leap across the narrow streets, when once the fire was fairly under-way, and block after block of the doomed city be converted into smouldering ruins. But, observed in time, and Avith proper means at hand, a fire could almost instantly be subdued. The frail nature of the buildings might be converted into an advantage. Inßallarat the other day, a small building was pulled down with proper appliances in ten minutes, and a fire averted bid fair to devote to destruction property to the value of some score of thousands of pounds. Even supposing water could not be readily procurable, with early notice of the fire, and with proper hooks and ladders in the hands of men trained to use them, the destruction could to a certainty be localised.

An ordinance has been passed empowering the Town Board to levy a rate for the purpose of forming a fire brigade. ' But it cannot come into force for " some time, and it is'more than likely to be disallowed by the General Government. In the meanwhile what damage may not have accrued ? A member in the Council endeavored to carry a resolution that, in anticipation of the Ordinance passing, the Government should advance £1000 to be refunded out of the ratea. <But the Executive opposed it, and so far we admit they were right in doing so, that properly the people themselves should not grudge the money required, and should find no difficulty in collecting it. In almost every instance we ever recollect fire brigades are the result of voluntary private efforts. We can conceive nothing to justify the people of Dunedin being an exception. The money required will be but a mere bagatelle for the large and wealthy population.^ The Insurance Oiiices, which decline to take further risks till a brigade is formed, will not be behind hand in rendering assistance; in fact the slightest general effort would compass the movement.