THE LATE GREAT FIRE IN DUNEDIN,

Southland Times, Volume III, Issue 40, 8 February 1864, Page 3

THE LATE GREAT FIRE IN DUNEDIN,

From^■paily;!siitei''-'6f Thursday we add the follom^^ which occurred in Dunedin on Tuesday. night^r-hT .r\. >| : *f ;..:/ s -lj f, ;/i, ;■ ' "We have been totally tumble to. arrive at anything like a reliable estimate of the loss caused by. the fire. .Our. commercial column contains a statement "that it will not exceed from" l £4O'flb& ; to" £50,000; But we were; assured Yesterday, that -it is not an over-estiU. mate to set down from £80,000 to £90,000 ai the value of the stbeks in Casper's (or Pole's)! stores.'' : lt will be'aisoiirce of great congrafcu-; latiori if the low estiniate of the total mentioned above should prove jto be correct. We wero informed' "yesterday,; at the Custom House,; there would be a work of considerable labor: to go through the books, and to take out thq quantities of dry "' and wet goods therein set down as bonded in this stove-;' 'and, in addition; it may be said that- theso books might niis-j lead a3 to Ihe real ownership*;. of large parcels of valuable goods.. ,1 They arc bonded in the names of consignees', '.who, in many cases raayj have sold arid 'nand'ed over certificates of the same. It must; suffice for' 'the' present that, there is a large number of merehents in-^ terested, and that it is better not to attempt to apportion 1 the los3 tliaii' to do so erroneously. The place was; literally filled with goods of a .most .varied .description. They comprised large quantities. of . sugar, tea, spirits, wine (just landed,) hops, clothing. ' It may, however, with certainty be stated; that Messrs. DalgetyiKattray and Co., having goods in the store to the value of £3,000 or £3,500, were insured on them for £3,000— equally 'divided between tlie Lancashire and London, and the Liverpool -and London offices. Messrs. ,Cargill , held about £2,000 worth of stock in the place—most of it only bonded a few days ago, and. all uninsured; Such will be the "story as to by far the larger proportion of the goods ; for there was an' objection on the part of several of the agents, to listen to a proposal touching goods in any store, free or bond, hear tlie top of Stattord- ■ street or Hope-street. The close vicinity of cheap" lodging-houses and the consequent danger have been! the" primary- causes of the objection ; but another lias been found in the distance from that best source 'of watersupply, the Bay. , The British Dining Rooms, Hope street,' belonged to Mr. W. Hooper, whose loss amounted to £1200, including cottages, but he was insured for £300 in the New Zealand office. The loss a'ld insurances of Messrs. Hart were slated about, correctly yesterday. Mr. Mills was insured for £700 in the New Zealand Office, and it is to be hoped that his loss will not greatly exceed that sum. Messrs. Royse, Mudic and' Co. estimate the value, of their stoik and building at' about £3000, which, is much less than was feared. They are insured to the extent of £1200, and of the remainder a considerable portion will not fall upon them, but upon shippers qf the destroyed goods. There were 300 bags of wheat in the place, the remaining stock being miscellaneous. Messrs. Mills and Dick, as stated yesterday, saved their type and presses, and they are insured for £1000 by the Mercantile Office. i Messrs. Colemari and Co. have an insurance of £1000 for goods in Casper's ; and Mr. K. Coleman, grocer, had his buildings insured in i the same office for £400. What is the amount of Ms estimated loss on stock we have not been able to learn, and the same remark applies to Mr. Moran. As to the amount insured in the different offices, we win speak with more certainty. The following ai'e the results of inquiry from the agents : — Mercantile, £2too ; Liverpool and London, £5000 ; Royal, £3000 ; New Zealand, £2000; Otago, under £500; and Australasian (we belie vo) about £1500. These figures give a total of £1 lylOO ; and the fact that it bears so small a proportion to what must be feared is the loss, is unquestionably to be attributed primarily to the disinclination of various offices to grant policies, or their extreme carefulness in doing so, which again must be greatly due to the fact that there is no water supply. From the reasons stated, or from others", it also remains the fact that the following offices are not concerned with the property destroyed : — Northern, Imperial, and Victorian. The cause of the fire remains unknown. Several charges of robbery connected with the fire were heard at the Resident Magistrate's Court, yesterday, and others have to be disposed of to-day. At midnight men employed by the Government were still at work. Some half-dozen horses and carts were occupied in fetching water, and the contents of tlmir barrels were played on the burning mass at intervals, the removal of the numerous sheets of galvanised iron being also proceeded with. A steady blaze occasionally broke out at different points ; but not so as to be in the slightest degree dangerous, as the great body of the ruins is at the point nearest ilopo-slreot ; and the wind was in the opposite direction. The more closely the site of the great fire of Tuesday evening and its surroundings, are examined, the greater is felt to be the cause for thankfulness that the calamity has not proved much more; severe than it has been. To the absence of, wind during the earlier part of the time, and to the direction which the breeze took when one .arose,- our immunity from a really terrible conflagration -must. .mainly be attributed ; because, under an opposite set of circumstances, no combination of human effort could have kept the fire within its now limits, •in ? the; absence of an immediately available . and abundant supply of water. ' During the afternoon, it was possible, at the outskirts of the great burning -mound representing! the remains of the contents of Casper's stores, for men to be set to dig out' whatever might., be salvageable. Jt ,was , a painfully curious 1 sight/ At one part you' might walk over a deep and broad baud of tea, and look into a trench out of which men wore digging, now a bottle of spirits, steaming as it was exhumed, ; 'then.-; a 3 case of tea,!; and anon som9 clothing. In another place there was a great quantity of hops, soaked and clotted together; a short distance oft", tne workers in the trenches, were getting 'only " slops," 'spoiled, of course ; a few paces further, there lay a -heaplbf hams, sm6k : ing and looking .as if cooked, so much .• were they swollen, although in many cases the calico envelopes hadnot; or only slightly; given way. Further in on the surface of the mass, only ' the branchmen of- the Brigade ventured, for the flames shot up frequently, and there wore. •■ evidently, ■great bodies ;,jof v ; fire at j different points! Jit is not_a£ all .impossible, we believe, thWlargVquantitibs u 6f-goo'dS' remain at the bottom of the. mass neither consumed noicharred; but all must-be sodden ere they, or the fire, can be got out. On the spots reprer senting fl the ; ground other stores^tne rcihains'oi; 'the ! stock i/ wci i e much. more perfectly consumed ; and they required , only occasional attention from the Brigade. All danger is over, but. seejivnjUy days wIIJU pass before- all the,- smouldering' lire luiis been • extinguished; * The safe belonging' to Messs. Hart, andthat of Messrs. lloysc, Mudie, and Co., were opened early yesterday morning. * The books ■ and papers in them were found to be quite preserved, for all purposes of reproducing accounts or ■ other documents. -Messrs^Hen;nlngham and Co., proprietors of the Evening ' Star 1 , wore less fortunate. Their office formed part of Messrs. Mills, Dick, and Co.'s, printers, ■ and early in the evening the books were go,t: out. "They "were, However,' in the anxiety of the moment to rescue as much as possible from ■ the building, handed to some person unknown, and they have not since been heard of. .A reward of £5 is advertised, for their" return 'or , recovery." '''''. I '