The Invercargill Times. Invercargill, Wednesday, March 2, 1864.

Southland Times, 2 March 1864, Page 2

The Invercargill Times. Invercargill, Wednesday, March 2, 1864.

It is not long since we, with deep regret, read the accounts of the disastrous fire in Diraedin, and now we have to chronicle one wMch affects us more intimately, and which' includes in its sad detaib that saddest of all-, — death, and death in its most awful shape ; . the sudden snatching from amongst us, in the full vigour of life and health, two human beings — two souls hurried into eternity with- | out a moments warning, to solve the great mystery and to stand before the Throne of the Eternal. i At about half -past six o'clock yesterday morning the cry of fire was raised in Taystreet, and it was seen that the Excelsior Hotel I was on fire.- A strong gale of wind was I blowing from the south-west, and in I an incredibly short .space of time, the building was wrapped in ilames, which spread with astonishing yapidity to the adjoining premises • — the I.wercargill Times Office — thence across the narrow right-off- way which divided them from, the premises partly occupied by Spencer and Co., and Ueustadt, tobacconist, and to the adjoining Criterion Hotel, all of which were soon enveloped in [Ilames. The Union Bank, a fine large building of two stories in height, stood in an enclosure some distance apart from the adjacent buildings. Owing to the back premises being like all the others destroyed, almost wholly constructed I of wood, and the strong wind blowing at the [ time, the intervening space afforded no i security, for in a few minutes after the fire had reached the Criterion Hotel it seized the bank building as another victim, and in less than half an hour the entire mass was laid desolate. The frontage of the adjoining ; section to the east of the bank premises I not being built on, added to the wide distance between it and the burning premises, checked the fire and saved the ruin from spreading further. Had Mr Rose's premises — adjoining the section referred to — caught fire, there is no saying where the conflagration would have stopped — the destruction to property, and perhaps life might have been fearful. Had Mr Kose ; s shop caught, no exertions could have saved the whole block, comprising j amongst other buildings the Provincial Hotel I and the new Theatre Royal. I The most melancholy part of this disastoous j occurrence is the loss of life to Mrs Hall I and the poor girl who was barmaid at the hotel. Many and varied are the comments made i by the public in reference to the circumstances connected with their melancholy death. Whether any more active measures might j have been adopted in order to rescue them from destruction it is almost impossible to say. At such an awful moment the most energetic man, possessed under more ordinary circumstances of great presence of mind, would be very apt to get confused, and if neither the unfortunate survivor, Mr Hall, nor any of those i near the premises, took any means to save the | poor creatures, their excuse is easily to be [ found. For ourselves, we arc, we may say, ! the heaviest losers by the disastrous occur- 3 I reuce, our actual loss being about seven I thousand pounds — our loss in other ways remains to be ascertained. After the struggles of our young existence — at'fcer weathering the ; storm — it seems hard to have our reward • swept away at one fell swoop from our grasp, and to have to fight life's battle again, with a keener and deadlier struggle. We must, however, bow to the decrees of fate, and nerve ourselves to the task of facing our difficulty, and in doing so must crave the kind indulgence of our subscribers and ad- ! vertisers, and the public generally, for a short period, until we have time to permanently re-open under the old auspices. Owing to the great kindness of Messrs. Harnett and Co., of the Southland Neivs, we are in a position to continue the issue of the Times; although in an ! impaired form. Like the phoenix we rise from our ashes, perhaps with plumes a little scorched ; but we trust the kind consideration .of the public of Southland will accompany j-us,' and that in their continued confidence" land support we will. feel less our loss, and less the bitterness of the cup which fate compels us to drink. , . ,