GREAT AND DESTRUCTIVE FIRE AT NEWCASTLE, N.S.W.

Colonist, Volume III, Issue 223, 9 December 1859, Page 4

GREAT AND DESTRUCTIVE FIRE AT NEWCASTLE, N.S.W.

[From the Sydney Morning Herald, November 15.] November 14th.—A destructive fire—the /greatest which ever occurred in Newcastle, and so serious in extent as to amount to a public calamity—occurred here yesterday (Sunday) morning. The seat of the conflagration, for such it was, extends from Spragg's store, in Hunter-street (saved only by the most extraordinary exertions) to the corner of Watt-street, and thence, up the west side of Watt-street, to the Victoria Inn. The fire was first observed at about a quarter-past two o'clock a.m., when it was seen to break out in the upper part of the Commercial Hotel, the second story of which building was, in a few minutes afterwards, a mass of flames, which extended almost immediately to the basement, the inmates haying little more than sufficient time to escape. In the meantime' the flames, carried by a strong north-east wind, were rapidly extending above, and in an extraordinary short space of time had reached the roof of Mr. Whyte's front premises, in Watt-street, and, spreading across; a narrow passage, caught the roof! of the Victoria Hotel, the whole of these buildings being almost at once hopelessly in flames. From these latter, also, but little property was rescued. About this period the first; engine, from the fire brigade station in Newcomen-street, reached the spot and. worked by such of the brigade as first arrived, and by a number of volunteers, played, under the charge of Mr. Wfebb,. on. the back premises, towards which the, flames were spreading. In this direction, the efforts to prevent' the extension of the fire to the largest store .of Mr. Whyte were successful, although the flames, carried by; the wind, were driven alarmingly towards it; and although a quantity of dry loose timber, stored up in the space^ between, was repeatedly on fire. The direction of the wind had for some time* confined the flames in a great measure to the southward ofwhere they first broke out. But now about half-past three a.m., a strong breeze came from the eastward, which- drove the fire along Hunter-street, aqd./with most alarming rapidity. ■ The theatre < was, at once in a flame from jend to : end. Exten-

ding from thence to the butcheris shop ot Mr. Stafford, the flames were carried along to the low tenements occupied by Mr. Hawley and Mr. Shoemacker, which it became immediately evident that nothing could save. Here occurred a more and more serious struggle, to arrest the progress of destruction, as, if the flames extended to to the store of Mrs. Lees (late Spragg), the destruction of the whole square at least became certain. So hopeless did the struggle here seem—while every possible effort was at this point and elsewhere manfully battling with the fire—that along Hunterstreet and up Bolton-street an immediate removal of moveable property of every kind instantly took place, the wide street opposite and the court-house being filled with goods, which the inhabitants of every class were anxiously assisting to remove — even ladies joining in the charitable effort; but it is deeply to be regretted that, with the success which invariably attend wellmeant efforts of this kind, the destruction caused in the removal was, next to the effect of fire itself, of the most serious nature; Mr. Knagg's extensive stock of medicines, books, perfumery, stationery, furniture, and even fixtures being, in particular, so damaged and broken as that a thousand pounds would seem not too high an estimate of the loss. By partly anticipating the fire in tearing down Mr. Shoemacker's house, and by the incessant play ot the two i engines on the roof and side wall—but, | above all, perhaps, by a providential shift j of wind—Mrs. Lee's store, which is comparatively a high brick building, although several times on fire at the roof, was almost unexpectedly preserved, and the further progress of the fire was stopped at that side. All this time, the flames had been extending, spite of every means taken against them along the back of the premises of Mr. Whyte travelling westward ;■ and here they were met by the same efforts to prevent their extension, as, had they reached Mr. Whyte's stables, the dreaded; communication with the other buildings would have been effected. At this point,it was again literally a hand to handi struggle with the fire, and it was only by! the use of blankets kept continually wet j spread on the roofs, by pulling down com-; munications, by the incessant play of the 1, two engines, and by every other available ?j means of throwing water, that it was kept within the mentioned limits; the closeness of the struggle being appreciable by the i fact that Mr. Knagg's back premises were on fire twice. Here the exertions of Mr. Howden, the foreman of the brigade, with a number of his men, were invaluable ; and it only by his attention being fixed on this point from an early period of the fire, arid by a providential arrangement made for J the water that the fire was -stopped. Here I also, the mayor, Mr. Charles Bolton, Mr. Knaggs, Mr. Adam, Mr. Richardson, and others, rendered greatest service, and even female hands helped to work the pumps. Thus far, is a brief history of a calamity which, spreading over a considerable area of ground, was really heartrending to behold, and which will be long remembered in Newcastle. To a spectator viewing the progress of the fire, the scene, apart from its intrinsic horrors, was truly pitiable. :It was impossible, for a considerable time, to j say what houses were safe, as, while a shower of burning matter was carried by the wind in one direction, the intense heat seemed to expose the houses on the east side of Watt-street to most serious hazard in the other. The following, it is known, are covered, or nearly so, by insurance— Messrs. Whyte, Kemp, Croft, Knaggs, arid Mrs. M'Greavy. The origin of the fire is unknown. A Railway Train in a Bog.—A singular accident recently occurred to a railway train on the Whitby branch of the North-eastern line^ about two miles from Pickering, at a place called Fen Bogs. The line at this place is carried across an extensive swamp on piles, and as the noon train from Whitby was passing the place the engine ran off the line, arid plunged overhead into the bog, pulling the train after it. The train was a very heavy one, having many first-class passengers, and,the scene which ensued may be more readily imagined than described. The enginedriver and the stoker were both bur.ied in: the bog along with the engine, but were extricated by the. passengers. They, were both injured, but not seriously. The passengers were thrown about in a strange manner, but beyond several cuts and bruises, no, further injury was inflicted. The accident is ascribed to the heat of the j sun having caused the wooden framework on which the rails are laid to twist and raise up the line, so as to break its continuity, and thus the train was thrown off its course and ran into the bog.— Times. Professor Palmieri, of the Observatory of | Naples, has published an account of the progress of the lava during the present eruption up to the 30th of August. After having given manifest indications of a decline, it suddenly increased a few days before the above date, and commited fresh ravages. "At the foot of a tufaceous rock in the Rio delle Quaglie there is a stone quarry, and by degrees a vast cavern had been excavated under the rock, and been ' continued to a considerable distance within, so that its extremity nearly reached- the Fosso Grande, on the opposite side of the mountain.- The lava penetrated into this cavern, and by its pressure forced its way out on the other side, thus making its appearance in the Fosso Grande, which was thought perfectly safe, and destroying all ' the fields in high cultivation which cover the h\U of Somma. Professor Palmieri feelingly describes the despair of the rural population on seeing their rich vines and fruit-trees ruthlessly destroyed by the fiery stream, some hastening to abandon their cottages and carrying the little furniture they had away with them, others attempting to fell some of the trees in order to save

the fruit, and others again joining the processions organised by the priests to implore the cessation of the scourge. The torrent, on leaving the valley, followed the track of the lava of 1767, in the direction.of San;! Jorio, but after proceeding, for about a mile it stopped, though its altitude continued to increase, so that it was expected soon to occupy the steep path by which visitors generally ascend Mount Vesuvius. „ Near the cavern a lake of lava has been formed, the surface of which has so far cooled as to form a crust; but as the mass is constantly fed from the cavern, this crust continually rises, while the liquid below is occasionally seen through the rents like a vivid line of fire. Fortunately since June the seismograph has given no indication of earthquake, which was much to be feared. A peasant, whose property 3ay in the line of the lava, has succeeded, by timely activity, in turning the latter away, by forming a strong embankment with old scorise.. A similar expedient had been successfully tried at Catania during the famous eruption of Mount Etna in 1669; but the course of the lava cannot always be accurately guessed.