AUCKLAND.

Colonist, Volume III, Issue 286, 17 July 1860, Page 3

AUCKLAND.

(From the Auckland Register.) FIRE IN LOWER QUEEN-STREET./ . About 9 o'clock p.m. on Thursday, the premises occupied by Mr. Poole, draper, adjoining the William Denny Hotel, were discovered to be oh/fire. The alarm soon spread, and every branch of our Volunteer service, as well as the Military still here, were immediately fit their posts. .The house being brick, it was hoped that the fire would be confined within the immediate premises. To this end every effort was made; but, again, we have to acknowledge the defective st&te of our fire-ex-tinctian machinery. The only wonder is^ that so much was done with 9uch inefficient means. The fire-engines were found to be out of order with one or two exceptions; the hose were defective J and the supply of water wais very short. With all these drawbacks, great things were done. The fire was prevented from extending to the premises to the rear and to the right,and left of the burning house. Had the - flames once caught the house lately occupied by Mr. Holmes, and had there been any wind, nothing could have saved the whole of the block thence to the Wharf. But the greatest fear, was. with reference to the houses on the other side of West Queen-street. For some time it was hoped that the William Penny would escape. About '..I'D.' o'clock, however, the fire extended to that building, which is of wood, and then every effort was directed to tha saving of Mr. Lorrigan's house at the opposite corner of West Queen-street. This street has long been one of the " disgraces " of our town. It is hardly 30 feet wide. On the one side was a liquor-store: on the other, a general store—^wooden-—next door to which, was a wholesale and retail chemist's, where there^was a large stock o' rectified spirits. The heat was'so intense that the volunteer firemen—among whom the men of the Iris were, very conspicuous—could only work under shelter of damped blankets; and even then, looking to the confined space, the wonder is that any person could work at all. Had Mr. Lorrigan's house— which was for a long time on fire—been once thoroughly in flames, nothing could have saved the west side of Queen-street. Had our engines been in better condition, and had we had a better supply of water, the fire would no doubt have been much sooner extinguished. We must be thankful that no more damage was done.—Mr. Poole's premises and the William Denny were wholly destroyed, Mr. Holmes's shop gutted, Mr. Lorrigan's premises gutted, also the. adjoining premises up West Queenstreet; also Mr. Hanken's. Messrs. Hamilton removed their chemical'stores as soon as there was any sign of danger. The fire was at an end about 11 o'clock, when there was also an end of any further danger. The premises consumed were leased by Mr. C. Davis, and, we understand, were insured for £500 each in the London and Liverpool Company. Where all worked so well—soldiers, sailors, and civilians,—it would be wrong in any way to single out any for praise: suffice to say that all did their best.