THE CHRISTCHURGH FIRE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 42, 8 February 1908, Page 2

THE CHRISTCHURGH FIRE.

EXOK.MOUS LOSSES. DAMAGE GvEK jCjUO.UOO. FINE BUILDINGS GONE.

Per Press Assoeiatijii. Chrislchurch, i'Yidav. The lire originated in Straugo 'and Co.'s furniture establishment. It was well under way before it was discovered. The flumes spread with marvellous rapidity from Strange and Co.'s three-storey brick building to Malcolm ami Co. ! s warehouse in Lichfield sireef, thence to tile back portion of P. liayinaii and Co.'s and then to I). Benjamin and Co.'s premises.

After ravaging these warehouses it attacked the LM.C. This establishment runs right through from Onshcl'to Lichlield street.

Soon the mass of flame, winch was travelling with bewildering rapiditc, seized Ashby, Bergh and Co.'s ironmongery warehouse, gutting it in short time. At the time the lire fiend was at workon the buildings mentioned, and while matters were looking very' serious, all the water tanks in the Yiciniiv gave out. The engines were taken ' to" the

Avon river. The delay was disastrous. '|'|„, five licked up Tribe* drapery srop. tliilbert and Shiymaker's tailoring rooms. Freeman's tearooms, Williamson's drug store, and Tucker's jewellery shop. Gathering fierceness and'force as it went, it began an assault on the While Hart Hotel. It was line brick building, erected only three years ago. but a| comparatively few minutes served to see it in ruins—gutted finm floor to ceiling. llallenslein'a clothing factory followed, and the Haines were onU-' staved here by tlu> collapse of lTilllensl.ein's building, which enabled tile brigade to get at the walls of Heath and Co.'s drapery shop. This was saved, and the lire in the direction of Colombo street was checked. Meanwhile the Haines were raging ill

tin' middle of the block, which ' is pierced with rights-of-way leading, to wholesale warehouses. The conflagration spread out in rays, licking up the buildings in irregular or-

der, hut being in the main confined to the parts indicated. Wardell's main building at the corner of High street escaped, hut the back rooms were gutted. Main's boot shop and the AngloSpeciul cycle shop followed, By 2.30 the fire was conquered, hut not before it had left a scene of desolation unmatched in the city's history. The loss is tremendous. It is variously estimated up to a quarter of a million-

At least a thousand people will be thrown out of work.

At midnight the block was like an inferno. The flames were rising high over the buildings and spreading from the centre. Hopes were entertained for some time of saving the D.1.C., but the lire leaped like a iiend( and the place was burned like tissue paper.

Half an hour sulliced for the ruin of these line premises—well appointee, heavily stocked, and employing quite an army of hands. Now only a few iron girders with shreds of woodwork are left.

The scene along Lichfield street to-day is desolate in the extreme. Warehouse after warehouse shows gloomy window bides with nothnig behind. The White Hart Hotel, in High street, which was one of the finest buildings in the city, is a blackened- ruin. Nothing is left but the bare walls. It wis fortunate that the brigade

stopped the lire at Heath's, because the next building is of wood, and the flames would have leapt the street and attacked the valuable block opposite, containing llalanlyne's great drapery shop.

The fire has taught a lesson on water supply. There are only a few tanks in the city, and these proved useless. When they gave out, the engines had to go to the river, a long distance away, and the delay proved fatal, ~- A strong north-east wind blew, carrying the,flames roaring before it; but it dropped later and enabled the brigade to cope with the blaze. All the fire appliances in the city and suburbs were called into and so many old firemen turned up that the plant was never better manned.

A crowd of twenty to thirty thousand people gathered. The tramway service was diverted for fear that live wires might fall on the cars.

Hayman's premises are found to have been comparatively missed by the fire, and only damaged in the rear. The loss will ne more from water than fire.

The importance of strong dividing walls is proved abundantly by the fire. Strange's southern and eastern fronts were saved by dividing walls, and Wardell's Casliell street front was similarly saved. Where dividing walls were iliiri or absent, the fire went through un J cheeked, and made tlie promises beyond a roaring furnace in a few minutes. THE INSURANCES. The insurances are not yet known, but they are estimated roughly at £200,000. Dunedjn, Friday..' The following insurances on tiic Clivistclmrcli fire have been ascertained locally: Ashy, licrgh and Co. (complete)— Xorth British. £3500; Royal Exchange. £'3500; Victoria, £2500;' Queensland, £2500; South British, Yorkshire, Royal and Commercial Union, £2OOO each.; I'hocnix, National, adn Liverpool. London, and Globe £IOOO each; total, £25,000. Strange and C'o.'s linoleum warehouse —London, Lancashire, £2500; Alliance, ,£3000; Liverpool, London, and Globe, Norwieli Union, and Yorkshire, £2OOO each; South British, £1000; Sun, £IOOO.

D.I.C. insurances, total £Bl, 500. Christchurch, Friday.

Experts say the total loss occasioned liy the fire must aproximate half a million pounds. Already there has lieen £200,000 dead lose to local insurance, companies, and the nmouut will he, largely swelled by the insurances held hy Lloyds. Lloyds, it is estimated, hold .0)0,000. The total insurance loss will doubtless reach £300,000, and the loss over that will probably bring the total to hali-n-million.

Following are some of the largest amounts held: Liverpool, London £OSOO, Northern £OOOO, London, Lancashire £IO,OOO, Koyal Exchange £12,Du'o, Norwich Union £OOOO, New Zealand £10,500, South British £7OOO, Alliance £23,000, Koyal £30,000, Vorkshire £13,000. Total known losses £200,000. The D.I.C. insurances totalled £Bl,000, local ollices holding £55,000, the "balance being with Lloyds. Ashby, Bergh and Co. had £20,000, Strange and Co. had from £IO,OOO to £20,000 on the stock and £7OOO on the building. NA'RKATtVE OF THE i-TUE. I A UKAI'HIC DESCRIPTION. THE HEAKT OF THE BEST BLOCK BURNED OUT. Christchurch, Last Night. The premises through which the lire, passed were as follows:—Messrs Strange and.Co.'s furniture warehouse (a threes storeyed building with a fronatgc to Lichfield street, at one time occupied by Messrs Ross and Glendinniag); Messrs •Malcolm and t'o.'s warehouse, Lichfield street (batik portion); Messrs D. Benjamin and Co.'s warehouse, Liciilield street; the D.I.C. building, with front-, ages on Lichfield street and Cashel

street; Messrs Ashby, Bergh and Co.'s j shop and warehouse, srith a frontage to High street; Messrs W. 'A. Tribe and Co.'s drapery establishment, Tligit street; Messrs Hulbert and slaymakcr's tailoring and outfitting premises, llight street;- James Freeman, Ltd.'s; confectionery shop and tearooms; Messrs Wiliamson and Co.'s chemist's, shop; Messrs Tucker and Co.'s jewellery shop; the White Hart. Hotel;' Messrs Hallenstehi Bros.'s New Zealand Clothing Factory; Mrs. H. B. Sorenson's: store; Messrs Wardell and Co.'s baconcuring factory, engine-room, and store (a four-storeyed building at the back of the White Hart. Hotel and facing on a right-of-way leading from Cashed street).

FIRE'S FIRST 'APPEARANCE. The fire made its first appearance, soon after 10 o'clock, and was noticed at once by policemen and passers-by. An alarm was given and the brigade turned, out with creditable speed in view of the fact that the men were holding theiit annual dinner at the Lichfield street station. The fire LEAPED THROUGH THE BUILDING, with remarkable speed. Ten minutes after the first flame had been noticed, the throe-storcyed building, with a frontage of about two chains and a depth of over three chains, was blazing from top to bottom, with a fierce heat that drove all but the firemen from the portion of the street immediately in front. The brigade got water on but the jets made no apparent impression. Tho.

building used by the furniture depart, ment of Messrs Strange and Co.'s busi-' ness contained a vast amount of inflamable material, and the tongue of flame that was flung high into the air lit.v.p the whole city. f ■ THE INTENSE HE/T

would have rendered fiitile.'.fie mo 9 t determined efforts to preveht the spread of the lire, and tlv. crowd which was | blocking all tho streets in the vicinity | felt assirxfi/fftiit u spectacle with more tliaij--fls usual share of thrill was in prospect. The crov;A was not disappointed. Before 10.30 the fire had attacked Messrs Ashby, Bergh and Co.'s premises, which touched the burning building at the hack, and had made its appearance in High street. This hardware warehouse became a raging furnace within a few miniii.e.s. A clatter of explosions, with an occasional dull rcverhration, accompanied by spurls of flame from the windows, showed that cartridges were exploding. The lower

front windows held out for a few minutes, nnd then they wont and -spurts of flame came out over the footpath. The heat caused the adventurous to make a hasty pasage along (he opposite footpath, ami willing hands commenced at

once to remove as much slock as pns sililc from the premises further north It was clear that they were doomed. THIC BRIGADE'S WORK.

The lirigade was working, and working hard, 1 a number of ex-firemen having put in an appearance, and tlie public assisting loyally, but its cll'orts produced no results at all as far as could be seen. The brigade w.is simply unable to cope

willi the outbreak, and some thousand* of people received a lesson that will not lie easily forgotten regarding the advantage of a decent high pressure water supply. The tire worked along the roof from'Ashby, Bergh and Co.'s, and at I0..'!ll made its appearance at an upper window in the White Hart Hotel. The glass cracked and fell out. There was A FIERCE INRUSH OF AIR, a flicker, and then a flunc at the next wiflidow. Twelve jininutos laWr the. hotel was burning right along the upper storey, and blazing fragments from the windows were falling into (he street. A fireman directed a hose into the interior from a perilous position on a balcony and received a round of applause from the crowd, but the flames continued to travel to the premises between Ashby, Bergh and Co.'s and the White Hart. They went one after the other. Freeman's confectionery shop, with the tearoom already ablaze, became a mass of white flame. THE FIRE'S PROGRESS. A felV minutes alter the fire first got a hold'and Tribe and Co.'s ahd Hulbert and Slaymaker's premises held out for a while, but then succumbed and burned fiercely. Wiliamson and Co.'s chemist's shop went, and then Tucker's jewellery shop next door was swept by the fire.

In the meantime the fire had been making disastrous progress IN LICHFIELD STREET.

The flames jumped a right-of-way from Messrs Strange and Co.'s building, and ran through Malcolm and Co.'s premises. Next cam'e Hayman and Co.'s warehouse, which escaped for a while The fire worked round behind, however, crossed another right-of-way, and entered Benjamin and Co.'s three-storeyed warehouse. The brigade received a good deal of criticism during the evening, but none so trenchant as that which followed this advance of the fire. WATER WAS RUNNING SHORT, the tanks having been pumped out, and the railway steamer having only just started to pump from the river, but there were jets available in Lichfield street, and they were being used on Malcolm and Co.'s building, then merely a frame of scorched walls containing a mass of glowing ashes. There was nothing to be saved here, whereas it seemed to the observer that one jet would have saved, Benjamin and Co.'s building. The jet was not supplied, and the flames appeared at the windows in the upper storey, and soon engjlfed the, whole building in a red ruin. Next came the D.1.0. building, stretching right through from Cashel .street to Lichfield street, and it was evident that there was scant hope of saving that, THE SCENE looking down the narrow rights-of-way leading from Lichfield street was a luri<J one. Down the first could be seen the back portion of the Wltite Hart Tlotelj a mass of roaring flames. Strange's building on the left was throwing up tongues of bluish flames, accompanied by lierce heat, and, on the other side, Malcolm and Co.'s building was blazing. Down the next right-of-way could be seen a portion of Wavdell's building, and the rearmost part of the White Hart Hotel, both vomiting forth flumes and throwing showers of sparks and red-hot fragments over on to the next building. Hayman and Co.'s premises were burning on the right. The flames working round from the back of Benjamin and Co.'s building, lit up the left. The feaI nre of the fire AFTER MIDNIGHT

was the destruction of the D.T.C. Thcvo had been hope that this building would lie saved, and the brigade seemed to be devoting its best, efforts to this end, but the fire won handsomely. Just before 12.30 a.m. a flicker of fire appeared at an upper window facing Lichfield street, Then the flames came with a rush, and in a few moments the whole of the front was blazing. The fire went back stead, ily and irresistibly right through to Cashel street, and gutted the building. The New Zealand Clothing Factory next to the west in Cashel street shared iii the fate of its larger neighbor, and sup-i plied the last big blaze of the night. At 2.30 a.m. the fire was in hand, and the owners of the other premises in the block breathed again. The flames had eaten the heart out of the best block in the city, but they had not destroyed all they might iiave reached, The absence of wind had been the ehier factor in producing this result. INSURANCES QUARTER OF A MILLION. Clii'Lstclmrch, Midnight. As may be well imagined the ropre I -sentatives of the various insurance com panics were kept busy to-day attempt | ing to ascertain the amount of loss tha , their respective companeis sustained ' This was by no means an easy mattei to arrive at, as in most instances rein surances have been effected. Below i? * given the total amount of the insurances. They represent the amount thai each company will be called upon tc pay, or the value up to which they may be called upon to reinstate the damage done. In-some cases the figures represent a greater loss than the amount of cover; in others state of affairs: It will be .seen that the total(including the risk held by Lloyds, London, of £34,000 on the D.1.C.), is over, £200,000. The relation this total bears: to the actual loss is, of course, almostj bnpossible at present even to guess at; How the companies are affected, the; following will show:'— '& Lloyds (London) 34,000 Royal Insurance Co 30,000 Alliance Assurance Co 23.000 Yorkshire Fire and Life, etc. .. 13.250 Royal Exchange Assurance Co. .. 12,i!f10 New Zealand Insurance Co. .. 10,200 London and Lancaster Co. .. 10,000 Liverpool and London and Globe 0,500 Northern Assurance Co. .. 0,000 Victoria Insurance Co 8,000 North British Mercantile Co. .. 7,000 Commercial Union Assurance Co. 7,000 South British Insurance Co. .. 7,000 Sun Fire Office 7,000 Guardian Assurance Co 5,500 N.Z. State Fire Office .. .. 4,700 Alias Assurance Co 4,500 Standard Fire Insurance Co. .. 4,500 National Fire Insurance Co. .. 4,200 North Queensland Insurance Co. 3.500 Australian Alliance Assurance Co. 3,000 United Insurance Co 2,300 Phoenix Assurance Co 750

: Total '£22o,4<W It is generally understood in insurance circles that the, result of the lire will be practically a total lass to the I companies. Out of the above total £30,000 is held by New Zealand companies and the' ' State .Fire Department, but, of course, there may be re-iusuranee, which wilt alter this proportion. At the same time it is apparent that the English and Australian insurance companies have' had to be relied on for £199,000 of the grand total, which gives some evidence of the extent to which New Zcalanders are still compelled to rely on English offices for insurance cover. INDIVIDUAL FIRMS' INSURANCES. It is impossible for insurance institutions io make up an absolutely reliable', statement of the amount of cover held by the individual firms affected by the' fire, but the following figures may be taken as fairly reliable:—Ashby, Bergh and Co., Ltd., building and contents; £29,000; D.1.C., building and contents; ,£81,500; Robt. Malcolm and Co., building and contents, £14,000; Strange and Co., building, £6000; White Hart Hotel; building and contents, '£15,700; White Hart, warehouse, £1000; F. W. Tucker, stock, '£3000; Wardell Bros, and Co.-, £10,000; H. H. Clifford, £1750; P. Hay man and Co., £2000; D. Benjamin, build' ing, £3250; D. Benjamin, contents, £6500; Gill Bros., building, £2250; W. A. Tribe and Co., contents, £MSO; Hulbert, Slaymaker and Co. building, £2500; ]

Hulbert, Slaymakor and Co., contents, | -.£3100; Frccnians, Ltd., building, £7000; Freeman's, Ltd., contents, £3000; Beath and Co., buildings and contents, £28,025; Bank of Australasia, £IO,OOO. These are the main items, but there, arc other insurances that have not been adjusted,