THE AUCKLAND FIRE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 126, 18 November 1911, Page 5

THE AUCKLAND FIRE.

THE ORIGIN A MYSTERY. WERE BURGLARS RESPONSIBLE? GREAT DAMAGE DONE. INSURANCE COMPANIES HIT HARD. By Telegraph—Press Association, Auckland, Friday, Flames were seen by a boarder at the Royal Hotel to suddenly shoot through the roof of the warehouse. The alarm was given direct to the central brigade, who arrived very smartly with their full strength and then their plant. , A quarter of an hour later the whole warehouse was aflame from end to end and from top to bottom. In half an hour the warehouse was a roaring furnace, and it appeared only a miracle that the City Chambers, the block adjoining, was saved from destruction. With the fall of the roof there was a fresh rush of flames The fire gained a hold on Holdsworth and Sons' boot factory, but the firemen succeeded in suppressing the flames there, and before long had the outbreak reduced to a pile of smoking ruins. The origin of the fire is a mystery. The constable on the beat, when passing earlier in the evening, saw the Elliott street door of Macky and Logan's warehouse open. He is inclined to believe that someone had broken into the building.

Investigation shows that the damage by fire extended considerably outside Macky, Logan's warehouse. The City Chambers, a big four-storey block at the corner of Queen and Victoria streets, caught fire on top, and at least half-a-dozen occupants of offices and shops suffered very severely, . ■ The fire got into the Vfltykroom of Bolland, taiilor. on dhe fourth storey, and a great deluge of water rushed througi the building to the basement, with th» result that the Tiffin Restaurant will* 1 have to be redecorated. Ranga, indent agent, sustained a loss of £2OO to £300; Rock s and Woodward's tobacconist shop on the ground floor was damaged to the extent of about £300; Holdsworth's Emporium caught fire and was half destroyed. The damage to the building is estimated at £IOOO and to the stock at £6OO. Holdsworth owns this property and is a heavy loser, though covered to the extent of £I2OO by insurance. Hill and Plimmer estimate their loss at £IOOO to £I3OO, and Stone estimates the damage to his boot emporium by water at £2OOO. In the block adjoining Maeky and Logans considerable damage was done by water and smoke to the premises occupied by Stone (bootmaker), Todd (tailor), Sehneideman (tailor), Hill and Flummer (oil and color men), and the London and Berlin pj ano Company. Lesser damage was caused to the premises of Kinnear (dentist) and the Smger Sewing Machine Company. Stone carried a heavy stock of leather goods, and his loss is heavy. on thc ™of of the t A ngs on the opposite side of Queen street caught fire, but was promptly extinguished by the firemen. Macky Logan and Caldwell's loss is estimated at fully £150,000. It is understood that various insurance companies £Un ° f i 655 ' 0 , 00 , 0 " the .stock and £13,000 _on the buildings. Hill and rlumiiier s stock, which was badly damaged uy water, was insured for £I4OOO principally in the South British. The London and Berlin Piano Company's T, ed at flom £2OOO to ioOOO, ,tnd was fairly covered bV surance. Sehneideman Bros.' stock was valued at about £BOOO, They had just moved in The stock was insured prior at in 0 ™ ,' a ? d '"Auctions were posted " f, A , 10 °, cl 1 0c k '"St night to have the stock and building insured. ( " * A fireman named Jack JlcArtluir was rather seriously injured by falling debris and he was taken to the hospital

THE INSURANCES. "Th. ' • Auckland, Last Night. The insurances of Messrs. Mackv AtT a rlo«,r , v nC ," d,l ! s Ro >' al £m *> 7„!5 t i o ' Natl °nal £2OOO, Liverpool, London and Globe £2OOO, CommerS)00 ? £oo ?°' SU " ***». tfZ' An ?e " al £2OO0 > Swtt British Slam £m °' rther » The building wag j Mured ia th „ for" 2 2 e oo5 UmgS " tke ° Ue "" C «W ''lu a for £ IBOO on the profits in the Royal Oliice.