LAMBTON QUAY FIRE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 71, 10 August 1912, Page 4

LAMBTON QUAY FIRE.

SAD SIGHT F,OR BOOK-LOVERS.

FALL OF A TWENTY-TON MACHINE..

Thousands of people (says the Dominion) visited Lambton Quay on Thursday to gaze upon the scene of desolation anil destruction presented by the fire-gutted premises of Messrs. Whiteomb arid Tombs, Ltd. All day on Wednesday it was a source of wonder to many spectators that no attempt was made on thepart of those responsible to remove th#~ Valuable stock which reposed on th» shelves, tables, and in the glass casesgoods which must be wortli many linn-, dreds of pounds. A reason for this delay was forthcoming yesterday, whew it was stated that owing to the extreme danger of the ceiling of the -shop collapsing, the insurance companies wer«* not prepared to grant cover to t'hos* members of the staff who would.be employed in the removal of the goods. -An arrangement was arrived at on Thursday to extend cover to .single men, and a start was made to remove the contents of the shop on Thursday afternoon. Thousands of volumes of fiction, poems-, ■ Bibles, hymn-.book.s-, together with desks, fancy goods, and office paraphernalia, were packed indiscriminately on to carts, and conveyed to the premises at the rear of Messrs. W. and G. Turnbull and Company's warehouse, recently vacated by the Empire Packing Company, where they will be sorted and arranged for adjustment by the underwriters' representatives, after which they will be offered for sale to the public. As events proved, the underwriters had plenty of justification in hesitatinjr to give cover to workmen* within the building. At 4 a.m. on ■ Thursday, a mass of machinery, including a 26-ton double-royal lithograph machine, which has been partly supported on a steel girder, crashed through the ceiling into the shop below, bringing with it tons of debris from the floors above, and covering up many valuable glass book-case* and shelves packed with books of every description. Experts agree that the greater part of the northern wall will have to be taken down, owing to the manner in whicli it was buckled and cracked Iry the heat. 'l The southern ,w<dl must have also been subjected-to a very intense heat, but its condition cannot be Accurately judged until tho debris has been removed. Temporary offices have l>ean secured' bv the, firm in Hunter street, near the Central Hotel, and opposite the firm's bulk stores, in the cellar of the A.M.PBuilding.