A DISASTROUS FIRE.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXX, Issue 8980, 14 November 1907, Page 5

A DISASTROUS FIRE.

KAIAPOI CLOTHING FACTORY DESTROYED. DAMAGE £BO,OOO. By Telegraph—Press Association. CHRISTCHURCH, November 13. The Kaiapoi Woollen Company's Clothing Factory in Bedford Row was completely destroyed by fire this morning. The fire was discovered anout daylight, but had too good a hold for the brigade to save the building. The fire will throw many workers idle. The fire was the most disastrous experienced in Christchurch for fourteen years. It completely destroyed a large quantity of goods, and wrecked the building, leaving nothing standing but bare walls. ■-. Its origin is mysterious, but it probably began in the inflammable material stored in the building, and so spread through the rooms. The building was a mas.« of flames before the fire was seen, and there was no possible chance of saving either the building or the stock. A rough estimate of the damage is £BO,OOO. The insurances on the building and stock amount to £41,000, thus leaving a large loss. Girls were wr.rking in the building till 9 p.m., and some time after that everything seemed quite safe. At about 4.30 a.m., it is stated a person riding along North road, near Papanui, saw a reflection of fire but the fivst alarm was given by a news runner going round Cashel street. He ran to the Lichfield street fire station, which is not far from the scene, and the brigade at once turned out, and, with all the other fire plants in town, was suon on the spot.

The hands will only be out of work temporarily, as the company will take other premises in which to carry on the clothing department of its business. The insurances on the Kaiapoi Factory were made up as follow: — £5,000 on the buildings, £34,000 on the stock, and £1,500 on Jthe machinery, appliances and fittings, distributed over offices thus: — Alliance £5,720, Atlas £3,335, Commercial Union £1,425, Liverpool and London £2,385, London and Lancashire £4,770, New Zealand £4,770, National £1,425, Norwich Union £5.240, Phoenix £4,770, Royal £5,735, South British £1,425; total £41,000. The buildings were of three stories, in brick and Oamaru stone, and covered a quarter of an acre, fronting Cashel street and running through to Bedford Row. The Christchurch Woollen Company does not carry any of its own insurance, so the los 3 above the amount of the insurance will have to go against the reserve fund. The difference roughly is estimated at thirty thousand pounds, but it is understood that the fund is in a position to meet the strain.