FIRE AT GREYTON.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 3, Issue 963, 31 December 1881, Page 2

FIRE AT GREYTON.

DESTRUCTION OF|THE|WAIRA-; ■ BAP|r3TEAMJASS : PM)OOR

; ,-;; : '-iPRp^ptiR - ; ;. •Abootj/half-past 2 this failing j :P()iindi:wlio lives oppnsifeihe'above fac-"! .ti'ry,;W4 awoke, hy-hia; wife, who noticed} 1 the reflection of n7e:on the window, blindsi. He,at on™ got: tip, and discovered that it whs.-av.Jire. burning directly over the boiler in the factory, andf close to the chimney. ..Be then iirniised Mr R.' A. Waki'liiiivih'e pi'o|irietiir, who ,lives ; in a h useadjbj!iihy,aiidtheyhiith'epdeayiired to put it butVbnt (iir is .jMually the .case in Greytown). no wujer could he found; had there '.-.hoon half-a-dozen buckets it would have been sufficient toi have queochel il. Findingit uselesstoattempt .anything in that direction'Mr Pound itu/ mediately aro sed Messrs MoNab.Dooley,' a ltd Wicko'smi. who were sami on thespoi, Finding it impossible to save anything f r«m the bni'ding (he fire having such a li->ld) ihey immediately sot to work and; cleared al the papers. &c, from the office, whioli was the nearest, building to the factory. By this time the house was in danger, as the wind was carrying the spirits on to it Seeing that'nothing could be done with >ut more assistance, Ur Wickerson rushed up the town and r used the inhabitants and rung the firebell. This was soon answered by the school bell, and in a very short time a large number of willing hands were on the scene, bnt not any too Roon, for the n.ffi e and an outhouse adjoining were al ready in flame*, and it seemed as though it was a m t er of impossibility to save the ho-se, there being only about 25ft between that and the outhouse.

Me.«ra McNab, and O'Bierne (a visitor from Welling'on), got on the roof, and wet blanket were handed up, bit,the supply of water was so short that it was not sufficient to prevent the shingles catching alight, (as they d;'d) severil times, the pump too, being situated between the outhouse and the house, made it a difficult matter for any- one to stand and use it, for the heat was terrific, the wind bloniig almost directly on to it Mr Wakelin th nkingthe house could not be Rived, commenced removing his farmtme to'a place of safety, but the men on the roof, and at the immp ativk to their work n >blv, and although the grass was burned within a few feet of the -feather hmrds, tbev used what little water they had so judiciously that they .mved the building. The house and furniture »' insure;! in the South British for L 350, and had it not been for the exer tions of those present, that Com pany would have been the losers to the fullest extant; amongst those who really deserve recognition for their serviced can be mentioned Messrs McNab, Dooley, Pound, and O'Bierne, and as the company's a?ent waß thero at an early stage .> 'the fire, he no doubt will see that the deserving ones are iawarded'for their efforts. The factory was only insured for £450 in the "New Zealand Insurance Company." Mr Wnkelin estimates his loss at El 000 exclusive of the Insurance; 'b', beside the Factory and plant', between 20 000 and 30,0001 feet of dressed timber was destroyed, also, a qp/t and several ton of coal. The employees ajso are consider ablo liwora one of the joiners Mr J. Heid nstimatps his loss at £4O, having lost the whole of his tools, some of the o-hers los ing all they had; this will crime rather hard upon them, seeing thoy are not in •roil. This fio ory was the mint comolete one of its kind in the Wairarapa •lislriot. hHvi-.iu been twice enlarged during 'he past few yoars. The large building was devoted tn machinery, which ami prised Planing M.ieh'ne, Oircuhr Siw Tu mug Lithe, .Morticm.' M'icllin'', Hud other machines, tieceasuy '"or the dijfjren.t worljs; t])a whole wu 'riven hy h hnrigmtil engine'/whjoli w:is supplied by an egg-ihap'ud hmler. Pltofo waj;»!sn n joiti'Tsshop, and glazier limp atr che ; . Nothing nowremains,of

his block bur. the lirge hrick chimney' stack and a few sin iu'dering em- e s -'A* ' ( here is still'a', large quantity «f tiirjhe around the premises, sever d men have be»n put. iin'to p'roteo' the adjoiniti;. .prnpprtips. Bhioh, 8l,:inl in great, danger I'ltiritigtheprcßßnt highwinda.

The nrM'i p r the h're is unknown Everythinii was oafs ,t half-past teiflasi