FIRE AT WAIPOUA TERRACE.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume IX, Issue 2790, 5 January 1888, Page 2

FIRE AT WAIPOUA TERRACE.

MR KIOHARD MEREDITH'S HOUSE ENDANGERED.

At twenty minutes to tines o'clock this morning, an alarm of fire was given at the Queen Street bell, and a fow minutes later Villa Street pealed in vigorous sympathy. Mr Braggins. the night-watchman, who was the first at th.i bell, pointed out a lurid glare in in the direction of To Ore Ore, as the locality of the fire, and this increasing, was soon very prominent, and seemed to indicate that damage to a considerable extent was likely.to be done. The firemen, and the few people who had by this timo mustered, did not, however, waste much time, in idle speculation, but proceeded to get the fire engines out, and to drag them, together with the lio'so. reels up to the scene, On the way, opinions as to the exact locality varied. ■• Some wero' inclined to think that Mr Ewington's, or the houses of Messrs Reynolds and Tate were the ones endangered,', while the majority pointed to the. illumination as plainly being in the direction of Mr Richard Meredith's house. The latter view soon proved itself to he correct, although not as regarded the house itself, for the burning building turned out to be a stable, some forty-five feet in the rear, and therefore quite detached. On arrival at the spot, it was seen that the residence, fortunately, owing to the absence of wind, was in no imminent-danger. It soems that one of the first to discover the fire wae a young fellow named Caleb Ewington. Tiio stable,-which contained hay, was then fairly alight and flames' were coming out of the door, Mr Ewington heard a chained .up dog (a valuable fox terrier) pitoously yelping in the interior, but was too late to gel in to release it, A horse, too, which usually shelters in the shed had,fortunately beenabloto make its way.out. The lad seeing that there was no one about quickly gave the alarm at the house, and then joined by others (Messrs I). Stone, J. Tate, D. Barclay, H. Ewington, R. Manning, 0,: Ewington, and Pinkerton among, them) instituted a bucket bridle, and with water and

blankets successfully■•,[iroteoted' tlib: residence.; The niatiual engine mean-' while had hrtlWfl;at' the-:Waijipiiu bridge,iiicl: the, steam engine Jubilee was being taken down, the cutting,,' at the 'side,.to- the, waters edge, -from whence at ten minutes' past.tliree 'a'jet; of water carried, thrbugli.no less:than' 1300 feet of canvas hose was played; on to the flames and soon had '-".the -effect of entirely subduing them. •. yVe jnay remark" that the Jubilee worked splendidly considerinc that the: water was elevated, inoluding tlio height of the

jet(aboutthirty feet)jsome .120 feet, A uniform pressure was maintained of steam lOOlbs, and water lOOlbs.: The' stable, was of course totally consumed. It was a one-storey, building, about 30 x 16ft, with a small loft, and con-'' tained only a lot of hiiy, v and r some sundries.. Considering t.he- distance froni town,, there were a good number, of spectators in,the vicinity, about 200 persons being present/and much, relief and satisfaction was felt when it was found that Mr Meredith's' pretty villa had escaped. That gentleman, we may say was away from Lome at the time, .the occupants',-being Mrs Meredith, two : lady visitors, and the servant, and they naturally fclt.considerably "alarmed. .We understand that'the Volunteer Fire Brigade was especially early on the scene, the fact of some of their members residing in the neighborhood, enabling them to be. of considerable service at just the right time,,; The loss is. estimated at £75; thisbeingthe value of the stable and contents, which were-we believe uninsured. The house was not in j ured beyond a slight charring of the'paint. No cause can beas iguedfor theoubbreak, but it is supposed he hay may have been damp, and so f-pontaneously ignited.

EKETAHUNA. ..-' (From Our Own Correspondent). Our growing township witnessed another very enjoyable concert and dance in aid of the Cricket Club, which was kept up till an early hour on Wednesday morning, The inhabitants are now returning to work after the festivities of tlio week, and are looking as if the holiday had done them good. I see in the paper the butchers here have applied to tlin Wairnrapa County Council for licenses, as they are about to be subjected to a tax. How is it they have omitted to tax the enormous quantity of dogs—a number quite out of proportion to the size of che township.