DESTRUCTIVE FIRE AT NAPIER. £60,000 Damages[BY TELEGRAPH.—PRESS ASSOCIATION.] Napier, Saturday.

Waikato Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2255, 21 December 1886, Page 2

DESTRUCTIVE FIRE AT NAPIER. £60,000 Damages[BY TELEGRAPH.— PRESS ASSOCIATION.] Napier, Saturday.

The ir.ost destructive Hie which has ever occuned in Napier broke out tins morning in Teuny>ou-sireet. The Hre alarm ran,; ah mt ten o'clock, .mil the now-, qnick.lv spread that the piemi>es of JJannei and Liddle, auctioneer and insurance agent-, weio in fLimes. The Fire Biigade weie on the -pot in a veiy shoit space of time, but still thetiie had got a good hold of th>' building, which was burning heic;ly. The ho^e was piomptly inn jut, but the watei faded. It was only a low pies Mire. It waobvimis from the &tait that the building where the tire originated was doomed, and that nothing could save it fiom the Hrst outbreak. A nasty south wind \va-> blow ing, wind) threatened destnieti m to many buildings in the vicinity. Within three minutes the back fence and out-office of the Daily Telegraph office weie in flame*. Kven then but little danger was appiehended. The thinj{ had been too sudden to lead anyone to suppose tint whit at h'r>t was but a little hie was the inception of a conflagiatnm. The Telegiaph Office was speedily levelled to the gunidd. By tfiis time the flan es weie, spieadingon both hides of the telegiaph oltite, and J)»ncan's auction tn.xrt \Va-> in pro it dai gei 1 on one hide, and a- row of lawvei's othc3> mi the other side. The Hre w;u also spieading right tlivough to Knieison-vtieet, t!>uie being a strong southei ly wind, and several buildings wtue ob-erved Lo ha\e caught fire, (iroat eii'oits weie made to save the large Criterion Hotel, as this would un donbtedly have caused the flam is-, to spread along both sides of Hastings stieet. Fortu nately the Criteiion was at length sufficiently piotected to allow of the brigide directing their efforts to Tennyson street, and other buildings of Emerson-street. B\ this time Hoadley and Ci>'-> fine piemises weie on fiie; and also Martins (ta'loi), .Sauisbury and Login's new offices, and tlu premises of Neil (photographer). It was generally thought that the Hawke's Bay ll.uald office was perfectly secim 1 , but the flames spiead rapidly from Neal s to the Herald office, and it was oh-eived that tinlatter was also burning fierc The whole of the Heiald .staff— a host of willing a-sis tants— then removed the cases of tvpi\ valuable documents, and everything that eager and willing hands could liy hold on, but the whole of the valuable m.ichinei\ was totally destroyed.