GREAT FIRES AT LONDON DOCKS.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXI, Issue 2543, 27 October 1888, Page 2 (Supplement)

GREAT FIRES AT LONDON DOCKS.

Enormous Damage. At nine on Thursday night (August 30th), A great lire broke out in the London Docks, and every engine in the East-end of London turned out and got to work. The docks were closed as usual at four in the afternoon, and there are then few persons except the night policemen and firemen left on the premises. At about halt-past eight.a smell of fire was noticed, and shortly afterwards there was an immense burst of flames from the top of one of the vast I uildings right iu the centre of the docks. The volume of fire was terrific. Shortly afterwards an alarm was given at the Whitechapel station, and the ollieals of the brigade instantly ordered every steamer to the scene, and the circulation of the news among the other stations caused steamers to be sent on from every district in London. On the arrival of the engines it was found about 150 yards long and half as that a fire of enormous strength was raging in the upper floors of a great building broad. The Haines could not have broken out in a more dangerous part of the docks than the site of this Hre—the South (Jtpy Warehouses. The docks were crammed with colonial produce. Through the great iron-barred windows the fire could be seen raging like a furnace. The firemen were for some time able to do little in the way of pouring water on the flames owing the awkward position of the seat of the fire. A long line of steamers with full steam up, ready to pump on the fire at a moment's notice, had to remain comparatively idle until escapes were brought up, and the firemen were enabled to play upon the flames from the top of them. Gradually, however, steamer after steamer was got to work, for it was seen that only a great body of water would subdue the fire, and at ten o'clock the very considerable force of 12 steamers, as well as some hydrants, was fully engaged in playing on the flames. In the breaks iu the great building where the goods are hauled iu by means of steam cranes, escapes were pitched, doors broken open, and the fire met face to face, The proceedings of the members of the brigade were particularly cxciting when they essayed to burst open huge doors through the cracks of which a fiercc fire could be seen raging. The scene at half-past 10 was an imposing one, In the enormous docks, crammed with goods of incalculable value, with vast buildings on every side, and with great vessels in the wet docks, firemen, police, and dock officials were either watching or aiding in endeavouring to extinguish the fire, while an enormous crowd gathered round the great gates and gazed at the progress of the fire from a long distance. In a great shed buildiin? close to the fire the steamers had been drawn up in little clusters of twos and threes, and were pumping continuously with a deafening noise, while the horses, which had been unharnessed, stood quietly in couples in nearly every corner. The water poured over the granite stones of the docks in torrents, and the whole scene wa3 brilliantly illuminated by the fire above. By eleven o'clock the fierceness with which the fire was burning began to be dimished, and presently the firemen were able to circulate the official " stop" message, stating that the two top floors of the provision warehouse had been nearly burned out, and part of the roof destroyed. The firemen had to some extent finished their labours soon after midnight, and some of the engines were returning to their stations, when, at three minntes to one o'clock, another " call" reached the firemen for a fire in the RatclifF Dry Dock. This fire proved even more destructive than the other, and a still greater force of extinguishing appliances had to be set to work. The task of extinction was not concluded until the morning had far advanced. The property thus attacked was at the Itatcliff Dry Dock, Stepney, the premises of Messrs. J. F. Gibb and Co. The flames were discovered in a building of two floors (00ft. by 30ft.), used as the engineers' workshop?. The building contained a great quantity of inflammable material, among which the flames found ready food. Close to the burning structure lay a fine sailing ship, the Cornuvia, belonging to Messrs. Tomliuson, Hodgetts, and Co., of 8, Drury-lane, Liverpool, and in a very few minutes'the flames were seen to sweep across to this ship and ignite its masts and ringing. When tho serious nature of the fire was seen, pressing telephonic messages were forwarded describing the character of the fire, and calling for more aid, and in the course of a wonderfully short space of time steamers were on their way to tho scene from all parts of the metropolis. For the first fire at the London Docks the tide had not Berved for the river floats, but now it was on the turn, and the floats from Rotherhithe and Wapping soon arrived at the scene. At half-past one the difficulties of the firemen were becoming multiplied on every side. Unlike the London Docks fire, where the men had a clear task bofore them and a fire raging in one vast building comparatively isolated, the Ratcliff Dry Dock was surrounded by many small tenements and by other wharves, which were greatly threatened, and it was not long before a warning shout told the firemen that their efforts had been unsuccessful, and that another serious extension of the mischief liad occured. It was seen that the wharf of Messrs. Gowland and Co., coal merchants, was involved, and here a building of two floors, 120 ft. by4oft,, and containing SOO tons of coal, became throughly ignited. The heat thrown out was terrific, and for longr time tho great volume of water which was thrown on to tho flames appeared to have not tho slightest effect. By three o'clock no fewer than fourteen steamers, two floats, and considerably over a hundred firemen were engaged at the scene, and soon after daybreak the fire began to show signs of diminishing.