The gaunt skeleton of what was once Fuhlee was naturally a centro of curiosity on Friday. There was little to sce of the great store itself save the exterior walls and the tumbled debris on which a couple of streams of water were still being played. The walls were decidedly out of line, and some apprehension. was felt lest they should fall in altogether. Accordingly the police had boarded off alt carriage traffic, both in Nanking Road and Szechuen Road in the immediate vicinity. Foot were allowed at first to pass at their own risk, but early in the day traffic of every sort was suspended and had not been allowed to be resumed last night. The stopping of two of the busiest thoroughfares in the Settlement has naturally caused considerable. inconvenience. One angry correspondent writes to us to suggest that 18 hours after the fire it might at least have been found possible to place warning notices at the entrances of the closed roads, so that those in a hurry might not lose time by taking their usual routes only to find themselves blocked. Others have expressed the same opinion. The pressure of other duties is no doubt very heavy on the Secretary of the Council now that war has commenced, but it would not take much time to have the public convenience attended to in a matter like this. During the day measures were taken to shore up the walls which were most dangerous.
In Hung Chang's shop some of the valuable vases, ornaments, and silver goods wore still to be seen in their cases, and there was some salvage also in the way of elaborately carved fittings and furniture. During and after the fire it is feared there was a deal of looting from this store. We understand that one looter has arrested.
The figures we printed in our last issue were an estimate of the amount of dams sustained by the several owners of premises and property destroyed, nob a statement as to the amount for which they were insured. Mr. Kileimenow (the Russian Consul-General) has the sympathy lof the whole community in his personal loss. Everything belonging to him at the Consulate is gone, and he was not insured at all.
It is now stated that the fire broke out on the south corner of the Szechuen Road front, that is, near the.wall dividing Fuh-lee from the Russian Consulate.
A great deal of criticism has been [levelled at the Shanghai Fire Brigade for the way in which they managed the fire.
is said that they were late in turning out; that the engines were late in arriving; and that the fire float ought to have come sooner. Onlookers always imagine that they know how' things should be done better than people who are doing the Work, but the following details may be taken as fully substantiated. Two stroams were playing inside the building before the alarm had stopped ringing. The re-ions only allow the district engino—in this case the Deluge—to turn out at the first alarm.. It was therefore necessary to send for all the other engines. Had the fire float arrived any earlier it could have done little good, as it burst the hose directly it was started. Bose had to be continually replaced onthe engi streams also, The fire float will never be able to give a good account of itself until it is regularly taken out for practic, and on grounds of economy this is not done. The poor water pressure which was evident at first was almost—if not entirely—due to the bursting of the hydraulic gear under the lift. Had this been tured off at once the Brigade would have had a better chance. As it was the firemen found the greatest difficulty in turning it off owing tothe intense heat in the Szechuen Road. Eventually under cover of shutters, with stream playing round them they found the water-cock and turned it off. Another thing which would now seem to be necessary is that an escape—preferably a harnessed one—should attend every fire. It is easy to find fault with. the fire brigade but, handicapped as they were, the wonder is that the outbreak was restricted to such a limited area. Many of the firemen did not leave until after midnight. On the whole the work of the brigade on Thursday was fully up to the high standard previously attained by this fine organisation, although the fire was one of unexampled fierceness.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.