During the whole of the night of June 17-18 the Fire Brigade was occupied on the top floor of the Soochow Road godown, which was in a blaze early in the preceding afternoon. There were continual fresh outbreaks during the night, but these were effectively dealt with.
Last Friday morning, half a dozen firemen were at work, under the supervision of a foreign fireman, when the water suddenly fell to such a low pressure that the jets were ineffective. Some burning tea worked through the floor into the western portion of the godown which had been saved on the previous day, and another call had to be made on the Central Division. As this part of the™ godown and its contents had gathered much heat, the fire spread rapidly, and the Brigade was for some time hampered by the insufficiency of the water supply. Additional lines of hose were laid down and the outbreak was prevented from spreading to the ground floor.
The men had 'a strenuous time keeping the fire in check on the upper floor where i¢a was stored. About 21 hours after the original call, the firemen were working on some burning tea in the doorway on the first floor between the centre and west portions of the godown when there was a burst of flame accompanied by a black smoke amongst the stacks of tea chests at the far end. This was surprising, not the slightest trace of fire having previously been observed in this quarter. Attention was immediately given to the new outbreak, but the water pressure proved insufficient and another call to the brigade became necessary.
In the meantime, the six Chinese already at work under a foreign foreman stuck to their job and several of them were overcome py smoke. New lines of hose were laid on when assistance came from the Central Station, but even with the use of a powerful pump to compensate for low water pressure, some time elapsed before the flames were put out. A number of men had to be kept at work during Friday night, and most of them succumbed temporarily to the smoke fumes, Station Superintendent Thomson and—Fireman Kinnaird being badly affected. Altogether, the fire has been one of a very difficult character, and with unusual features, Mu. E. S. Little writes from Peftatho, under date of June 18:—Yesterday 1,000 people formed procession to pray for rain. We have had some "condensing mists," but. no rain, and the countryside is parched and bare. In some of the villages the wells are all dry and enough water to drink is hard to come by.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.