The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1886-04-21
T Fl T.
WEDNESDAY
April 21st.
REFLECTIONS UPON THE FIRE.

The idea of making the disastrous fire
of Sunday last an occasion for personal
and political detraction, could only
occur to the chronic "soreheads" who
ventilate their imaginary grievances
through the weekly Opposition paper.
1t attacks the Minister of the Interior in
a virulent and wholly unjustifable way.
There was no excuse whatever for the
strong condemnatory remarks upon
Mr.. Gulick in the article in question.
Moreover, the statements put forward as
facts are absolutely untrue. 1t is not
true that Mr.. Gulick either hesitated or
procrastinated as to the use of explosives
or the removal of buildings. AS soon as
Captains Abingdon and Blackburne
came upon the scene of the confagra-
ton they were introduced to His Excel
lency by Mr.. Theo. II. Davies, II. B.
NJ Vice Consul, and then and there
Mr.. Gulick gave his unqualified consent
to the fullest liberty of action in the mat
ter of pulling down or blowing up build
ings to arrest the progress of the fire.
So much for the charge that the Min
lister of the Interior hesitated at the
IS; tih pfgeehted dtfers from acting.
On the contrary, his conduct first and
last was directly the opposite of this.
No man could be more resolute in his de-
sire to check the fire than the Minister
of the Interior, and no man deserves
better of the community for his services
upon that disastrous day than His Ex-
cellency.
The statement that gun cotton was
ashore from the ships at the time the
fire was raging on Meek street, and that
Mr.. Gulick's hesitancy was the cause of
the fire crossing King street, is equally
untrue. Gun cotton was not ashore.
Captains Blackburne and Abingdon evil
IDENTIFY did not at first comprehend the
gravity of the situation, and when pow
der was sent for from the ships the Off
GERS in charge only delivered small
quantity, they being ignorant of the
necessities of the case Subsequently
gun cotton was sent for, as the first
charges of powder tried proved practically
Intellectual. No men could behave bet
ter than the officers and men of Her
Majesty's ships in harbor; no commun-
ity could feel more grateful to them than
the inhabitants of Honolulu; and no man
in the Kingdom recognizes the value of
their services more fully or more intelli-
gently than Mr.. Gulick does. 1t is there
fore regrettable that their generous and
courageous eKertions in saving life
mixed up with the petty personal an
tipathies and prejudices of the con-
little coterie which controls
the Gazette" The execrable bad taste
of the article in question cannot be too
strongly reprobated. 1t is humiliating
to all respectable and intelligent citizens,
and Ge are sure we are expressing their
feeling when we give utterance to our
own regret at its occurrence.
Another misstatement in the article in |
question is that there was a scarcity of !
water at the outbreak of the fire. There |
was an abundance of water all the time |
Of the fire. The pressure never was
abated, and that pressure came direct
from Kapena pool, and not from the
1t is said: ''Had the supply
been sufficient to have obtained a good
stream when the fire first broke out on
Smiths lane, our own fremen could
EASILY have controlled the blaze" Hay
ng been at the scene of the fire within
i've minutes of the first alarm from the
Police Station, we are in position to
peak from personal observation. TWAS
lot want of water that was the trouble,
ut failure to utilize it to any good pur-
ose. The truth of this statement is
noWn to hundreds OF citizens. If any
the other fire companies had been in
ae post of honor at the very beginning,
lstead of the Chinese Company, the
re might have been subdued. Indeed,
he occupants of the premises might
ave extinguisbed it themselves. As it
as, there was confusion, waste Of water !