Captain John Farquharson died on the 22nd April, 1924 as a result of injuries received on 14th April, 1924 at Dunfermline
DEATH OF MR JAMES FARQUHARSON
FATAL RESULT OF INJURIES RECEIVED IN
EXPLOSION
<PHOTO> head and shoulders
The Gas explosion which occurred at the offices of the Dunfermline Parish
Council on the morning of Monday, 14th April, following the fire in
the Old Music Hall, adjoining, on the previous day, has had a fatal termination.
Mr James Farquharson, Captain of the Dunfermline Fire Brigade, who had been
removed to the Dunfermline and West Fife Hospital along with the cleaner of the
offices, succumbed to his injuries on Thursday morning. There had been reason to
believe that he would survive the terrible ordeal. In the beginning of the week,
however, complications manifested themselves, and the patient lapsed into
unconsciousness, the result of brain concussion. Mr Farquharson, who was a
slater in business on his own account, had been a member of the Fire Brigade for
a long series of years. A pathetic circumstance is that the Music Hall
conflagration would, in ordinary circumstances, have been his last fire, for his
resignation as a member of the Brigade had been intimated at the March meeting
of the Town Council. It had been his intention, along with Mrs Farquharson, to
visit America in June. Deceased was a quiet and unassuming man, and was held in
high esteem by all with whom he came into contact. In his youth he was a playing
member of the Dunfermline Athletic Football Club. For some years he had been a
member of the Dunfermline Bowling Club. He is survived by Mrs Farquharson and a
grown up family.
(The Dunfermline Press, Saturday, April 26, 1924. Page 4.)
DEATH
FARQUHARSON – At Dunfermline
and West Fife Hospital, on 23rd inst., James Farquharson, 7 Victoria
Place, Dunfermline ________________ Rose Anne Welsh. Friends who desire
_____________ funeral. Today, please meet cortege ___________ house at 3
o’clock, or at Cemetery __________.
(The Dunfermline Press, Saturday, April 26, 1924. Page 10.)
Disastrous Fire in Dunfermline
OLD MUSIC HALL DESTROYED
ALARMING EXPLOSION SEQUEL
PARISH COUNCIL OFFICES PARTIALLY WRECKED
<PHOTO> Remains inside the
Old Music Hall?
Dunfermline was the scene of a devastating fire on Sunday. The principal
building involved was the structure, formerly known as the Music Hall, situated
in the square formed on the north by High Street, on the south by the offices of
the Dunfermline Parish Council in Abbot Street, on the east by Guildhall Street,
and on the west by Music Hall Lane. Towering high above the conterminous
properties, the hall, which had latterly borne the designation of the New Scala
Picture House, had been a landmark in Dunfermline for the last seventy four
years. It is now a roofless ruin. Nothing remains of the once famous hall but
the bare, gaunt walls, the condition of which may necessitate action on the part
of the local authority in the interests of public safety. Other properties which
became a prey to the flames were the furniture warehouse, with a frontage to
Guildhall Street, and extending backwards to the basement of the hall, tenanted
by the trustees of the late ex Bailie Kenny, and a provision merchant’s
premises, to the south of the furniture warehouse, occupied by Mr Charles Ewart.
Having regard to the congested nature of the area in which the hall stood, and
the difficulties which beset the task of those engaged in the extinguishing
operations, the marvel is that a much heavier toll was not exacted by the
devouring element.
It was at a quarter to eight o’clock that the outbreak was first observed. The
discovery was made by Mr John Smith, shoemaker, who, from a rear window of his
dwelling house in High Street, saw smoke in dense volumes issuing apparently
from the roof of the hall. He lost no time in apprising the officer in charge at
the City Police station. Within from eight to ten minutes thereafter, the
Dunfermline City Fire Brigade was on the scene. The extent to which the fire had
already progressed placed a heavy initial handicap on the firemen. The whole of
the south western portion of the building, from the floor upwards, had thus
early been converted into a roaring furnace, and the flames were spreading with
alarming rapidity in the direction of the balcony and vestibule on the north
side of the hall. Although five lines of hose were expeditiously put into
operation, it was early evident that no volume of water could make an impression
upon the conflagration, so far as the hall itself was concerned, and the
furniture warehouse underneath and to the east. As a matter of fact, the roof
collapsed with a deafening crash within a quarter of an hour of the arrival of
the brigade.
At this stage, the firemen concentrated their efforts in the direction of saving
adjoining property, which, for several hours, was in imminent danger of attack.
This was a danger, indeed, which was ever present at something like half a dozen
points. With the collapse of the roof, myriads of sparks were scattered into the
air in all directions. Several of these found lodgement in the timber yard of Mr
A Mitchell, situated in the lane to the west of the Music Hall, and also in
dangerous proximity to the extensive stores of Messrs James Bonnar & Sons,
ironmongers, situated in the same lane. By the application of a continuous
projection of water, these premises, with their valuable contents, remained
immune. A particularly vulnerable point was to the south, adjoining the late Mr
Kenny’s shop premises in Guildhall Street. Here the progress of the fire was
checked at the shop of Mr Ewart, grocer, whose stock, however, was rendered
useless by water and heat. For some time fears were entertained for the safety
of the Imperial Hotel, the roof of which caught fire several times. In their
task of preventing the spread of the fire, the Dunfermline firemen were assisted
by a detachment of the Metropolitan Police Fire Brigade from Rosyth Dockyard.
By three o’clock in the afternoon, herculean efforts of the firemen had been
crowned with success. The four walls of the hall contained a smouldering mass of
material, and all danger, so far as adjoining subjects were concerned, were
over. When the fire was at its height, the heat given off was intense. Paint on
the front of the shops of Mr Philp, chemist, and Messrs Burns, athletic
outfitters, in Guildhall Street, was reduced to blisters. An enormous crowd of
onlookers witnessed the progress of the fire from various points. At an early
stage, Chief Constable Bruce caused Guildhall Street to be closed against
traffic, heavy barricading being placed at the top and bottom of that
thoroughfare.
The origin of the fire is not known. Whether it broke out in the furniture
warehouse or in the hall itself cannot be affirmed with certainty, because of
the progress which the flames had made before it was observed. It was impossible
to save any part of the extensive stock of furniture belonging to Mr Kenny’s
trustees, Clark’s trustees, the proprietors of the hall, are also heavy losers
by the conflagration. So also are the lessees of the hall, whose expensive
cinematograph paraphernalia became an easy prey to the flames. Among those who
were early on the scene was Mr J. Rich, manager of the Palace Kinema. After the
Guildhall Street entrance to the building had been broken down, Mr Rich made an
unsuccessful attempt to reach the operating room, where twenty thousand feet of
film, representing the programmes for Saturday and Monday evenings, was
destroyed. Only recently a re-seating scheme had been carried out in the area
and balcony.
With the demolition of the hall, there has also been destroyed an interesting
relic of the opening of the building in December 1852. This was a poster
relating to a concert with which the hall was opened to the public. It had long
been enclosed in a frame, and was hung outside of the manager’s room in the
vestibule. Referring to the hall, Dr Henderson, in his “Annals of Dunfermline,”
under date 1852, says:- “The large and commodious Music Hall, capable of holding
an audience of about 1500, was opened by a grand concert on 30th
December 1852. The principle entrance is from Guildhall Street, Mr Clark,
bookseller, is the proprietor. The building was in progress during the whole of
the year 1852.” In its heyday, the Music Hall of Dunfermline was one of the
finest among the provincial towns of Scotland, alike from its fine internal
decorations, and its excellent acoustic properties. It had been closed for some
years prior to its conversion into a printing works, and when cinematograph boom
was at its height it was entirely gutted, re-seated and converted into a picture
house. The under portion of the building, so long utilised as a furniture
warehouse was occupied for some time as a corn exchange.
The Dunfermline Brigade remained on duty all night on Sunday, pouring water on
the smouldering embers. On Monday evening, and again on Tuesday, a section of
the brigade was summoned to the ruins in order to extinguish outbreaks which
continued to make their appearance among the mass of debris in the furniture
warehouse.
THE EXPLOSION IN PARISH COUNCIL OFFICES
There was an extraordinary
and distressing sequel to the fire on Monday morning, when a violent explosion
of gas almost completely wrecked the offices of the Dunfermline Parish Council
in Abbot Street, and seriously injured Mr James Farquharson, captain of the
Dunfermline Fire Brigade, and Mrs Jane Merchant, Kirkness, Lochore, the cleaner
of the offices. When the fire was at its height on Sunday, a line of hose had
been led from Abbot Street through the offices of the Parish Council, and water
played from an upstairs window upon the gable of the hall, in front of which the
offices are erected. Gas, obviously in enormous quantity, had escaped from the
hall into the basement of the offices. Shortly before eight o’clock on Monday
morning, Captain Farquharson and Mr Charles Tervit, the officer in charge of the
brigade, were proceeding down Music Hall Lane for the purpose of satisfying
themselves as to the condition of matters at the south side of the hall. Two
members of the Fire Brigade followed some distance behind. Just when Mr
Farquharson and Mr Tervit had reached the west gable of the Parish Council
Buildings, a violent explosion occurred. There was a sudden upheaval of the
ground in the vicinity of a manhole utilised in connection with the heating
apparatus in the basement of the offices. Stones, earth, and other debris were
suddenly hurled with terrific force into the air. Captain Farquharson received
the full effect of the upheaval, and was violently thrown to the ground. Mr
Tervit was thrown against the west wall of the lane, and was cut on the back of
the head by a piece of flying debris. With the assistance of the two firemen and
a civilian, Mr Tervit had the captain, who was apparently severely injured,
conveyed to St Margaret’s Hotel. A few minutes later, Mrs Merchant was conveyed
to the hotel. Dr Andrew Lees Bell and Dr James Gordon Bell, who saw the
patients, ordered their removal to the Dunfermline and West Fife Hospital.
Mrs Merchant was the only person within the Parish Council offices at the time
the explosion occurred. How she escaped with her life must ever remain a
mystery. The explosion, the reverberation of which was felt in all parts of the
town, was devastating in its effects. Erected ten years ago, and forming one of
the most substantial buildings in the town, the offices were literally reduced
to wreckage. It was in the vestibule, which seemed to suffer least, that Mrs
Merchant was found lying. Within the offices on the ground floor, a scene of
indescribable confusion was presented. The wooden flooring, with its base of
concrete, was ripped and forced up inside the public office; a heavy mahogany
counter, stretching the whole length of the office, was split in two and upset;
and desks and stools and other office furnishings lay in a heap as if they had
been dumped from a cart or wagon. Much havoc was also caused in the Council
Chamber upstairs. Here, the flooring had also been dislodged, and splinters of
desks and chairs, mixed with plaster and cement from the roof, lay piled up at
the east end of the chamber. Disastrous too were the effects of the explosion in
the eastern portion of the ground floor of the buildings, occupied by the Burgh
Registrar. In the public office, the flooring was dislodged, and a large desk
turned upside down. In other parts of the Registrar’s chambers, plaster and
concrete work were pressed out, and the fragments of these wee strewn all over
the place.
Practically every window in the building was blown out. Along the front of the
buildings the roadway was strewn with broken glass, fragments of furniture and
typewriters, and other debris, which had been hurled into the street by the
force of the explosion. There were windows broken in the Central Library
buildings on the opposite side of the thoroughfare, and a number of windows in
adjoining buildings on the same side as the Parish Council offices were broken.
Perhaps the most serious feature of the explosion lies in the fact that the
fabric, one of the most substantially built properties in Dunfermline has been
seriously affected. Several of the stones forming the frontage have been cracked
and displaced, and there are other indications which might render reconstruction
necessary. Happily, the books both of the Parish Council and Registrar’s
department had been deposited in strong iron safes, which withstood the
devastating effects of the explosion. Piles of old records belonging to the
Parish Council, for which no strong room accommodation had been provided, were
salved from the wreckage.
Both Captain Farquharson and Mrs Merchant were found to be in a serious
condition on admission to the hospital. The former was suffering from serious
injuries to the arms and face. One of his arms was so badly lacerated that an
operation was found to be necessary. It is feared that his use of the arm may be
permanently affected. Mrs Merchant, who suffered from shock as well as face
bruises, is making satisfactory progress toward recovery.
For the transaction of the business of the Parish Council, temporary
accommodation has been obtained in St Margaret’s Hall. The Town Council have
granted the Parish Council, for their meetings, the use of the Council Chambers
in the municipal buildings, where also temporary quarters have been found for
the Burgh Register and his assistant.
SPECIAL MEETING OF PARISH COUNCIL
In order that the members of
Dunfermline Parish Council should have an official statement, so far as was
known, of what occurred at their premises in Abbot Street, and of the difficulty
in assessing this damage, a special meeting of the Council was held in
Dunfermline Town Council chambers on Thursday evening.
Mr Malcolm S. Macgregor, who presided, referred sympathetically at the outset of
the meeting to the injuries which had been received by Mrs Merchant and Mr
Farquharson. He said they had been called together in consequence of the
disastrous explosion which occurred at their building, pretty well wrecking it.
Most of them had visited the scene of the explosion and had seen the devastation
which was wrought, and certainly they must view the result of it with very great
regret, particularly when a member of their staff, Mrs Merchant, their office
cleaner, was injured while in the performance of her duties. At the same time,
he thought there must be a feeling of thankfulness in all their hearts that,
looking to the extent and severity of the explosion, it was not followed by
worse consequences. If the explosion had taken place two or three hours later,
when the whole staff were assembled, he did not think there would have been one
of them alive today. It was really a matter to be grateful to the Lord God that
they had been spared such a horrible tragedy. He had been informed that Dr Bell,
under whose charge Mrs Merchant was, reported that she was out of danger. She
sustained a severe cut to the head necessitating stitches, and burning injuries
to face, arms, and chest, but he was glad to say the burns appeared to be
somewhat superficial. She had had a good night and was fairly comfortable, and
he hoped, although it was too soon yet to say what the result of the shock would
be, it would not be very long before she was able to get out of hospital. With
regard to Mr Farquharson, he was sure they all felt very great sympathy with
him, particularly in the circumstances that it was becoming near the end of his
term as a fireman. He was glad to say he had had a talk with Dr Tuke, and he was
pretty certain that now there was no internal injury, but he had very serious
injuries to both arms, particularly the left arm, where the elbow bone was
rather badly smashed. Although they wished him a speedy recovery, he was afraid
he would have a deficient left arm. His right arm was also broken, and whether
he was out of danger or not it was a little doubtful, as with such a serious
injury there was always the danger of something supervening. So far, however,
his progress was as favourable as could be expected. He thought that before they
should proceed with the business they should record their deep regret at the
serious injuries sustained by Mr Farquharson and Mrs Merchant and their sincere
sympathy with them in their present suffering. Their earnest hope was that their
suffering might be speedily relieved, and their recovery made rapid.
THE REVIEW OF THE EVENTS
The circumstances of the explosion were pretty well known to them all, but there had been a lot of talk following the occurrence, as usually followed such an occurrence of that kind, and he might be permitted to say something about it. On Sunday afternoon there was not the slightest smell of gas or anything to indicate that there was any danger from gas, and he (the Chairman) was quite satisfied that at that time the inside of the office was in as good a perfect condition as it was when it was built, apart from the damage done by water. Curiously enough, Mr Douglas and he had discussed the propriety of allowing the office cleaner to go into the office, but the only danger was the fact that the water had got down to the heating chamber, which was flooded to about nine inches, and the covering was off the pump sump, and Mrs Merchant, it was thought, might put her foot down that. He was glad to say that, although severely injured, Mrs Merchant had been able to make a statement as to what occurred. Her statement was that, when she went into the office in the usual way, she smelt gas. She hung up her hat and coat in the lobby, and went toward the cellar door where she thought the gas was coming from. She did not strike a match, but immediately she opened the door she remembered nothing more. There was no reason to discredit that statement she gave, and he was inclined to believe it was true. That, of course, made the mystery all the greater. What happened after that she did not know, but they all knew it was the disastrous explosion which wrecked their offices.
REFUTING IDLE RUMOURS AS TO CAUSE
He did not think anybody,
unless one or two cranks, had any doubt that that explosion was a gas explosion,
but in regard to the question of the nature of the gas there were two old
schools of thought. The first and most general and almost the universally
accepted school was that the explosion was caused by coal gas. He meant the
usual gas for illuminating purposes. The chief objection urged against that
school and the fact of the gas coming from pipes about the seat of the fire, was
that coal gas was said to rise. He was not sufficient of a chemist to say
whether coal gas did rise or not, but even if it was admitted that it did rise
it did not necessarily mean that in this case it had to rise, because the
foundation of the old theatre and their buildings at the back were on a level,
and it was quite possible for the gas to get into their building. But there was
a stronger point. If it did not come from there, where did it come from, because
there was one thing absolutely certain, and that was that there was no damage
done to their buildings up to the Sunday night. All the gas pipes were in
perfect order. There was no escape of gas in the building, and if it was coal
gas it must have come from outside, and the only disturbing factor outside was
the fire, and if it was coal gas it came from there. They would all have heard
that that part of the town was supposed to contain gas pipes of which no record
was kept. It might have been one of these, but he wanted to have emphasised,
because of the rumours, that if it was coal gas it did not come from inside the
building, and accordingly it must have come from the outside of the building;
and no other place it would come from but the seat of the fire.
The other school of thought said that coal gas could never do it; that it was
some other gas that had been generated by the fire. Some went so far as to say
it was gas generated in the office itself. (Laughter.) There was a good deal of
gas generated in the Parish Council office – (laughter) – but hitherto it had
not had such a disastrous effect. It was quite possible that gases were
generated from the fire, but the only stable theory that had been put forward
was that the water, which either percolated through the walls or descended the
staircase, set up a fermentation in the coal and coke lying in the furnace
chamber and produced a gas. He was not a gas manufacturer, at least not an
explosive gas manufacturer, but he never knew that the manufacture of gas was
quite that simple as that, and the strong point against that was that that was a
state of matters that had been in the office for years. It would be in the
recollection of most of them that that heating chamber was in a chronic state of
being flooded and the coal was always under water. They had to install a pump to
clear the water, and why should it on that special occasion generate gas. It
seemed to him the theory only required to be stated to show the ridiculousness
of it. They had the theatre fire and an unusual form of events, and why should
they look further as to where the gas came from. The theory that the gas came
from anywhere other than the fire was incredible. As to the question of how that
gas became ignited, if they were to believe Mrs Merchant’s story, and he
suggested they should believe it, that she did not light a match when she opened
the door, how did the gas become ignited? There was no fire in the office in the
first place, as the furnace was not replenished after early on Saturday, and it
would be out after Saturday afternoon. There was no light in the office. The
possibility was that the vast quantity of gas which must have been there, might
have become ignited elsewhere, either by the fire or by some passer by. Another
possibility, and what he suggested was the probability, was that the front door
having been opened, whenever the door to the store was opened the draught drove
the gas toward the fire and ignited it there.
Miss Harcus, who lives in a house adjoining the Parish Council building, said
she had a very narrow escape. When she came out of her front room everything was
safe, and when she got to the kitchen the kitchen window was blown right in, and
the glass from the Parish Council building came into the room. Her kitchen, she
wished to point out, was full of gas after that happened. The first thing she
did was to open the parlour window to let the gas out, and in opening it a big
piece of glass came in on her. She told a policeman when she came out about the
gas, which had seemed to go right through her house.
The Chairman suggested that the Council authorise Mr Rutherford, who was the
architect, and Mr Hardie, who was the measurer, to proceed with the preparation
of schedules and take estimates in order that they might be in a position to
adjust their claim with the Insurance Company, to try to arrive at a settlement.
The Council approved.
On the motion of the Chairman a small committee, consisting of the Chairman, Mr
Clow, Mr Anderson, Mr Hoggan, Mr Ramsay, and Mr Morton, was appointed to deal
with the adjustment of the claim and to deal with the construction of the
building and any other matter arising out of the explosion.
(The Dunfermline Press, Saturday, April 19, 1924. Page 7)