He thought it only right, however, that th® matter should be brought officially before them, as there was a letter of thanks from the Lyttelton Borough Council, and some accounts for expenses incurred in connection with the fire. He was sorry the occasion for such expenses had arisen and sympathised deeply with the sufferers. The Council had done all they could to stop the fire by means of their brigade, but had they known of the disaster earlier, there could be no doubt, but with the power at command, they would have been able to do consider ably more good. Both the Council and all outside would agree in the precision and ability displayed by the Fire Brigade. Per sonally, he did not think they could have done better, and Captain Paddle, of the ship- Monarch, said he had had many opportunities of seeing the London and Melbourne Fire Brigades at work, but he never saw men do better than did the Christchurch Brigade at Lyttelton. This eulogy did infinite credit to the members of the Brigade, and it must be a great source of satisfaction to the Council to have such men at their command. He had also to state that with several Council lors he had authorised the insertion of adver tisements in the local journals soliciting aid for the sufferers at Lyttelton, and they would all be aware how liberally they had been responded to. On the whole, he thought the Council would agree that the action taken in respect to the fire was the most judicious that could have been done under the circum stances. He would now ask the Town Clerk to read the letter from the Lyttelton Borough Council.
