DAWSON'S HOTEL.

Inangahua Times, Volume VII, Issue 1062, 17 March 1882, Page 2

DAWSON'S HOTEL.

If nothing else could be gathered from the late fires in this town, it is certain that the sufferers have the greatest faith in its future, and that they have displayed energy under adverse circumstances worthy of the Great Republic itself. All the gaps occasioned are being rapidly filled up, but the subject of this present notice is the really magnificent hotel now being built and very nearly completed by Mr. John Dawson, on the site formerly occupied by him in Broadway. Such an undertaking is worthy of more than a few words, and we make no excuse for giving full particulars respecting it chiefly, but not wholly, for the information of our distant readers who may be under the impression that firstclass hotel accommodation is not procurable away from the chief centres of population. To begin with, the new house will have 28 bedrooms, commercial, dining, and sitting and drawing rooms, a spacious biiliard-room, plunge and shower baths, water laid on in every room in the house, and the most complete kitchen that could be devised. The following description will evidence what the accommodation is. On entering the house, there is a corridor 46ft. long by Bft. wide, the height of this, as of course, consequently, all rooms on the ground floor, being 14ft. The first room on the right is the commercial room, 16 x 16, with four folding doors opening on the dining room. The latter is 44 x 16, a splendid room into which, on occasion, by means of the folding doors the commercial room can be thrown. On the left side of the entrance, the bar is situated, 16 x 16, and when completed, it bids fair to be one of the handsomest in the Colony. It is fitted at the whole of the back with reflectors, and the partition polished cornice with turned columns, caps and bases. The counter will be panelled, with pilasters and trusses, and polished top. In the rear of it is a bar parlor, 16 x 14, off the passage, into which it opens. The same passage leads to the billiardroom, into which two tables will be put, its dimensions being 20 x 44. This will be papered with panels and statues. A flight of stairs, eight feet wide, lead to the landing on the first story, opposite to which a richly stained glass window is placed. The landing is 13 x 30, and from it, on both sides, corridors, into which bedrooms open, run on either side. On the left, there are six, 11 x 9, intended for single rooms, the baths and closets being in the same passage. On the right, there are nine about the same size as the above - mentioned. No. 1 passage, we omitted to say, is 4ft. in width. No. 2, 4ft. 6in. These rooms front the street, and in addition there are three larger bedrooms, 10 x 14. A drawing-room, 18 x 14, adjoins, and next to this is a sitting room, 16 x 14. On the ground floor, in addition to the bedrooms on the upper story, there are eight smaller ones, 8 x 10. Leading from the upper landing is a flight of broad stairs affording ingress or egress at times of fire as well as on other occasions. Eiectric bells are fitted to every room in the house, so that guests requiring attendance, day or night, can readily make their wants known. In connection with prevention against fire, provided possibly on the principle that " a burnt child dreads the fire," we may say that all the scrim used in the building has been rendered fire proof by being saturated in strong alum water, and thoroughly dried before being nailed on, whilst in order to render assurance doubly sure, all the paste used in affixing the paper has been mixed with alum in its composition. On the top of the house, three large tanks are fixed ; one with a capacity of 1500 gallons, and two smaller ones of 500 gallons each. These will be kept full by water pumped from below, and piping will connect every room in the house with them. Descending to the basement, we find a kitchen, 16 x 16, fitted with one of the largest Leamington ranges with a high pressure steam boiler apparatus, and a storeroom, 16 x 14. The above will show that the new hotel, when completed, will be one of the best, if not the best, on the whole Coast, and it is to be hoped that the enterprise of its proprietor will be fittingly rewarded. We may add that the house will be filled with entirely new furniture, two of Alcock's best billiard tables being included. In addition to the house, Mr Dawson has the piles in for a new Hall, 28 x 90, with 20 feet walls, and a roomy stage. Mr William Arnott, the well-known architect and builder, of Greymouth, designed the building, and the whole work has been most creditably carried out under his superintendence. Mr Dawson expects to open the new house in about three weeks.