THE GRAND HOTEL FIRE.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXII, Issue 132, 5 June 1901, Page 2

THE GRAND HOTEL FIRE.

MR AYRES' BODY FOUND

This morning the men engaged in demolishing portions of the Grand Hotel discovered the remains of the late Mr Fred.. Ayres, who lost his life

in the recent fire, amongst the ruins of the hotel. Only the charred trunk was found, and the body of the unfortunate gentleman was so much reduced by the destroying fire that it was placed in a small box. The police, conveyed the remains to the moronic The body was discovered on the first floor of the hotel under a heap of roof-iron and other debris. The fact that it was hidden in the heavy debris no doubt accounts for the fact that the police in their search the other day did not find it.

Mr Gresham. coroner, held a preliminary inquest at the Waitemata Hotel this afternoon for the purpose of identifying the remains. The taking of evidence was then to be adjourned to a future day. The remains were found on the first floor, in a corner near the main staircase. The flesh on the front part of the body was in parts untouched by the fire, so that it would appear as if the man had fallen on his face on the floor when overcome by the smoke and heat. Mr. Ayres' bedroom was on the second floor, the one above the storey in which his body was found, and from this fact it is evident that he had left his room and had made, his way down the si airs to the floor below, only to lose his life there.

One of the witnesses who will give, evidence at the, inquest on the fire fatalities will be Mr. Craven, of the Wiiikato, who was a boarder in the hotel at the time. He had a very narrow escape, and had his face scorched and his hair singed in getting out of the burning building.