"HELLO! HELLO!"

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 74, 28 March 1929, Page 10

"HELLO! HELLO!"

PARROT GIVES ALARM.

DISCOVERS HOUSE ON FIRE.

BLAZE IST FANCIER'S HOME.

INMATES' HURRIED ESCAPE.

"Hello, bdlo. hello!*' cried a green Mexican parrot in nn agitated tone at a Remuexa hoine about 3 o'clock this morning, the exclamation being quite a pardonable *ni\ for cocky had discovered the was on fire, and that an everincreasing glare was strangely inconsistent with the gentle glow of daylight. "Hello, Hello!" the bird continued, and If his vocabulary had been more extensive, he would probably have said more. Cocky's calls, a coincident crash of glass, and recking volumes of smoke rudely disturbed Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Baggatt, and before long the Remuera and Parnell branches of the Fire Brigade were rushing post haste for 28 Remuera Road. In the meantime, Mr. and Mrs. Baggott, and their daughter, Miss E. G. Baggott. found tliey were trapped, flameg roaring it both back and front doors. They escaped in nightclothes from a side verandah, and managed to grab an armful of clothes each as they got clear. That was all they saved. Am befitting the announcer of the fire, cocky's cage was transferred to the safety of the back yard, while a scamper was made to save other treasured pets, including champion Persian cats, Sydney Silkie dogs, and squab pigeons. There was one consolation while the house bjazed—the small menagerie was safe. It was a startled collection of animals which watched the leaping flames, as they threw a bright red glow in the sky. This morning they are pensive, and cocky is a very quiet and sober bird. When the brigades arrived, the nineroomed house was blazing fore and aft, and four rooms were badly damaged before the firemen got control. The staircase was gutted, one of the fire fighters, in attempting to run a lead to the upper part, falling through the casing. Luckily he was not hurt. It is not known how the fire started, but firemen say the flames first got a hold in the centre of the house. It was most fortunate that there was no wind, for it is doubtful whether such a good save could have been made had the flames been fanned. Mr. E. E. Daniels, of Omahu Road, Remuera, is the owner of the building, which was insured for £800 in the New Zealand Insurance Office, and the furniture and effects were covered by a policy for £300 in the Royal Office.