SMOKING IN BED

Dominion, Volume 19, Issue 79, 28 December 1925, Page 6

SMOKING IN BED

HOTEL GUEST’S EXPERIENCE (By Telegraph—Special Reporter.) Palmerston North, December 27. The dangers attending the practice of smoking in bed were made apparent early this morning in one of the leading hotels in Palmerston. Shortly before 1 a.m. the occupant of a room containing two single beds was awakened by the heat of a smouldering mattress, and the smell of smoke, in a cloud of which he found himself enveloped. The bed clothes were quickly thrown aside and water applied to the mattress to prevent its breaking into flames. The smouldering mass . was then carried outside and extinguished. Except for a few slight burns about the hands, tlie guest was none the worse for his experience. None of the other occupants was awakened. Their first intimation of the affair was some hours later at breakfast.

It appears that a man had been smoking a cigarette about midnight when he fell asleep. Apparently the butt dropped on the mattress, and the result was that the kapok smouldered some time before it was noticed. No doubt the prompt action of the person concerned prevented a fire which might have culminated in serious cpnscquejiQSfc