SWISS COLLEGE BURNT

Greymouth Evening Star, 11 April 1933, Page 2

SWISS COLLEGE BURNT

* SLEEPING BOYS) ESCAPE.

Popularly known hr “The Pion ol Switzerland,” Chillori College, a famous English public school al Villeneuve, overlooking bake Geneva, has been destroyed by fire. Happily, there were no casualties.

The matron of the school was the first to give the alarm, and the eighty boys, most of whom were English, were able to leave the burning building and proceed to the security of the annexe. An arctic gale was blowing at the time and the work of the firemen was hampered because the water pipes froze. They were able to pump water direct from Lake Geneva, but had to wait until the night trains on the Simplon lino had ceased' before they could run their hoses across the tracks.

A graphic account of how the fire started was given by the matron. “I thought I heard footsteps,” she said, “in an attic where the boys store their boxes. It turned out, however, to be the crackle of flames. The firebells were sounded, and in an instant the whole school was aroused. The boys showed no sign of panic, although

they were all asleep when the alarm was given.”

Present students at the college include the Hon. Ambrose Greville, a brother of the Earl of Warwick; the Hon. Henry Loch, son of MajorGeneral Lord Loch; and an Indian prince and his cousin.

The headmaster of Hie school is Professor Alexander Pym, who has been resident in. Switzerland for i( number of years.