AUCKLAND.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume 13, Issue 1071, 3 August 1869, Page 3

AUCKLAND.

■ ■ Our files by the Wellington are to Friday last. -We make the following extracts : —

FIBE A MAN BURNED TO DEATH.

In our yesterday's issue we gave a short account, of the; fire which broke out •in Cook-street about five o'clock th&t morhing," but beyond the fact that tlie' hou_e Was totally destroyed we had hot time to give any particulars. We regret, to "say however , that the particulars which it now. becomes our duty to narrate are of the most painful description,. atid are such as fortunately we are seldom called upon to chronicle. At the time the short paragraph which appeared in yesterday's issue, was written it was not known that any loss of life had resulted from the fire, but about seven o'clock it became only too painfully evident that Mr. James Cameron, the night overseer at the New Zealand Herald office, had; .fallen a, victim to ; the conflagration, having been burnt to death within call of his friends, who at the time were unaware that he was sleeping in the house. From the inquiries which we have made we are enabled to lay the follow- . ing facts before our readers : —Sergeant Cafferty was proceeding along High-street towards the police station about a quarter, to five oolock yesterday morning, when he heard the alarm bell clanging forth furiously in the direction of Albert-street. In company with constables .Jackson and Gamble .he immediately proceeded! . to the spot over which a glare of fire Was by this time . visible, and they soon found that the flames emanated from a house in Cook-street, occupied by Mr. Cameron, sen., Mrs, Cameron, and their sons— James (the deceased) and . William. By this time the two back rooms of the house were enveloped in flames, and it was as much as the family could do to save themselves, so rapid was the progress of the fire. Some of the members of. the Fire Brigade were soon upon the spot, and a body of police, under the direction of Mr. Commissioner Naughton, made strenuous exertions to stay the progress of the flames, but it became very soon apparent that thehouse could not be saved. Every effort was then directed to save the cottages on both sides, as the house iv . flames stood between two others, and separated Only by a short space. The brie on the righthand side, occupied by Mr. Holmes, painter, was not in much danger, but that on the eastern side, occupied by Mr. MacConictiy, was only separated by a few feet, and it was feared that it would be impossible to save it. Both firemen ancl police, however, worked hard under their respective leader,., and after keeping a constant supply of water pouring on to the side wall, at great personal risk, they fortunately succeeded in preventing the flames from catching hold, and the fire was at an end at about six o'clock after having completely destroyed Mr. Cameron's house, which was insured in the New Zealand Insurance Company. Besides the loss of furniture clothes, &c, a gold watch and chain and £24 in notes were burnt. It was believed by the members of the Cameron family that the son' James had not returned from his labours at the Herald oflice. Unfortunately, however, it turned out , otherwise. Shortly before seven o'clock, when it was fairly daylight, Sergeant M'Cafferty and Mr. William Cameron, went into the ruins, when the first thing that attracted their attention was a human body burnt almost to a cinder — the legs and arms being completely destroyed and only the trunk remaining. As may be imagined this terrible discovery plunged the family into a, state of the, most poignant grief, and when it became generally known how fatally the fire had done its work there was.a feeling, of gloom thrown over the town-— the deceased having a very- large circle of. friends in Auckland, and bfeing very greatly esteemed by all who knew him. On inquiries being-made it was learned that he had not been at work at the. Herald office the night previously, but that he had spent the evening with a few friends and that he did not reach home, till early in the morning. He must have quietly admitted himself into the house and gone to bed—probably leaving the candle burning— hence the fire. The accident is one of the most painful we have had to record for a long time past ; and the fact that the unfortunate deceased, who was 35 years of age,, leaves a wife and three children behind him to mourn their loss, makes it all the more distressing. ' The widow and children are residing at the. Kaipara on a well-stocked farm belonging the deceased, of which he was .very proud, and upon which he looked forward to eventually settling down with his family in comfort and affluence. The deceased had been resident in the colony for the last seven or eight years, and was for some years, employed in this office as sub-overseer, where he proved himself a most energetic and competent workman, discharging his duties most faithfully and with great punctuality. i — Southern Cross, July 30. GOLDEN CROWN CLAIM. A meeting of the Directors of the Golden Crown Gojd-mining Company was held on Wednesday last' at Shortland, when a dividend of £12 10s. per scrip was declared. This is the second dividend within the present month, a dividend, of £12 10s. per scrip having also been declared on the 9th inst. : We are informed by a gentleman who has recently visited the mine that it never looked better, the reef where the workings are at present being carried on being sixteen feet thick, while gold is visible all over the face of it. — Ibid.