FIRES.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XCVIII, Issue 11366, 6 September 1897, Page 6

FIRES.

[Pbb Peess Association.!

AUCKLAND, Sept. 5,

A twb-storey hotel at Gumtown, Mercury Bay, was burned down last Sunday. The fire originated in one of the lodger’s bedrooms, through a light. Nothing was saved. The damage is estimated at £1450. The hotel was owned by Messrs Hancock and Company, and occupied by Mr Michael O’Connor. The furniture and stock were the property of Mr James Macfarlane. The building was insured for £llsO in the Commercial Union office.

At a few minutes past seven yesterdayevening a six-roomed house at the corner of Durham and Stanley Streets, Sydenham, owned and occupied by Mr J. Kow, carpenter, was completely burnt down. No one was in the house at the time the fire broke out, and Mr Row's son had quitted the house at 6.15, when a small fire was burning in the kitchen range. Pour engines turned'out to the fire, the Chester Street chemical, with its fast pair of horses, arriving first on the scene. The railway engine and the hig engines from Lichfield and Chester Street Stations were also out. It is supposed that the fire was caused by a defect in the chimney. The house was insured for .£2OO in the Royal, and the furniture and piano, also for £I2OO, in the same office. As the house was a good one Mr Row is a heavy loser. The bulk of the furniture in the front rooms, including the piano and a sewing machine, was saved. Considerable time was lost in giving the alarm, as' the Sydenliam Borough Council has severed its telephone connection, and it was not until three or four other places had been tried that communication was effected by means of Dr Diamond’s private telephone. But for the fact that the Sydenham Borough Council has cut off its telephone connection, the alarm would have been received at the City Dire Brigade Stations considerably earlier.