FIRES.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXXIII, Issue 16061, 16 October 1912, Page 6

FIRES.

[Per Press Association*.] AUCKLAND, October 15. , Firo broke out on the top floor of Palmerston Buildings, Queen Street,: about one o'clock this morning, but \ was confined to what is known as the' artists' flat, which, excepting studio, was completely gutted. Studiosdestroyed were those of Messrs More- ( Jones," Armin Schmitt, 0. Kingsley j Smith, F. Langmuir, M. Levy, H. Doi Vero Percy and Misses Kit Turner and ( . Vera Jacobsen. The loss in pictures alouo is estimated at £IOOO. Consider-) ab!o damage from water was done in. the premises in tho lower portion tho building, and almost every office in.« tho building suffered. The.fire -was-ex-, tihgnisned in forty minutes after the-; outbreak. The caretaker's wife retired: \ at 11 p.m.. and later heard an unusual' noise and found that tho studio occu-J pied bv Miss Turner was ablaze. Sho} gavo the alarm at once. • Tho insurances are (top flat gutted) l , .•217.000 in the Guardian; English and) Foreign Piano Company, stock badly' damaged by water, £7600 in the United; Wocln'dgo and Bauchan, £350: in the Atlas, a total loss; Schmutt, t £3OO in tho Atlas, a. total loss. f FEILDING, October 15. i A'dwelling-house owned and occupied by Mr A. H. M'Guire was totally deV stroyed by fire this morning. Two' valuable pictures were saved, but" everything else was destroyed: The J fire is alleged to have been caused by a? kerosene stove. Tho insurances:were: —House £SOO. furniture £295, both ini, the Sun Office. jj, FIRE AT RANGIORA, J A NARROW ESCAPE. f Shortly after two o'clock on Tues-', day morning a fire broke out at' Rnngiora in a shop and dwelling in Higji Street, owned by Mrs Dale and tenanted by Mr JV" M'Auliffe, undertaker. The family's 1 sleeping apartments were upstairs, and Mr M'Auliffe was aroused by. ; hearing a noise below. On -going to investigate he found the -sitting-'■ room on fire. He aroused his wife and children, and within a few minutes the < lower part of the house was ablaze. , : Two small ,bov3 found their way downstairs through the smoke; but Mrs-; M'Auliffe, scantily-clad, had to .'.make!', her way to the ground by a rope fire-1 escape, with- a three-vear-old child! J clinging to her neck. Fortunately be-J fore making the descent she had the- j presence of mind to throw down a * mattress, otherwise the child, whichJ let go its hold when eight or ten feetr,,' from tho ground, might hav© met with ' injury. There was another fortunate < circumstance also in the fact that Mr j M'Auliffe provided the fire-escape less •' than a month ago. At the time of the J fire the wind was blowing half a gale' j from the north-west, and within a feW i minutes after the outbreak was dis-- ; j covered the building was enveloped in ' flames, and the firo had spread to Mr R. Kinley's residence, detached about' twelve feet. Mr Kinley and family;, made their escape in little more than their night-attire, and only a few articles in the kitclien were saved. Fanned by the wind the flames swep£' half-way across the street, and the Institute Hall opposite, which has a shingle roof, caught fire three or fonr times but. was saved by the brigade, and tho building suffered little more damage than blistered _ paint and broken windows. The brigade worked under severe condition 1 ;, owing to the showers of sparks and intense heat, and did excellent service in localising tho fire. Mr M'Auliffe, who -was uninsured, lost everything, including £3l in notes. Ho estimates his total loss at £l2O. He cannot account for the outbreak, thero not having been any fire in the roonv where it occurred for over a week. Mrs Dale's premises were insured in the New Zealand Office for £3OO, and Mr R. Kinley's house and • contents were insured in the Liverpool and London and Globe Office for £4OO. i Messrs Vincent and Goulding presented the Brigade with a cheque for a guinea, in recognition of the. good work done at the fire. ' j A six-roomed house at Southbrook",occupied by Mr H. Ingram, was destroyed by fire yesterday afternoon. The house was insured in the Northern Office for £IOO, and the contents in tho State Office for £BO.