FIRE AT NEWBURY.

Manawatu Times, Volume XLVI, Issue 2643, 11 May 1923, Page 2

FIRE AT NEWBURY.

HOUSE DESTROYED. Shortly after five o'clock yesterday morniug tha rcsidenco of Mr W. G. Shannon, at Newbury, was ocmplctely destroyed by fire, the flames spreading so rapidly that it was impossible to sav 0 any but the more portable articles of furnituro from the burning house. It appears from the statement of a neighbour, Mr Jensen, that when he arrived on the scene Mr and Mrs Shan, non were seated on the lawn surround, ed by a few articles of furniture, which they had managed to, save. Mr Shan, non had stated that he got up out of bed to call one of the men who slept in a detached house at the back, and he also lit a primus stove. What happened next Mr Shannon did not know. Ho went back to bed, and the next thing he knew was that the house was in flames.

With the aid of his wife and the maid, Mr Shannon dragged out a few articles of furniture, but he was forced to abandon his efforts by the fierceness of the flames, which by then had a firm hold. Practically everything was lost. A peculiar circumstance was that an out.house standing some fifteen feet away from the main dwelling escaped the fire while the house was burning, but half an hour afterwards it suddenly burst into flames, presumably caused by the intense heat generated. No attempt to fight the flames was possible, the occupants having just sufficient time to rescue their personal belongings.

The house was insured, but Mr Shan, non's loss is stated to be a heavy one.

Insure with The Hartford Fire Insurance Company, Ltd. Surplus assets £12,000,000. Chief agent, R. Davies, F.P.A.N.Z., Spooner's Buildings.*