Marton

Manawatu Times, Volume 63, Issue 46, 24 February 1938, Page 3

Marton

From Our Own Correspondent. Midnight Blaze. Roused from sleep by the roar and crackle of fierce flames, Mr F. A. Fuller - ton-Smith, of Upper Tutaenui. discovered his bathroom hot water cupboard ablaze at 3.15 on Tuesday morning, and called his family. Snatching; a few clothes, the members of the household got clear of the building as soon as they could for the flames, spreading rapidly, swept through the old timber rafters of the house and quickly made the place untenable. Nothing was saved. An eye-witness, describing the scene, estimated that the building collapsed in little over half an hour, burning the while with extraordinary fierceness. This state of affairs is accounted for by the age of the building, which must have stood for between 1U and 50 years. Mr FullertonSmith was one of the first settlers in the Tutaenui district. The amount of the insurances is not available. With his dressing-gown over his pyjamas and slippered feet, Mr FullertonSmith said that he slept in a room next to the bathroom and described how he was awakened by the sound of the fire. Watching the rapid disintegration of his home, he remarked l that he considered tney were very fortunate that he woke when he did. State Houstnfl. The Government member for the district, Mr Ormond Wilson, has received advice from the Under-Secretary in charge of the housing scheme, Mr J. A. Lee, to the effect that tenders are being called for the erection of a further eight single-unit houses in Stewart, Blackwell and Morris streets, Marton. in two different contracts. Most of these houses will be built on the site of the old saleyards, the subdivision of which land recently aroused considerable adverse comment from the Marton Borough Council on account of the smallness of the sections.