The Nelson Evening Mail. MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 1867.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume II, Issue 217, 16 September 1867, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 1867.

FIRE IN THE HAVEN-ROAD.

About 20 minutes to 2 o'clock this morning a fire broke out on the premises of Mr Jones, used as a hay and corn store, Haven-road. The fire was first discovered by Mr Edward Lamb, a lodger at the Victoria Hotel, who saw flames coming out at the back of the building. Lamb at once aroused the landlord, 'Mr Thompson, who, without waiting to dress, ran to the fire-bell and gave the alarm. The fire-bell was rung and then stopped a little, but was set ringing again, and the bell at the Catholic Station joining in the clamor, people were soon running from all directions to the scene of the conflagration. The store being of wood, and the contents light and inflammable, made a great blaze and were rapidly consumed. Fortunately there was little or no wind, or the Victoria Hotel, and most likely the whole row of -he unsightly buildings at the beginning of Washington Valley, must have been destroyed. Although the little engine was quickly on the spot, nothing could be done to save the building, and before the large engine arrived, some 20 minutes after the alarm had been given, nothing was left but burning embers and the remains of the smouldering stock. There is no accounting for the cause of this fire, no one having been on the premises since they were closed at half-past 7 on Saturday night, except Mr Stevens, the storeman, who went into the store on Sunday morning to get a parcel, but he I neither struck matches nor used a light; J grave suspicions are entertained as to its origin. Mr Jones was insured for £350 in the New Zealand Insurance Company, but we are afraid this will not cover the whole of his loss. We may mention in illustration of the necessity of having another alarm-bell at the northern side of the city, that the firebell was not heard at all at the Catholic Station, the inmates of which imagined, in consequence, that they were giving the first alarm of the fire, whereas the fire-bell in Bridge-street had pealed out some time previously. The inquest will probably take place on Wednesday next, but no precise date has, - we understand, been yet fixed by the Coroner.