COKER'S HOTEL FIRE.

North Otago Times, Volume CVI, Issue 13984, 21 November 1917, Page 7

COKER'S HOTEL FIRE.

'-. FURTHER .PA^HCU^AmK { ■ '■■ A YOUNG-MAN -ARRESTED. '■ i- Considerable-excitement was aroused h in -Chfistcliur'cii _ou Monday evenings when an alarm of (iro\w.".3 r givon4'rom .- Coker's Hotel, * Manchester. street, The a Fire' Brigade 'received (he • alarm at" 5.12 p.m,, and Superintendent Warner :- and members v of the brigade promp.ly. o attended. . ",-.'■'■'■■ r' On {heir arrival I hey found n young a. man, who -was.employed at; the hotel, '- talking very excitedly about "lluGero mans eoming.ro ChrL-lehureli and burn. )• iug the city down," and making o.her li equally wild Mlalcmoiits. SuperintendI- Out Warner ami the lircincri, with memn bors of the police force, after -some trouble, got control of the man and n sen!.him ,o the-police station, where t .he was placed niidc: arrest, his doI- meinour little improving, i- The brigade, in.the meantime, had r turned its nl' out inn in (lie outbreak of d lire, which was in the rcadiiig-rbom on h the ground floor. Some curtains'and r, blinds were alight, but the (lames were 0 seen extinguished. A second slight t outbreak was next .discovered at'the s back stair:', and while (he firemen were attending to this ihey were surprised h to see smoke coming down from the i ( passages of the second storey. An inr vestigation. showed that a fire was in :. full swing in one of the back bed- |, rooms, room M.' A kapoe mattress on [) the bed was ablaze, and the flames were e just sotting a hold on the wall, The i, bedrcom was not occupied on Mcnday c or on Sunday night. The fire was exe tingiiishcd without any dkiiciilty, but li it was obvious that if L had not been ,i discovered in time a serious eouilagrar tiou may have occurred. ANOTHER FIRE. 1 8 At 12.32 yesterday morning the briB gade received another call to Coker's '• Hotel, it was found thai a mattress in e bedroom No. 12 was burning. The fire ? was extinguished before further dam- -' age was done. A close investigation s was made of all the rooms hi Che hotel, 3 but nothing more to cause alarm was 5 discovered. r