MANGAWHARE HOTEL BURNED DOWN.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXIII, Issue 7655, 4 June 1886, Page 5

MANGAWHARE HOTEL BURNED DOWN.

On Thursday forenoon Information was received in town that a destructive fire had occurred at Mangawhare early that morning. The Mangawhare Hotel is the property of Messrs. Brown and Campbell, of this city, and the lessee is Mr. Patrick Lamb, who has had possession of the hotel for about twelve months. It appears that Mr. Lamb had retired to rest about one o'clock in the morning, at which time all the fires were out, and everything appeared to be safe. About five o'clock the servant girl was the first to detect the presence of fire, but about that time the whole of the middle portion of the building was in a blaze. The fire is supposed to have originated in the storeroom attached to the bar, probably by rats or mice gnawing at matches. Such is Mr. Lamb's opinion, and there is no reason to suppose that the fire is other than accidental. The family and lodgers were saved with some difficulty, but their clothes and money were lost. About £70 worth of stock, which had been recently received, was saved from the back part of the building. The estimated value of the stock and furniture is £1200. The building was insured in the New Zealand Company's office for £ISSO, and the stock and furnituro in the same office for £1000. The loss the licensee has sustained is very considerable. The New Zealand Company had their risk largely re-insured.