FIRE IN HOBSON-STREET.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 14845, 23 November 1911, Page 8

FIRE IN HOBSON-STREET.

V A LAUNDRY GUTTED.

A fire occurred in the Alma laundry, Hobson-street, ■; , shortly .., before eight o'clock yesterday morning," the ' building 'being-' gutted. V ' •>• -• - '. Mrs. DonoVan, the owner of the laundry, was ironing clothes in one room on the ground floor, whilst in an adjoining room some clothes were drying in front of the tire. ■ Mrs. Donovan had, just left the room in which the clothes were dry ing, when one of the girls told -her the place was on lire. {She • rushed ■to the foot of the stairs and called to her aged mother, who was upstairs, and in her anxiety to save her mother she 'incurred some nasty burns on her arm. Meanwhile a lad'; named ' James McGoyern, aged; 17, had got oh the verandah,- and he lifted Mrs. Donovan's mother out of the window, and assisted her along the verandah to a place* of, safety. ~ A few minutes later the verandah was red hot.' There was some delay in communicating with the fire brigade owing to confusion as to the whereabouts of the alarm. A man, it-appears;, ran right up to the fire brigade station, instead of breaking the electric - indicator hear the fire. . By the time the brigade arrived the tiro had obtained a strong hold. By strenuous ex-j ertions they were able to prevent the fire from- spreading to any great extent, but. the front' of the adjoining picture dealer's shop was burned, and some slight damage done by water. ■ ' ; The laundry, which i was contained in a five-roomed building, Was completely destroyed. '■ . ' . *.'-.'" * - Mrs. Donovan who had only been occupying the premises about-live weeks, estimates her loss at, £300 and as this was not covered by "insurance," slip is left penniless. 1 • :■ \ • .' '• • - ' The building, which; belongs to the estate of the late Edward Plumley, was insured in the New Zealand Office for, £500. Mr. Abrahams, the tenamt of the shop adjoining, had a policy for £200 in the New Zealand Office on'his stock. He estimates his loss at about £50. .'•