HOTEL ON FIRE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15558, 16 March 1914, Page 8

HOTEL ON FIRE.

BOARDERS' HURRIED EXIT.

SMART WORK BY BRIGADE.

DAMAGE BY WATER.

A FIRE was discovered in the attic of the Shakespeare Hotel, Albert Street, at '. 12.45 this morning, and but for the smart ' and efficient work of the City Brigade, a ' serious loss might have occurred. Two waitresses occupy one of the attic j rooms, and one called the other's attention to a crackling noise under the floor, ; which she thought was being made by rats. A few moments later the fire burst through the floor of the attic, and also through the ceiling of the rooms on the third floor. The house was full of boarders, and, , on the alarm being given, they left hurriedlv in their night attire. There was about 30 sleeping in the house at the time apart from the licensee and his staff. The brigade answered promptly to the call, but when they arrived the flames had burst through the roof. Inside a quarter of an hour the outbreak was suppressed. The Shakespeare Hotel is a three-storey brick building situated on the corner of Albert and Wyndham Streets. It is owned by Messrs. Maurice O'Connor and D. Cooper, and leased by the Campbell and Ehrenfried Company. The licensee (Mr. J. Scholium) has only been in the house a few months. The building, furniture, and stock are all insured, but the amounts and offices in which they are insured were not ascertainable this morning. Much damage was done by water to the interior of the premises and to the furniture and stock. OTHER OUTBREAKS. LOSSES AT PONSONBY. A wash-house and a back room of a house in Summer Street, Ponsonby, owned by Mrs. E. Paterson, and occupied by Mr. R. Parasina, painter, and the mem bers of his family, were damaged by fire early on Saturday morning. The alarm was given from the City Fire Brigade's watch-tower on Collins's building. The occupants of the house were found unaware of their danger, but were awakened quickly and escaped uninjured. Little difficulty was experienced by the brigade in confining the outbreak to the attached wash-house and the back. room. Neither the house nor the furniture was covered by insurance. The flames spread to an adjoining house owned by Captain Hicks and occupied by Mr. H. Foreman, a labourer, but again the brigade lost no time in subduing the outbreak. In this case the house was insured in the Atlas office for £200. The main damage was to the furniture, which was not insured, and which suffered somewhat from water. SHEDS AT ONEHUNGA. COMPLETELY DESTROYED. An outbreak of fire at Onehunga destroyed some sheds near the Onehunga Woollen Mills, Neilson Street, late on Friday night. The sheds, which were owned by Mrs. Sutherland, had been used until recently by Mr. Neilson in connection with his butchering business. The manager of the woollen mills, Mr. John Simpson, arrived on the scene, and with the assistance of two others prevented the fire from spreading. The sheds, upon which there was no insurance, were gutted.