THE POKENO TRAGEDY.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19218, 8 July 1924, Page 7

THE POKENO TRAGEDY.

WOMAN AND CHILD SAVED. AWAKENED BY DECEASED’S SHOUTS. (Pek United Preps Association.) AUCKLAND, July 7. In connection with the fatal fire which occurred at Pokcno on Saturday night, in which Mr Edward Negri Walden, single, aged 24 years, lost his life the fire also resulted in the destruction of a boardinghouse and store owned by deceased’s brother, Henry Richard IValdon. Tiro rear of tile store caught fife at about 10 o’clock, and in tne absence of fire-fighting appliances the hoarding-house, a largo one-storey wooden building, separated from the store by a narrow passageway, was soon alight also. Deceased, who resided in the house, returned from the township when the fire broke out. He was last B een entering the building through the front door, and almost immediately the two structures were enveloped in flames and ultimately burned to the ground. The charred remains of deceased were discovered iu the debris yesterday morning. There was only one person, a lady, in the house at the time of the outbreak. She escaped in her night attire. None of the contents were saved. The origin of the tiro is unknown. A later message says that Walden was the means of saving the lives of a woman and child. The deceased rushed into the burning building to rescue his sister, who. tie believed, was inside. The housekeeper, Mrs Ijongdon, who was in bed with her little boy Jack, was awakened by a voice shouting “May," the name of Walden’s sister. The. name was shouted once, and then there was a low murmur, and no mere was heard. Had it not been for (bis warning, Mrs Langdon believes (hat she and the hoy would have perished, because she had time only to wrap a blanket round the boy and dash for safety. In a. moment or two she would have been suffocated.