GREAT FIRE AT ONEHUNGA.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume VI, Issue 806, 11 June 1879, Page 2

GREAT FIRE AT ONEHUNGA.

EXTRAORDINARY FATAL ACCIDENT.

About a quarter before two o'clock on Saturday morning a, lire broke out in the Manakau Hotel, Onehunga. The premises were occupied by Capfc. Cunning- _i ham, who formerly owned the New. market Hotel. On Friday night a &*■-< tachment of fourteen \f>i the -Armed Constabulary, undec Captain Nowall, came down from the'"Wail?atd7"Bii."* i ßufrf~ for Taranaki. They •■put-Up" at the Manakaa Hotel, until their departure per steamer for the Sofithj abp(it,the time mentioned. The fire, broke out, it is said, in one of the rooms occupied by* the Constabulary. The 'borough of Onehunga being without an abundant water supply, there were no means of coping with the fire when it broke out. Though there was little wind blowing at the time, and rain falling, the fire made steady and rapid progress, and many of the inmates of the hotel had narrow escapes with their lives. Had it not been for the constabulary, who formed chains of buckets and kept the fire somewhat in bounds, a vast destruction of property wo nld liavo resulted. At the back of the hotel, there was a series of iron water tanks and about three o'clock theso were bo' heated that the water they contained was converted into steam, and they exploded with a tremendous noise, which was heard at Otahuhxt and causing people in that settlement togetoulof bed to asceitain what was. the cause. The noise was also the first intimation the bulk of the people of Onehunga had of the presence of danger. A few feet from where the tanks were placed stood the chimney stack of the kitchen fire-place. The explosion, blewit as well as the tankß into a thousand fragments, and the bricks were Bent flying in all directions, like fragments of exploded shell. One of the bricks whizzed close to the ear of Misa Cunningham, knocking her down, but not striking her. One brick struok Reece, the cricketer, and knocked him senseless, fie was at once conveyed to the hospital, where he died about fifteen minutes after his admission. ' He leaves a wife and child. Ho was a boiler maker by trade, and had been sent by the firm he workud with in Auckland to effect repairs to the boilers of the steamer Hannah Mokau. He wasliving at the hotel. . This was the . only serious personal injury done. At first the explosion was thought to have been caused by ammunition belonging to the constabulary, but subsequently , the true cause was ascertained. A building adjoining the hotel, and belonging to a man named Burn,, who keeps a furniture shop, took fire and was destroyed, as was also the house of Mrs Williamson. Burn was insured in the New Zealand j office for £200. The hotel was owned bv Messrs Whitsori and Sons, brewers. Auckland, and was insured in the South British for £1 700, of which it is urifierstood £400 was reinsured in the NewZealand. Mrs Williamson's building is believed not to have been insured^ Captain Cunningham had no insurance upon the stock and furniture, all of which is totally destroyed, and he wiflAl be a. heavy loser— it, is fearedj that hr^ will be ruined. The .reflection 6f the fire was seen from' Auckland, and ' the fire bells rang an alarm,' but it was soon seen, that the fire was , a long; distance away. . It is believed that the Jire.originated accidentally-^ probably fiom smoking in bed.