SIX PEOPLE BORNEO.

Taranaki Daily News, 14 May 1925, Page 8

SIX PEOPLE BORNEO.

TRAPPED IN BLAZING HUT. DRAMATIC CLIMAX TO PLAY?* PETROL PREMATURELY UGHTEH, Sydney, May I. Ten people were severely burned when a hessian hut was prematurely set alight at a carnival on the Sydney Showground last evening, and five of the victims were taken to the hospital. Thirty thousand people witnessed the incident. It was all over in ten seconds, and of that great crowd there were very few who had realised that the sudden outburst of flame, and the cries of the Injured, four of whom were women, were not a realistic staging for their amusement. Those seriously injured were;—e Edith Nichols, of Cronulla; Clarloe Lee, of Dee why; Clarence John Law, of Bellevue Hill, all severely burnt about body; Nellie Dawson, private secrotary of Erskineville, burns about face, arms and legs; Etbel Law, stenographer, of Mosman, burns about face, neck and legs. J. Redding, police sergeant, burns about face and hand. Those admitted to hospital were all in a critical condi* tion. “WILD LIFE IN AUSTRALIA.” The accident occurred in the third act of an open-air play called “Wild Life in Australia,” mounted police from the military remounts depot, resplendent M bushrangers in red shirts, were charging down upon the unsuspecting “Glenrowaa • * Inn,” the place where the notorious Kelly gang made their last stand, a construction of hessian. Eight or tea players were dancing, in old colonial fashion, in and out of the “inn” to ths melody of an accordion played by aa elderly man at the entrance. In the final scene the “inn” was to bo burnt, and it was saturated with benzine, it also contained a tin of benzine inside, to odd to the spectacle of the blaze. The lire was premature, mock bushrangers circled the hut, firing round after round of blanks, and eyewitnesses state that it was simultaneous with the flash of gunpowder, fired at a range of not more than 20ft from the construction, that the blaze burst out. EXPLOSION OF PETROL. In a second the whole of the flimsy tent appeared to be afire, the petrol exploding with a dull roar. Those inside staggered out, the women screaming. To the thousands of onlookers it seemed to be part of the play, and only a few in the ring understood the tragic reality of the scene. Red-shirted “bushrangers” dismounted, and while their well-trained mounts grazed nearby, lent a hand at extinguishing the burning clothes of the suffering actor©. Others within the barrier, including Constable A. Lendrum, ©ecretary of the • carnival; Mr. B. Fortescue, secretary of the Police Association; Sergeants A. W. Pickaid, Tindall, and Frank Murphy, and Constables Burton, of Redfern, and W. Dedden, lent gallant assistance, smothering the blazing victims with hands and bodies. So fierce was the blaze, that although its duration was only a matter of seconds, the clothes of th© inmates of the tent had become well alight, and one or two of them were enveloped in flame from head to foot. One ambulance waggon was in attendance and two more were rushed to the ground. First-aid was rendered with despatch, and then the injured persons were taken to a hospital.