DREADFUL" FIRE A* MADRAS.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1548, 3 February 1887, Page 2

DREADFUL" FIRE A* MADRAS.

•J jMeLbouewb,,Feb. 1. '..., Indian papers to hand publish account! r k of the fife which occurred in the People's \ Park, liadrag,: oh; the' eve-of : the Ist;" : ' \% ■ January, ; which was the: moititpwful 7 1 • catastrophe ever known - there.' 'sThe fire '■ 'broke out in tha evening simultaneously \ [ on each side of* the" large circular (: \ '■' temporary buildings ' whioh; havef* been v! erected as the : band \staud«/>irj the 1 eoolosure of the People's Park;: where the |r 'annual fair is. beingi held.- Phe people's , -fair thiß : year ■■ was celebrated on in ;; unusually large ec 1 \ and Was-to' s have * r lasted six days in honor bf the Jubilee of! - 1 ' ) Queen 'Victoria. The chief delebration ■' takes place in the baud 'standV enolbsure, ■■■''■■ ■ which is two hundred yards 'broad*. The - ' eoclosure is filled with booths built of ' vood, with cacijan roofs, and had four i entrances at which fees were ! collected for 1 admission* '""'"' T <*' m "*''.. '■' f " : ~ Shortly-aftersix , about 6000 persons were in the enclosure including ;ithe Coram >iuder«in-Chi«f and '■ Lady ArWbnot,.th«;Prince of Travancore, aod a number of Europeans besides those , 1 named; ; Suddenly a booth on one side caught firej-and'Salmostiflimultaneously i a booth, directly, opposite was seen to be I inflames. A dreadful panic ensued, A ,: ;rush was made for the four-rentranoesi when the startled cro*d were met by people cowing in. Two of the entrances ' were' soon 'completely jammed, and 3 in a few' minutes the terror-stricken ' y people rr formed hopeless piles or -r str«ggling| humanity. The . 1 flames,struck down , and struggled on the ground, those on top being rdasted ! to 'death; aAdj those belo w smothered. ; The fire seems to have - lasted only a : quarter of ati ; hqur"'|;during ' which twenty-six booths were'Hrairht. They were chiefly occupied by men who, ■ in the rush for the gates, thrust; aside 1 children and women. Had the natives 3 kept themselves under the control of the Europeans they might have been saved, '". as there was plenty of room in; the en- ' closure to save all of them, and to avoid ' the fire, as it darted from point to point, 1 but as it was 250 persons were smothered r and burnt to, death in .the Park itself, and 70 or 80 men. have since died from their l. injuries in the Madias hospitals.: When the enclosure was, parefully inspected in the morning it 1 wasfbuiid that large tracts of ground escaped the flames altogether. : Here flowers', ornaments, and ahrubs had not even been singed. Fifteen of the natives, maddened by the flames, had fastened on the ornaments and plunged ,into a .tank, where, they were drowned; t*t.(3|he Waller, was pulled out of the flames, out the rescuer found to his horror that the skin of Waller'.} hands peeled off like 4 pair of gloves. .Most of the bodies ,were|erribiy mutilated;".:::;/. ;;/ - Relations from Madras visited the park by thousands in the moroinf, yaiqly attempting to recognise ; the The people set to work to rescue as. many aa possible of the persons who were lying in heaps, and succeeded .in saving 'scores, ;. but very many were BUffocited. When A I the fire swept round to with awful rapidity it roasted those w ( ho were exposed on top of the heaps.: Attempts to drag the; bodies away: .wer« stopped, but in a. short time, when ,the fire had ran its course, the work of rescue ws's resumed. A more frightful sceno.caonot be imagined. Many of were charred beyond recognition, though life still remained. Police, Europeans, Eurasians, and visitors set to work willingly at removing the bodies, and all haviog. life were curried to the General Hospital. , The drad bodies .were left on the ground till next day, ■~ It appears thata wooden dancing saloon which bad been erected on a grass plot near the Band stand in the centre en • closure also caught fire soon'after the surrounding booths were in flames. This probably tended to make the rush to the two fatal gateways greater than would otherwise' have been the case. '^ A large body of medical men worked Jd assiduously throughout the night, and endeavored to alleviate the intense suffer ings of the patients. Cotton mattresses at the hospital had to be ripped open to supply dressings for the wounds,and sheets and clothing were torn up for bandages. All the clergy of the district, many ladies, and all the doctors assembled at the hospi- k tah before the night was over, and all "'jf endeavored to do what they could to alleviate the Bufferings of the victims. " Buohit-PAiba,"—Quiok, complete cnrti ill annoying Kidney, Bladder and Urinary diseasei. At Ohemiste and Druggit t«, Kempthorne, Proiier k Co, Aient?, Chriet. church. . ,',,";, 1

MECHANICS' INSTITUTE/ . ■MV!\. , JI£ :;;•!' ,Jr ;/,i*— .'!; ■' !■■■ ■.:!.', u< A special general meeting of the mem* t ■-. bers of the. Temaka Mechanics' Institute y- was held' on Tuesday evening last. The mtetisg was called to discuss the advisa-' bility of redacihg'the amount of the subscriptions . payable ■ to 'the Institute, a subject of. great' importance, and aboil Id' advertisement—have commenced at 8 o'clock, but it was quite ; '' was got together. j.., , Mr Hargreayas (the President) took the chair, ana cixpiained .the: objeot of; the meetiDg. : ~'^l',<' : ',~,; 7 '"'i} '" Mr Blyth said as he, had moved in the matter, which had »«ferred to! at the annual meeting,, ho should liko to say a ■#i : :v few words, and propose a_reaolution. In. ' the course of conversations he had with -:.,. • a number of parsons on the subject of the r- •■lnstitute they seemed to think, the aub- - join if it vere lowered. He thought at the time, and thought so still, that it **> ' would lend to many more people joining, *"'.' aiidi to >f*>> r «ater interest being taken I ; in the InpM'" t * He was not at liberty I to mentitur'v.\.ii'e», but he beheved. if the reduction were made it Would' benefit the Listitute 1 ." He" would move—" That the annual subscription to the Institute be —j jgi f 0 io ßj th e half-yearj ' to'6s, and thequarterly to 3s 6d." j ~ ,, Mr Gate second*dl-tbe motion. . . ' ..< '-'u should adjourn for a while,, and mean- , , j time'a thoropgh canvas should ba made i ia rvipfivtbe'town .j and see whether any other I m .eubecribersi could be got. He would: < . ■-. ; Biovft-ry-That the aubacriptions remain *a j at present, and that the-Committea can- , vsas; the.-town for ■ subscribers at the same I ratei and report to another meeting to be I g " ~ called in a month." It i* Mr-Gentlemnn seconded "the amend- t ment, which, was put to, the meeting t without further ''discussion, four voted for it and five against, and it was g , therefore lost. v b J-'V On'-the" motion being put it was also ** " Ibst»"thj"ypiin^ s-.- Mr uize ! Baift .he. ihougbt tbose who c ♦)K ; Irf^1 r f^. O PP°P?K the; reduqtion; • were/ doing F so ; they thought it would not -F ?1 ,,V ;ben'(afit li thought it' ; I iirV wuld reault in a larger; membership and i in a ; larger income they would vote for n stirfiit*;! .He (tboughti the two resolutions, h should be joined, and he would move— & _ - '•Thatjthe members of:theGommitteei- J £L-H members' whbare ; willing, E . canvasa and ascertain vvhat new membern » can ,be obtained at the rate of 20s and '' and report to a Cprnmitteo meeting to be held in a fortnight-, y the Cbmmittee to': *all a special general ■ meeting of; membeirs if, they think it . A '.: : Viepeatary,".,]"':■.■ o « ■:■)•.: '■■■ ■>; ::: I- S" '■, V :: - ~',' seconded .the motion. .tl v • >^; ? thought people wou'd ft :■.-;*;{ sJlftake the:los if it. were offered. :. h .-r :; Mr Bry«s said they wanted to increase L -■,■■: ..-the-interest in the. Institute, and at the . same time augment their funds.- Could tl '•; they }'get c with fifty members more if ti ; ' the subscriptidos w ere reduced ! p ; M '" *'* The' thought they (ir woulc^."at;"'least; ' fifty. " tl . ; Af srjL "few more remarks, It which it tl was pointed out that increased member* . .Ship meant increased wear and tear, and t< a larger, number of readers among whom the same number, of books would be dis- ■ tributed, the motion was put and carried upanimouely,, and the meeting terminated, _,...., ,It may be mentioned that the Institute t( ~..,has; a ;l; library pf.overlOOO volumes of .first.class books of a most varied * ; : character, .and, a reading-room well supplied with Home and Colonial newsi- papers and periodicahi,'and is well worthy of far greater support than it is receiving.