“ALL WENT OFF.”

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXIV, Issue 954, 26 December 1933, Page 5

“ALL WENT OFF.”

Lively Fireworks Display at Lyttelton. BRIGADE CALLED OUT. Excited yells from a Chinese fruiterer, sky rockets shooting upwards, a I stall ablaze—all these provided a spectacular display in London Street, Lyttelton, on Saturday evening. The cause was the throwing of a squib by some children, and the result was £4O worth of damage. f At 9 p.m. scores of children were busy in London Street letting off fireworks. By 9.30 the crowd had increased to considerable proportions and there was much sport among the children in t throwing crackers at each other. Near j the intersection of London and Canterbury Streets about fifty youngsters were engaged in such an encounter, j when one youngster seized on the idea j of throwing a cracker into the Chinaman’s stall, which was fitted up in a right-of-way adjoining a Chinese fruiterer’s shop. The cracker landed on a large parcel of other crackers, which, unfortunately, had the wicks facing upwards. Following the explosion of the cracker the parcel caught fire and it was an excited Chinaman who endeavoured to pick up the parcel throw it out on to the road. Unfortunately, the string of the parcel broke and the crackers fell at the Chinaman’s feet behind the counter. The onlookers laughed as the Chinaman yelled excitedly and sprang over the counter like a champion hurdler. Almost immediately there was a succession of explosions in every direction. The fire brigade arrived at 9.50 and immediately played a lead on to the stall, which was well alight. Ten minutes’ work by the brigade sufficed to suppress the fire and save the adioining building.