BIG BLAZE AT MASTERTON.

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 21, 25 January 1924, Page 5

BIG BLAZE AT MASTERTON.

(BI mtOKAPH— r PttBSS ASSOCIATION,) MASTERTO'N, 24th January. A thrvt r>:ng fire was discovered in the, heart of the' town at about 10 o'clock to-night, and when the alarm was given it looked ;as though there was little hope of saving . th^e building, which was the property of Mrs. A. Andrews, Auck- | land. The theatre crowd was in' the street at the time, and how the^blaze was Viot noticedj before is a mystery. When the night-watchman doing the rounds of, the back doors observed the outbreak, it-had; good.hold in a-wooden building divided into two shops, i&occu- : pied by Alex.: White (tobacconist) and 'Henry .Hadley (bootmaker). It is surmised th« fire started in the rear portion of the latt'er's shopy an-d quickly spread., When the brigade arrived, the flames' were shooting to a tremendous ; height through the roof, but by careful handling by the fire-fighters; the outbreak iwas soon1, under control, and the adjoining Bank of Australasia, and a vow pf wooden, shops were out.of danger.' Hadley's shop was gutted and the stock destroyed, while-the ceiling ..of White's was burned .and the : stock partly damaged, by" watej.".'-, The. building was insured for £1000, .'and White's stock is covered,' but particulars of'H.idley's are unknown.