BRITISH & FOREIGN NEWS

Hokitika Guardian, 9 July 1925, Page 2

BRITISH & FOREIGN NEWS

[“Taw 'Times” Service.]

Till-: GLASGOW FIRE. LONDON, July* 7. The Glasgow tire destroyed the famous Kelvin Hall, the exhibition buildcovering several acres. The fire gutted the church and whole streets of tenement houses were abla.ze. Only an unexpected change in the wind saved tlm famous Art. Gallery. The lire broke out in the Kelvin Hall which is largely of timber and soon tho whole fabric was ablaze. The flames were blown by a strong wind, invol- - ving the tenements opposite. The inmates who were preparing the evening meal fled in terror, carrying their young children. Every available lire engine in Glasgow was quickly on tho spot. Tbe lire call was wirelessed all over the west of Scotland. The whole population of Glasgow turned out to witness the terrifying spectacle. Owing to a strong wind the danger of the (ire spreading is not yet over.

NO LIVES LOST. GLASGOW, July 7,

In the Glasgow lire the damage is estimated varying at from a quarter of a million to one million sterling. No lives were lost. Seventy-eight flats were involved in the flames. So great were the flames tliiat- the spectators were first driven back for two hundred yards, and then they were forced to retire .still further back. Wind carried the sparks and actually started a fire a quarter of a mile away from the central lire in Kelvin Hall. Thus in Kelvin Grove, a new Free Church was set ablaze. Firemen rushed to this new outbreak, but already the interior was a roaring furnace, and the building was completely destroyed in fifteen minutes. This Church whic.sh was relatively new, was a small replica of the Rheiins Cathedral in France.

A\ ltile the flames were roaring below, the tower of the Church, collapsed, and crashed into the street, and the spectators had a very narrow escape.

LONDON. July 8. Kelvin Hall belonged to the Glasgow Corporation. It had the largest floor space in Scotland. Blantyre street from which the tenants fled, now resembles a war-shatter-ed street in France. Not a single pane of glass is left in the houses. Tho tenants attempted to return to collect their valuables, but the police had to prevent them. 'The firemen had to light the six fires at the one time.

SEA FI ELD PEERAGE. LONDON, July 7. 1 he Edinburgh Court of Sessions adjourned till October Grant’s claim, to the Seafield Peerage. Counsel said Li ant bad been investigating the claim for twenty years. I here were immense difficulties, due to the age of tig-evi-dence relating to Grant’s birth i;t IS4G; also trouble in obtaining identifying letters lien ring on that particular.

WOOD PULP MILLS FOR N.Z. LONDON, July 8. \ The New Zealanders, Wyllie and - Fraser, have delivered an opinion after investigating the Canadian wood pulping industry that New Zealand has

many advantages in that sphere of trade, especially in view of its planted areas compared with Canada’s primevals in which dead trees present an instant fire menace that does not exist in New Zealand tended areas as New Zealand trees grow eight inches in ten years and for pulping four inch trees are best. Operations in New Zealand should he in full swing in a few vears.