DESTRUCTIVE FIRE AND LOSS OF LIFE AT RENWICK TOWN.

Marlborough Daily Times, Volume II, Issue 138, 16 July 1880, Page 3

DESTRUCTIVE FIRE AND LOSS OF LIFE AT RENWICK TOWN.

At an early this morning, one of the most dreadful accidents by fire that we have over had to record, occurred at Renwick Town, by which the Woolpack Inn, has been totally destroyed, one of its inmates burned to c.eath, and five others seriously injured. The landlord of the Hotel, Mr Geo. Stevenson, was in Blenheim yesterday evening, and stayed up to about 11 o’clock, when he rode home, arriving there about midnight, shortly after which time, w ; understand, he went to bed, leaving everything apparently in a state of safety. Some two hours afterwards the inmates were aroused from their beds by fire and smoke, and Mr Edward Mason, the biirman, who, with others, was in a room on the upper floor of the house, seeing there was apparently no escape down stairs, jumped out of the upper floor window, and had his hands and arms badly burned, and sustained serious injury to his head by the fall. Another, a lodger, had his arm broken, and the cook, who also slept upstairs, was badly injured, and the young man known as Mr Stevenson’s jockey was severely burned about the neck and other parts of his body ; another lodger was also injured, but less severely. The worst part of the whole catastrophe, however, is the death of Moses Cartwright, a miner, staying in the house, who was literally burned to a cinder, his charred remains were found in a corner of the room from which it is supposed he was trying to effect his escape when he fell suffocated. The fire evidently spread very rapidly and gave little warning to the unfortunate people who were all sound asleep apparently at the time it broke out. The house was of wood, was some years old, and of a very inflammable description. Mr and Mrs Stevenson and family, who slept in another part of the house, fortunately saved their lives but lost everything except some children’s clothes and a few trifling articles. The hotel building, the billiard room, jstable, and all the furniture, are totally] destroyed, but this a small matter compared with the terrible loss of life and limb which has occurred. As soon as possible after the occurrence medical aid was procured from Blenheim, and Dr Horne was aeon in attendance, (Dr Cleghorn had been called to the Upper Wairau to attend a serious accident case, referred to in another portion of our columns), and the usual remedies were applied. In the meantime several cf the neighbours had done all they could to relieve the sufferings of the injured men, who were in great pain, by applying oil and lime-water to their burns and bandaging up their wounded limbs, and affording such relief to them as was possible, kiul this was done with a kindness imd intelligence which will be gratefullyiemembeied by the recipients. An inqufst will be held to-morrow on the remains of the unfortunate deceased M. Cartlvright, and we presume there will be also an enquiry into the cause of the fire, which is supposed to have been purely accident il. It is conjectured that it arose from a caidle left burning by' one of the lodgeas, whohad been sitting up reading until a late hour. The hotel was the property of Mr Mclvor, of whom Mr Stevenson was the tenant. The insurances were as follow : On tae building, L3OO in the Union, LIOO in the National, L 250 in the New Zealand ; furniture, L2OO in the Union, LSO in the New Zealand; stock-in-trade, LIOO in the Union; stable, LIOO in the same office; billiard table, Ll2O in the Victoria. The loss therefore, assuming it to be i total one will be, Union L7OO, New Zealand L2OO, Victoria Ll2(|, National LIOO. Three of the suffers wr/re brought into this afternoon to the Hcspisl where everything has been done to make them as comfortable as possible, and when we hope they will soon recover from the injures sustained. Mr Mason, at his own request was not brought into town. Hisfappears to be the most critical case, but be ii a young man of good constitution (by

trade a printer and well known at the Thames and other parts of the Colony), and it is hoped that he and his fellow sufferers, for whom the deepest sympathy is felt throughout the community, will shortly be restored to health, but undoubtedly they have all had a narrow escape of sharing the same fate as that unfortunate man Cartwright. The man above referred to as having had his arm broken is named Brown, and is well known on the Wakamarina Diggings.