FIRES.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXVII, Issue 3737, 27 December 1906, Page 2

FIRES.

A Young Man Suffocated. Christchurch, December 26. A fire occurred at Christchurch early yesterday morning by which Thomas Taidlaw, twenty - five years of age, lost his life. The fire broke out in an old, dilapidated building used as a boardinghouse. Though the brigade was quickly on the scene it was impossible to check the flames. Taidlaw was missing from the list of occupants who escaped, and was subsequently found lying suffocated on a bed in a room where the fire had been the fiercest. When the inquest opened yesterday, the Coroner said that bottles and other things found in the house suggested that there had been a drunken spree during the evening. The inquest was adjourned in order to allow the police to make further inquiries. Hotel Destroyed. Burnhrim, December 26., The Criterion Hotel was destroyed by a fire which commenced at 12.40 this morning. The boarders, twenty-two in number, escaped in their night-clothes, several losing personal effects. Napikr, December 26. A six-roomed house in Cameron road, owned by Mr John Couper and occupied by Mrs Mac Donald was totally destroyed by fire this evening. The building was insured tor ,£2OO in the Union, and the furniture for /150 in the Yorkshire Office. An Auckland Conflagration. Auckland, December 25. A new two-storey brick building, occupied by Kyan & Co., engineers, was gutted by fire to-day. All the contents were destroyed, including sixteen motor cars, valued at about £IO,OOO (0 £15,000; also plant valued at £BOO. The origin of the fire is a mystery. The building and plant were about covered by insurance, but the stock represents almost a complete loss.