BRANDS FROM THE BURNING.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXIV, Issue 1052, 4 June 1912, Page 3

BRANDS FROM THE BURNING.

"Too muchee hot —I ■ ic oui .' ’ was the cry of an industrial Cv stial to passers-by beneath Ins verandah during the fire as he scooped slush and water from the gutter and threw on bis heated shop .viiUows Go----;e v. ou-.ie ot '.ho water which tou'-‘ ’-A To'-a tbe •.valor chuniicis at ter tut uownpour of raiu during the fire, to keep the woodwork in front of Whyte’s Hotel damp. No damage was done to tbe bmldidgs on tbe opposite side Oi the road to that on which the fire was raging. Hundreds of rats, driven from their haunts in the vicinity ol the burning buildings, ran in all directions. So numerous was one company of rodents that they nearly succeeded in overthrowing one of the minions of the law in their advance.

As is usual iu such cases a fair amount of pilfering was indulged iu. This was not confined to salvage. One person whose premises were destroyed, had the whole of the dirty linen —left ready for washing in an outhouse — stolen.

In order to minimise the flames, portion of the front of Mr Osborne’s shop was pulled down. The rope was manned by numerous pullers, who put their strength into the pull at the right call. The rope broke aud the mass ot humanity was sent sprawling, to the great amusement of the onlookers. The rope was again fixed and this lime the woodwork fell. A Main Street resident said the first ihtimation he got of the fire on Sunday morning was from some person who, while running along the road, apparently iu the direction of the fire bell, was calling : “Fire ! fire ! The town’s on fire; won’t nobody help to put it out! 0 Shortly after this the bell gave two or three tolls then silence—then a few more tolls and again silence. It is surmised that the rope broke. Anyhow, it finally clanged continuously for nearly half-au-hour.

Some spectators at Sunday morning’s fire bore evidence of a hasty toilet. One individual didn’t discover until almost at the scene of the conflagration that his nether garments were wrong side round. He selected a dark corner in which to re-arrange things. He had been to the pictures the night previous ! A well-known professional man was a conspicuous worker, iu tact he was always in the firing line as the Tommies say. His energy was suflficent to propel a locomotive. Would make an ideal captain of a fire brigade and just the sort ol leader the boys would follow. Anyhow, personal appearances to him was a secondary consideration. His braces were not in their accustomed place, aud his stockings would persist in slipping down —much to the amusement of the ladies.

ANOTHER OUTBREAK

Another outbreak occurred on Monday morning at about 1.30 o’clock, by which an eight-roomed dwelling, situated in Union Street, and owned by Mr A. M. Wright was burned to the ground. The building was used by two of Mr Wright’s employees as sleeping quarters, hut ou Monday night was only occupied by one man, Charles Wollin. It appears that Wollin lit a fire iu the fireplace iu the bedroom for the purpose of drying bis clothes, which he placed iu front of the fire. He retired about midnight leaving the fire burning, and was awakened at about 1.30 o’clock by the fire burning the partition aud wall alongside the fireplace. The building was insured for £2OO iu the Commercial Union.

Arrangements for opening up in temporary premises have been made by a number of business people whose shops were destroyed. Mr Bullard, saddler and harness maker, has opened in premises in Whyte Street ; Mr Betty, bootmaker, will occupy the shop in Main Street, next to Mr J. Walls’ bakery ; Mr A. H. Boyes, dentist, has made arrangements to carry on in Hopper’s building and will commence as soon as his new instruments and appliances come to hand ; Mr Osborne, tailor, will continue his business from his private residence in Robinson Street, until the erection of temporary premises at the rear of the site of his old shop ; Mr Bradley, tailor, lias secured the shop next to the Herston stationery store, which he will take possession of as soon as the present tenants vocate it; Mr Healey, chemist, will conduct his business from Hopper’s building ; Mr Woodroofe, butcher, has not yet anally arranged for premises, but his delivery carls are running as usual ; Mrs Nye, ststioner, is negotiating for premises ; Mr Snow, bootmaker, will conduct his repairing work from Messrs Retter Bros., premises. A bench there has been kindly placed at his disposal. Mr A. H. Boyes estimates that his appliances and stock were worth which after allowing for the amount of the insurance, .£l4O, leaves a loss of ,£l6O. The work of adjusting matters in connection with the insurances is now being carried out, Messrs Bedford (Commercial Union) Morpeth (National) and Gold (Alliance) having arrived in Foxton to undertake this work for their respective companies. The adjustments for the London, Liverpool and Globe Company is being done by the local agent.

PRIME MINISTER’S SYMPATHETIC MESSAGE.

AESO MESSAGES FROM MESSRS NEWMAN AND ROBERTSON, M.’sP. Tbe Mayor received the following telegram from the Hon. T. Mackenzie, Prime Minister, yesterday : Regret exceedingly to learn of the d :, ''tst', r that has befallen Foxton. Kindly convey to those who have suffered loss by the fire my sympathy, and I trust, however, that the reports that have reached me of the damage done, may prove to be exaggerated. Mr Newman, M.P., also telegraphed as follows : Very sorry to hear of the disastrous fire at Foxton. I desire to express my sincere sympathy with sufferers. Mr J. Robertson, M.P., wired to the Mayor as follows : Please convey ray sympathy to sufferers by disastrous fire of last night, news of which has just reached me. The Rev G. K. Aitkeu, of Methven, wired the Mayor to-day as follows ; Kindly convey sufferers by ■ fire my heartfelt sympathy.