FATAL FIRE AT TARANKI.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume III, Issue 121, 23 May 1868, Page 2

FATAL FIRE AT TARANKI.

By the arrival of the Wellington we are placed in possession of the particulars of a fire which took place on Tuesday last at j Taranaki, by which the Royal Hotel, situated at the corner of Devon and Liar-det-streets, not far from the Wesleyan Chapel, and . kept by Mr Cottier, was totally destroyed, and which, we regret to add, resulted in the death of a young man, named Peter Hillarn, who was staying m the house at the time. The fire broke out about 5 a.m. and was first discovered by the barman, Nightingale, who gave the alarm. Mr and Mrs Cottier effected a safe retreat, but the servant maid and another inmate both had to escape from the upper windows, the staircase being enveloped in a body of flame. The young man, Hillam, who was a heavy sleeper, could not be sufficiently roused to a state of animation, and the fire having gained a full hold of the room in which he lay, it was fonnd impossible to get him out,! and shortly after the floor . fell in and he was burnt alive. So sudden was the alarm that nothing was saved, and the building was down before an hour had elapsed. When the morning dawned, and it became light, a search was made for the body, and it was discovered burned, under one of the plates of the galvanised iron which formed the roofing of the building, charred to a cinder. No one can give any idea how the fire originated, but it is supposed to have commenced in the private sitting-room of the landlord, or else in the kitchen. The building is stated to have been insured in the New Zealand Insurance Company for £100, and in the Liverpool, London, and Globe for £150 ,• the stock-in-trade and furniture of Mr Cottier in the Liverpool, London, and Globe, for £400. The property was held in trust for the creditors of Mr Cudliff, who recently failed.

Monday next being appointed to be observed as a public holiday, in celebration of her Majesty's Birthday, there will be no publication of this journal. The arrangements for the celebration of her Majesty's Birthday on Monday next are fast approaching completion. A General Order figures in our advertising columns, announcing that a review will take place on that day, but the hour at which it will commence is not specified. We may, however, state that it has transpired that 10 o'clock is the hour at which the review will commence, and that the particular operations in which the various companies will take part, are not to be invulged, in order that they may be a ' surprise' not only to the spectators present, but also to the Town companies, upon whom the attacking companies are to make a descent. Of course we must bow to the decision of the ' powers that be,' but it is nevertheless a fact that on the occasion of similar displays at Wimbledon and elsewhere, programmes of the intended manoeuvres are invariably published for the edification of the general public. We understand that a very large number of tickets for the Ball have been disposed of, and it may therefore reasonably be anticipated that it will prove a very brilliant affair. The Volunteer Band will, we hear, perform alternately with the usual efficient professional assistance, and we have been requested to state that the galleries in the Hall will be closed to all persons save guests. Mr Donne, having been foiled by the prevision of the Council both on Thursday evening and yesterday morning, in obtaining the exclusion of the reporters from the Council Chamber, thought proper to retaliate upon one or two of his honorable confreres wb,p have taken a very prominent part duritig the late i scenes ' in the Council in reprobation of the ' fantastic pranks : which he has lately played before high heaven.' Amongst these, Mr Home and Mr F. Kelling, who sit in a part of the House which is especially exposed to draughts, and who, it seems, are suffering from colds, availed themselves yesterday of the privilege which is so generally taken advantage of in other legislative assemblies, of sitting covered during the deliberations of the Council. Mr Donne ingeniously constructed this into a violation of Standing Order, No. 1, which enacts that the rules, forms, and usages of the House' of Commons shall be taken as the guide for the Speaker's decision, as far as they are not contrary to the usages of the Council. Mr Home had already submitted the matter privately to the Speaker, in connection with the inconvenience to which he and other hon. members were subjected by fcheir position in the Council Chamber, and we need not add that Mr Donne's frivolous appeal to that functionary resulted in an acknowledgment of the reasonableness of the excuse given by Mr Home and his brother members for their deviation from what has certainly hitherto been the practice in the Nelson Provincial Council, but which is as certainly opposed to the usages of other legislative assemblies both at home and in the colonies. A great meeting of the Taranaki natives took place at Bell Block on Tuesday last, consisting of some 200 of the Taranaki and Ngatiruanui tribes together with the leading natives in the vicinity of New Plymouth, at which the Superintendent, the Provincial Secretary, the Crown Lands Commissioner, Archdeacon Govett, &c. were present. The meeting was opened by Mr Parris, and there was, as usual, a great deal of talk, always gravitating towards the land question. They considered now that fighting was over, they would agree to sell the land taken for military settlement remaining with the white man, but that they would not assent to any extension of the system of taking land. Mr Parris was very firm, and clearly stated the intention of the Government to enforce the confiscation. Considerable excitement was created about 7 o'clock last night in this city, by the ringing of both firebells, and for some time, from the difficulty experienced in discovering the locale of the fire, it was supposed that the alarm was a* hoax. It was eventnally ascertained, however, that the window blind in the upper room of a house in Tasman- street, occupied by Mr. Coghlan, had become ignited, a lighted candle having been left in immediate proximity to it. Fortunately this was perceived by a lady residing in the neighborhood, who immediately gave the alarm, and the fire which had already

consumed the blind and framework of the window, was extinguished. We understand that Mr G. W. Schroder, who for so many years past has officiated as Starter at our annual Race Meetings, has just been presented with a very gratifying acknowledgment of his services, in the shape of a handsomely mounted whip, from the hands of those who can, perhaps, best appreciate the difficult duties which have frequently devolved upon him — the jockeys who have ridden at the Races for the last two or three years. This testimonial, which is alike creditable to both the donors and to the recipient, was made — to borrow the probably unintentional pun conveyed in the paragraph which appears this morning in the Examiner — ' through the medium of G-. Cutts.' The Examiner of this morning publishes a telegram from Hokitika, giving the progress of the State Trials, which commenced on Monday morning. The indictment contained eleven counts. Mr Ireland, Q.C., for the defence, raised many technical objections, which were all virtually overruled, and a special jury waa sworn. The Attorney-General opened the case for the Crown. He called Sergeant Dyer, who gave evidence .as to the procession, and forcible entry of the. cemetery, and the existence of a general feeling of alarm. The case for the Crown closed at noon, on Tuesday. Mr Ireland's address to the jury occupied two hours, and was followed by Mr Rees, who had been specially retained by Manning and Larkins. We have made arrangements to obtain telegraphic information of the result of the trials, which will probably be concluded this evening.