THE FIRE AT THE AUCKLAND LUNATIC ASYLUM.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XII, Issue 229, 27 September 1877, Page 2

THE FIRE AT THE AUCKLAND LUNATIC ASYLUM.

The following thrilling account of the rescue of one of the female inmates of the Asylum is from the Star :— Just at the time when the eastern wing was almost completely enveloped in flames, several gentlemen standing on the ground were horrified to observe at one of the upstairs front rooms what seemed to be the form of a woman. She seemed endeavoring to escape from the dobr when first observed. An alarm was raised, and a number of firemen aud others rushed to the rear of the building, and succeeded in obtaining two ladders. These were raised to the windows of the bedroom in which the female was supposed to be. They were exactly the required length, and two firemen sprang to the rescue of the poor woman ; but there they were obstructed by a new aud serious difficulty quite sufficient to make the most sanguine person despair. The windows, which scarcely measured a foot in width were barred on the inside by a rod of cast iron, which passed down the middle, and the space on each side was covered with wire netting. The firemen, who had ascended the ladder now commenced to hack at it vigorously with their hachets, but without any material effect. The excitement of the onlookers, which had been wrought to a very high pitch, was heightened to a fearful degree of intensity through the woman, who could now be plainly distinguished, standing close to the window. The flames at this time was plainly visible inside the room, and were rapidly spreading in the direction of the poor creature. One of the firemen, for some reason of his own, desisted in his efforts to force the iron bar out of its position, but the spectators, who were watching him with breathless anxiety encouraged him to continue his effort. Despite the efforts of the men, who worked heroically, it was quite evident that in a very short time they would be compelled to beat a retreat. Amidst tremendous cheering and applause from the crowd below, Owen Humphreys swiftly ascended one of the ladders, taking with him a large crowbar. On reaching the top he set to work without any loss of time. With several ponderous blows he smashed the frame to atoms and tore the iron network from the opening, but the bar still maintained it position, and it seemed exceedingly doubtful if the efforts of Humphreys would be sufficient to remove it. Only a brief space of time was now available, and the suspense endured by the witnesses of this life and death struggle wag terrible. At this critical moment cheering from those nearest to the building betokened that something satisfactory had occurred. One of the fireman named Fry, succeeded in fixing a hook which had been passed to him by the Hook and Ladder Corps, around the iron bar. A rope was attached to the hook, and by this means the bar was removed amidst great cheering. The other window also was opened immediately afterwards. It was now thought that there was no danger to be apprehended so far as the rescue of the woman was concerned, but this hope was dashed to the ground immediately when it was seen that, despite the efforts of the poor creature, she could not succeed iv squeezing her body through the small aperture. She was rather stout, and therefore her situation was found to be almost as critical as before. The sceue at this period was indescribable. Some confusion was caused by the multiplicity of orders' given, to which no person paid the slightest attention. Every eye was strained in the direction of the window where the frenzied woman was frantically struggling for liberty. The position was now rendered extremely dangerous for those who were giviug assistance, owing to the slata which formed the roofing of the building falling in large quantities. One of the firemen who had been engaged in opening the windows, again ascended the ladder, amidst cheers and cries of encouragement from those below. From the cool manner in which he went about his work, it was evident he knew what he was about. When he reached the window, he persuaded the teirned female to remain quiet, and then stood under the window while the woman cuade another attempt to get free by resting ou her side, and drawing fyerself through the opening. Her straggles were extremely painful to witness, and can only be imagined by those who have seen hnman beings struggling for life. At last, after a lapse of about a minute, the woman, by an almost superhuman effort, succeeded iv forciug herself through the aperture ; the firemen caught her as she came through, and then conducted her down to the foot of the ladder amidst loud outbursts of applause and contiuued cheering from the witnesses of the gallant exploit. ' Prom the time when the woman was first observed, to her rescue, scarcely fiva minutes elapsed, but it seemed as many hours to the intensely excited spectators. The escape was certainly a marvellous one, and the conduct of two men Mr Fry and Foreman Burke, who so nobly risked their lives in saving the poor creature, should be recognised in some substantial manner by the public.

The following is an extract from the Ballarat Couriei regarding- the proposed Juvenile Exhibition :— " Among other novelties which the exhibition will contain will be a model railway 100 feet long by 40 feet broad. Mounts Warrenheip and Buniayong will be included in the surroundings. A zigzag line will raouut one hill, and a tunnel pass through the other, and a perfect locomotive driven by steam, with a tender and a train attached, will run about this line, the track being made wide enough to allow the engine and the load to return to the starting point, without the necessity of being turned or backed. Shunting points, turn tables, semaphores, stations, platforms, and indeed all the paraphernalia and adjuncts of a well-appointed railway, will be included in the model— every part" of which, including the train, will be constructed on a scale of an an inch and a half to a foot. Each distinct part of this Hue will be separately exhibited, and entitled to take a prize. About forty of the apprentices belonging to the Phoenix foundry have rented a building and established a workshop in it, and they are now busily engaged every evening making the different parts of this novel and attractive work. The proprietors of the foundry, by the way, have very considerably and hand! somely undertaken to supply all the material < free. I

The proprietors of the Otago Steam Coffee Mills at Dunedia are desirous to get the Otago fanners to cultivate chicory. They offer to buy 250 tons of. raw root a 6 £5 per ton. , \ . * . The High School of Otago seems to have been an unfortahateMnstitutionrv According, to a correspondent of the Guardian the first rector was of a "fiery temperament," tbe second was "cruelly and spitefully used," the third, " with his family, was drowned," the fourth was " hounded from these shores by bigotry and cant," the fifth was literally murdered," and the sixth - " resigned under very extraordinary circumstances." The Timaru Herald notices as a novelty the importation by a local resident of a darning machine, believing it to be one of the first of its kind imported into New Zealand. It is described as a most handy American iuvention, costing only £i 2s 6d delivered in Timaru. Two very powerful engines are shortly expected from New York, to be placed upon the Canterbury railways. They are (says > the Times) far superior to anything of the kind we have yet had in the country, and Mr Conyers anticipates being able to do the journey with them from Christchurch to Timaru in less than four hours. The conduct ot some of the patients on the occasion of their being rescued from the Lunatic Asylum at Auckland, when it was burning, was rather peculiar. One incurable patient, possessed with the idea that he had a barrel-organ in his stomach, kept up a sonorous bass groaning sort of . music from the pit of his stomach, which he said was the sound of the instrument which the Almighty had put into him five years ago iv London. A good-lookiug persou walked to and fro, throwing up her arms over her head. She kept remarking that she <vas going to be married to Sir George Grey. That young woman must have been very mad indeed. While the diver was below working at the wreck of the Express (according to the Riverton Star), he encountered a shark of about Bffc. long. He saw tbe voracious member of the finny tribe before it got close to him, and had time to draw his knife and give it a cut under the belly. It turned sharply rouud upon him with one of its fins, and then beat a retreat, no doubt to the infinite relief of the submarine prospector.