Page 4 Advertisements Column 3

South Canterbury Times, Issue 2510, 6 April 1881, Page 4

The Auckland “ Star” of March 26 gives the following account of the burning of the Pararaha Sawmill: —About tw» o’clock yesterday morning, the Pararaha Sawmill, the property of Messrs Guthrie, Larnach and Co., was completely destroyed by fire. The mill was situated some three miles north of the Manukau Heads, near to the beach, to which a tram ran from the Heads. The manager states there is no reason for supposing that the fire eould have originated otherwise than by an accident. The mill had been working as usual on Thursday up to 6 p.m., the usual leaving-off hour. A mill hand named James Keating, about 2 a.m. on Friday morning, heard the dogs about the mill barking, got up to see what was the matter, and discovered the timber adjoining the mill on fire. He gave the alarm, and the workmen got up, but were unable to stop the progress of the fire, which had then got a firm hold of the mill. It is believed that sparks from the mill* when it was working, must have lodged in the shavings and rubbish alongside the mill, and smouldering there unseen, after a time broke out. The destruction of the mill puts a number of persons out of employment for the present. The men succeeded, through great exertion, in saving the store which stood adjacent. There is an insurance on the mill, in the South British, to the extent of £llsO, but that will only partially cover the loss, which is estimated at between two and three thousand pounds. About 150,000 feet of timber, which lay alongside the mill, is also destroyed. The Pararaha Mill, which has been destroyed, has been working for about eight years, and it is estimated there would have been sufficient timber convenient to keep the mill working for the next two years had this accident not occurred. Water of late has been so scarce in the vicinity of the mill that the Company intended to stop operations for a short time after to-day.

“Gentleman, I can’t lie about the horse ; he is blind in one eye," said the auctioneer. The horse was soon knocked down to a spectator who had been greatly struck by the auctioneer’s honesty. After paying for the horse, he said “ You were honest enough to tell me that this animal was blind in one eye. Is there any other .defect ?”—“ Yes, sir, there is. He is also blind in the other eye,” was the prompt reply.