FATAL FIRE IN LIVERPOOL.

Southland Times, Volume 2, Issue 86, 1 September 1863, Page 6 (Supplement)

FATAL FIRE IN LIVERPOOL.

A WOMAN SMOTHERED. (From the Daily Courier, 18th June.) About five o'clock yesterday morning a fire broke out on the premises of Messrs Ritchie and Cox, hosiers and outfitters, London Road. The fire originated in the shop, and in a few moments the contents of ihe establishment — which consisted of shirts, collars, and men's and boy's wearing apparel — were in flames. Mr Hewitt, with the fire brigade, followed by Mr Barrett and the West of England engine, were in attendance a short time after (he alarm was given ; but on their arrival nearly the whole of the articles and fixtures on the premises had been destroyed, and the dames were ascending with, fearful intensity to the upper stories of the building. There was a plentiful supply of water on the arrival of the fire-engines, and in a few minutes the flames were subdued, but the shop was then entirely gutted, and all the property consumed. An alarm being raised that there was a woman in one of the bed-rooms, Messrs Hewitt and Barrett, assisted by their men, attached their ladders, and entered through one of the front floor windows, and on going into the back bed-room they found the housekeeper, named Margaret Quay le, crouched in a corner in a state of insensi bility, the room being full of smoke, and the unfortunate creature evidently suffocated. She was taken out and conveyed in a cab by Mr Barrett and a police officer to the Royal Infirmary ; but just as they had entered with her, she expired in the arms of Mr Barrett, who had not left deceased from the time he first discovered her. It appears that the only persons in the house when the fire broke out were MiRitchie and the deceased woman, and that Mr Ritchie made his escape by jumping from the back bed-room window, from which he sustained severe injury, and had to be removed to the Infirmary. The stock is insured in the Royal Insurance Office.

At a recent conference meeting the members were asked, te How many brethren can .you accommodate at your house I " One lady rose and said, " I can sleep two, but I can cat as many as you will send."