Two Lives Lost.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXIX, Issue 22, 18 May 1914, Page 5

Two Lives Lost.

EN A WELLINGTON FIRE. SOME NARROW ESCAPES. [Per Press Association.] Wellington, May 17. A fire tragedy occurred in the city this morning, in the boarding-house premises in Courtenay Place, known as the Manchester Private Hotel (formerly The Eagles), by which two lives were lost. The building was a threestorey brick structure, containing 22 rooms, and ocupied by Harold Pintiock. About 3.30 a.m. Constable Hardy, on duty in Courtenay Place, noticed the fine and gave the alarm. The flames had a strong hold when the flames arrived, as a fierce gale was blowing, and the building was long and narrow, with the front windows open. The fire, which apparently started in the kitchen downstairs and at the back or windward end of the hotel, swept through the interior in an incredibly short space of time.

The place was full of boarders, who made hurried exits by the fire escapes. Not all were so fortunate as to get out this way, however. One man on the second floor made a rope out of sheets from his bed, and by its aid reached the ground at the back. Another man climbed down the spouting from the third floor, and so gained safety at the rear. Others jumped from upstairs windows, and two or three were sent to the hospital with more or less serious injuries. When the fire had been subdued, and a search was made of the ruined interior, a gruesome sight was met. In a smalf room on the second floor a man between 30 and 40 years of age, and a woman between 40 and 50 were found. Though still recognisable, they were very badly burned, and there was nothing left in the room to lead to their identification. They had booked a room on Saturday night in the name of Wilson. Everything appeared safe when the inmates retired at midnight, and how the fire originated is not known. The furniture and effects were valued at £-150 and insured for £350 in the Commercial Union. The building was owned by the Staines estate. The woman's body has been identified as that of Susannah Ackman, said to come from Bendigo, Victoria. . I