A MANAGERIE ON FLAMES.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume VIII, Issue 2351, 20 July 1886, Page 2

A MANAGERIE ON FLAMES.

PITIFUL SCENE. . The East London Aquarium, sifciiaM at Biehopsgate Without, •was.jjj.deiuly,, destroyed by fire.. The aquarium ■•w4s^4 small, popular pleasure resort, containing amongst other exhibits. a. ; soological special' pens, iu'oluding bears, lions, jackals, birds and monkeys. •! The caretaker, on discovering that the building was on fire, which past eight in the morning, at [ o'iiuo gave the alarm, and eujht fire ongiriea • m soon on- the spot, aiid commenced plaAg upon the flames. In the measßiß effort*'wore made to save the animals," whose cries and shrieks were piteous j : - but, only two Russian bears wererescued,;.. the remainder perished in the names,which ultimately burned out the entire'■■'•' building. An examination of the ruined ■• premises after the fire, revealed that in'--"' the monkey-house, on the right baud . side, there remained little or no trace of •« the eisht or nine monkeys which said to be confined in it. In the cage adjoining a wolf lay on his back dead, with tho skui partly peeled off his right hind knee. On the other side of the room, in theoppositecagetothewolf,lay'alionesß,'' dead. She Was stretched out on her side,. . with her face towards a barred side of the cage, which faced to a hack street. ..The ■„• ■'■ impression of the .fireman was. that : she had been roasted, though the appearance "" of the akin did not seem to confirm thjs view. In the next (a centre) cage was . a lionesses' cub a lioness three years 'old. This small beast lay on its back with ita- ■• tail hanging out between the bars, while ;'..;; burnt wood and other wreckage lay piled upon the top. In the end'cage a large Russian bear lay dead on his side. Htg teeth were closely set together and jH paws contracted, and th 6 general' 'indicv' tiou was that he had expired only after great suffering. The beast seemed as if baked. The room might fitly be described sa a chamber of horrors. In a room below, two civet cats and a parrot were ■ burnt to death, and a small theatre at the ,: top of tie building was destroyed.