Rarely does Christraas come round without bringing in its train some terrible disaster either in the shape of fire or railway accident. This year las been no exception to the rule, as no less than three largo fires and several small ones have been recorded within the last few days, four of which have unluckily entailed loss of life. The most horrible occurred last Monday morning in Dixie Street, situated in the very heart of a densely populated Possibly be imagined for a fire to break neighbourhood—no worse place could
out. 'The house was a small two-storey one, with two rooms on exch floor. On the' ground floor the occupants were a his wife, mother-in-law, and three law—above lived a man named Purvis with his wife and nine children, When the ground-floor tenant, Barber, got up at 6 o'clock he found the room full of smoke and on opening the door saw that the stairesse was on fire; he instantly raised an alarm and the members of his family succeeded in escaping uninjured.
a fow minutes a fire engine and lifesaving appliances were on the spot, but it was too Into to save anyone on the upper storey, as about one minute after their arrival the roof fell in, so the only thing possible was to save the adjacent buildings which were in great peril. When at last' an entrance was effected, the scene that met the eye was horrible beyond description. The father was away in Mile-end Hospital at the time, suffering from lung disease. When he heard of his loss the shock was so great that he succumbed within a few hours. The mother and children were all burnt to death or died from suffocation. Most were charred beyond recognition, some even limbless—in nearly all cases their attitudes suggested futile efforts to escape from the flames so that their agonies must have been terrible. The unfortunate father was labourer, but through ill health had for some time been unable to work, so the mother assisted by the elder children had sustained the family by making matchboxes, the shavings from which naturally assisted the rapid spread of the flames. Another disastrous. courted at. King's
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.