At 7.30 p.m. on Thursday a fire broke. out in a large tea shop in Foochow Road. By the time the alarm had commenced to ring the flames were leaping fiercely into the air and the blaze could be seen for miles round. The Deluges got onto streams before any other Companie. The fire at first threatened to spread over avery large area, but it was soon sur rounded by streams which effectively checked the flames. All the companies were somewhat shorthanded owing to the Light Horse and Artillery being in Camp, while numerous firemen had started on up-country trips. In_ spite of this, however, there were soon three or four streams playing from adjacent roofs, while some of the companies did good service by playing from the road and from the interior of burning buildings. In about three-quarters of an hour all danger of the fire spreading was over, and by nine o'clock all the companies had reeled up. Acoolie corps, under the supervision of the departmental engineer, was then put on. Nos. 514-511, Foochow Road, were almost completely burnt out, while Nos. 515 and 510 were more or less damaged by fire and water. One big tea shop on the first floor extended all through these numbers, while the ground floors were occupied by small shopkeepers. The origin of the fire is unknown. The damage is believed to be fully covered by insurance.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.