A FIRE IN PEEL STREET.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 2325, 19 October 1908, Page 6

A FIRE IN PEEL STREET.

COTTAGE BUB NT OUT

An eight-roomed coittago owned by Mrs. W. I>. Lysnar, and occupied by Mr. George Lyeiiar, was destroyed by tiro, early on Sunday morning. At the time of the outbreak the'house was unoeoupied, Mr. Lysnar _ having gone out to one of the stations on Friday, and last slept in tlio house on Thursday night. The fire apparently started at the rear, either in the dining room or the kitchen, and - there had not been a fire lighted 'for months in the place the cause of the outbreak is unknown. The house was comfortably burnished,, and. included among the personal effects was a large quantity of clothes, old familv - furniture, pictures, and recics, and in one room a number of books and papers in connection with Mr. W. D. Lysnar’s legal practice and old station and bacon factory accounts . had been temporarily stored. Ihe fire went right through the building, and very little of value was saved. / The first person on the scene of the fire was Constable McPherson, anc the Gisborne Fare Brigade arrived soon afterwards. A good (pressure of water .was at once turned on, and the fire quickly came under control, with the 'result, that though the flames came through the eayes or the two front rooms, the contents of the rooms were only damaged by water. Speaking to a “Times” reporter, Mr. W. D. Lysnar said he considered the Brigade did excellent work in keeping the fire in check, as the ’buildin was very old .and dry and would burn 'readily. The result showed that even with the present water -pressure and Brigade ap/pilrances, and ■given favorable conditions, the _ Bri- • gade could cope with any ordinary outbreak. (Mr. Lysnar aluo ..stated that unless the fire was caused- by rats gnawing at matches in the kitchen, he could not otherwise explain ' how the conflagration started. On Thursday night a man came to the house and asked that be.should be allowed to sleep there, as he could not find a boarding-house, and often strange men were seen prowling about when the place was unoccupied. ■Still, he wooukl not like to say (there was any suspicion of incendiarism. _ The furniture of the house was insured, hut for what amount is not known, .and it is-probable-that the house was also insured, but Mr. Geo. Lysnar’s private papers will have to be gone through before the. amount and dn what office the policies’ are can be ascertained. The furniture destroyed was worth about £3OO, but a number of family effects that can never bo replaced have also gone, and -'.the fire is -a severe loss to the Lysnar family.