Queenslander (Brisbane, Qld. : 1866 - 1939), Saturday 27 June 1914, page 39


BIG BLAZE AT CLONCURRY.

HOTEL ELEVEN SHOPS AND A COTTAGE DESTROYED. LOSS ESTIMATED AT £15,000. A MAN BURNT TO DEATH.

The postmaster at Cloncurry advised the Post and Telegraph Department, Bris-<*> bane, as follows on Sunday: "The Post Office Hotel, eleven shops, two sample

rooms, and a cottage- were demolished oy fire last night. The fire was discovered at 11.15 p.m., in the hotel, and the buildings had been completely demolished by 12.30 a.m. The staff, working hard, kept the front of the telegraph office wetted and protected with wet blanket?, and averted the danger of ignition. The heat was so intense that the blankets were scorched and the paint blistered. One man (an Indian^ was burned to. death." ' i TOWNSVILLE, June 21. The Post Office Hotel and the block of shops were all the property of Mr. Bennett. The outbreak originated in Mercer's shop. The water supply was limited, and there was no hope for the whole block. The total insurances are about £12,000. The hotel, of which Mr. Moran was the lessee, was insured for £2060. The salvage is comparatively, small. The total damage is estimated at over £15,000. TOWNSVILLB, June 22. ' In the fire at Cloncurry nearly all the boarders at the Post Office Hotel lost their personal effects. It is now certain, that an Indian waiter named Poona Samays perished in the fire. The deceased waa (or several years a waiter at tht Queen'b Hotel, Townsville, and was well known to the travelling public. It is onderstood that he had only arrived at Cloncurry from Canobie station on Saturday. The buildings destroyed were •■ follows : Post Office Hotel, A. J. Moran (licensee) \ A. Harris's tailor's shop, Ted Harrison's hairdresser's *id tobacconist's shop, Stuart's bicycle agency, an empty, shop, J. H. Harding's auctioneer's premises, Dr. M'Leonan's surgery, Newman and Johnson's solicitors' office, Mrs. Taylor's refreshment rooms, an empty shop, Brodie and Oo.'s stock and station agents' premises. All these were on the Sheaflestreet frontage. On the Scarr-street front-1 ag# the places destroyed were the Post Office Hotel, a sample room, and Moran's private cottage. The insurances so far as known are : On the buildings, £6110 with the New Zealand, Insurance Co., of which £3000 was on the hotel. The contents of the block were in a number of instances insured with the Commercial Union Co., the total being £2530. Other insurances were with the Queensland Co., £600; Liverpool, London, and Globe, £300; and 1.0.A., £100. Seventeen buildings were destroyed. Messrs. Brodie and Co. man' aged to save their safe, books, records, and furniture. '