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'Newport
First Stop' - 100 Years of News Stories Newport
Past |
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1896
Probably the greatest fire ever witnessed in Newport occurred early this morning. Shortly before 1 a.m. an alarm of fire was raised and immediately a constable dashed off to the police-office and communicated to the fire brigade the news that the Victoria Theatre was ablaze. The brigade was promptly on the spot under the direction of Captain Horace Lyne and Lieutenant E. Coulman with the hose-carts, fire escapes, and the steamer and manual engines. In a short time the men were directing the water towards the flames. At this period the whole roof was ablaze - for the fire, which had apparently started at the stage, travelled from end to end of the building, before igniting the roof. So low was the pressure of water that not a jet could be thrust to half the height of the building. It is pretty certain that nothing could have saved the theatre, even if the pressure from the mains had been of the fullest.
John Tayne was summoned for deserting his wife and children and neglecting to provide reasonable maintenance for them. The parties had been before the court several times. - The woman said that the man had always treated her in a most brutal manner. He had been to prison for ill-treating her but she only wanted maintenance. She had seven children, and when her husband was in work he allowed her only ten shillings a week. The police record showed the man had been brought up for assaulting his wife no less than seven times. - The Bench ordered defendant to allow his wife twelve shillings a week.
William Perrett, labourer, who has lived near the Cefn, was brought up before Newport Police Court this morning on the charge of being a lunatic wandering at large at Malpas on Thursday night. Inspector Capper found the man on top of a hay-rick brandishing a big stick to keep people away. He enticed him down and then took him into custody. He was sent to Abergavenny Asylum.
Mlle. Albertina ascended by means of a balloon, from the Exhibition Grounds at Cardiff on Tuesday, to nearly 6,000 feet in order to descend by parachute. Having reached the appointed height, she unloosed her parachute, but she was carried eastwards towards the Bristol Channel into which she must have descended. From that time till Friday night her fate remained a mystery. At about ten o'clock on Friday a girl named Mary Waggett of Nash, told her father that she had seen a body lying on the bank of the Bristol Channel. The police were informed and a constable went to the shore, and there on the edge of the bank he saw the body lying. He knew at once it was the missing parachutist; he recognised the dress which had been described, and she had attached to her shoulders the straps and hooks by which she was suspended from the parachute. The body was taken to the village church at Nash where it lies awaiting the Coroner's investigation. We understand that Mlle. Albertina was 14 years old and it was only the second time she had attempted this feat. [ Back ] |
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'Newport
First Stop' - 100 Years of News Stories Newport
Past |