August 16, 1887, Page 4
FIRE AT TRINITY BAY.
On Saturday, Aug. 6th, fire caused considerable excitement in Trinity Bay, near Gooseberry Cove. It broke out about 2 p.m., threatening to devour everything as it went. People ran from all places near, and succeeded in extinguishing it before it had time to spread. A great many people fell breathless before they reached the burning flames; others were nearly exhausted from bringing water to quench it; others running the risk of their lives from fire, which burned the clothes off their backs, and even lost their “French crop” which hung over their foreheads. The fire was caused by a young lad, of about seven years, who left his father’s house, with a pipe in his pocket, to take a smoke in some obscure corner away from his parents view. It seems after he had lit his pipe, he threw the match on some dry wood, which soon ignited and became a great blaze. If parents are so careless as to let children use tobacco at seven years of age, they will be sorry when it is too late. It is not an uncommon occurrence in the outports for the father to ask a young lad of a son for “a few drags” after the boy is finished.
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Transcribed by Wanda Garrett, March 2021
These transcriptions may contain human errors. As always, confirm these as you would any other source material.