By Isle of Wight Observer
This entry from the Isle of Wight Observer published on 23rd September 1854, appears to be a letter to the editor. However, it is signed by the agent of the insurers, so is actually seeking to persuade people of the benefits of buying life insurance. The reward given to the firefighters would be the equivalent of just under £50 today.
ANOTHER PRESERVATION FROM A SERIOUS FIRE.
To the Editor of the Isle of Wight Observer.
Sir, – The town of Ryde has experienced another merciful preservation from a serious catastrophe, which I hope will stimulate the new Board of Commissioners to lose no time in obtaining a plentious supply of water, the want of which might have been in the present instance of awful consequence.
On Friday evening, the 8th inst., about 9 o’clock, four men passing by Cleader-place, opposite the Infirmary, observed an unusual glare of light at the back of one of Mr. Henry Hunt’s houses; they immediately rushed to the spot and found the back of the house, No. 4, in flames.
It appears that the adult inmates had previously gone down in the town, leaving the servant with a baby at home. This girl had gone to the bedroom with the infant and fell asleep in a chair, leaving the candle on the table, which, guttering down, set fire to the toilet cloth and window curtains. The window linings and frame, with the skirting and table, were in a blaze, and but for the most timely aid of these men the whole premises would in a few minutes have been ignited, the consequence of which on the surrounding neighbourhood no one can calculate.
Mr. Hunt is insured in the General Life and Fire Assurance Company, and their agent has been instructed to pay the estimated cost of damage and to give the four men 10s. each as a reward for their prompt and energetic aid.
I am, sir, your’s obediently,
SAML. YOUNG,
Agent to the Fire and Life Assurance Company.