2io DISTINGUISHED CHURCHMEN
summer. That fire, by the way, was purely acci dental. It commenced in the laundry, whence it spread to my house and the other buildings. I was absent from home at the time on my way to the mines. When the telegram reached me I turned quickly back, to find my home in ashes, and only one desk left. The following buildings were also destroyed : The home for half-breds and white children (a few mattresses saved), the chapel, the old workshop, the boathouse, contain ing six boats and two canoes, the church (a har monium and memorial desk saved), the Indian Girls Home, the schoolhouse, stocked with stores of food and new clothing for six months, the public day school for Indians, the Church Army hall, the coalhouse, containing many tons of coal, and the new workshop belonging to the Boys Indus trial Home. The boys main building was saved, though damaged. In regard to the Bishop s house, the insurance adjuster valued the contents at $13,700, but they were only insured up to $2000. The value of the buildings destroyed and their contents is estimated at $44,500. Fortun ately, the outbreak occurred during the holidays, when the majority of the children were with their friends in safety. By using the fire engine, the three men then at Metlakathla saved the main building of the Boys Industrial School, running great risks in doing so. With most of the men absent at the fisheries, the major portion of the work de-
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