INCENDIARISM AT LITTLE AKALOA.

Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume VII, Issue 652, 13 October 1882, Page 2

INCENDIARISM AT LITTLE AKALOA.

Another of those acts of incendiarism which have so startled the Poninsuk lately, took place on Tuesday morning last. At the beginning of the week the

poiic-. 1 here, received a notice, that anonymous letters had been sent to De Veaux & Co., of Christchurch, and to the licensee of the temporary hotel at Little Akaloa, a Mr Cooper, seating the house would be burnt down, and on Tuesday morning Sergeant Willis started on n visit to the Bay to investigate the matter. It appears, however, that tha mad deed threatened, had boon accomplished before he stivted, for shortly after he had gone a telegram was received from Mr J. 13. Barker, from the Head of the Bay, Akaroa, staring that tho premises in question hau been burned doivn at three o'clock that morning. On the sergeant's arrival there, therefore, he found the place a heap of ashes. Tho information gathered on the subj ct is to this effect. Wlvn the Little Akaloa Hotel was destroyed by fire, the annual license had already been granted to Mr Connon, the then licensee, and paid for. Mr Connon afterwards went through the Bankruptcy Court, sind an application was made to the Chairman of the Olefin's Licensing Committee to grant a lemporary license to v Mr 11. Cooper till the no ,r promises were erected. Permission was granted, and an outbuilding l<ll >wu locally ?s the " Hen House," a placo 10ft by 12ft. fct'inding on the hotel pr.'iu : s"s, wheh h ul escaped the aines, wj»s fifcied up as a, bar. No information was sent to the police on the subject, a fa«'t that is to be regretted, fir in a wide <.ii trict ike ours it is impossible for thorn to be aware of those matters without th"y are properly informed. Stock to the value, of more than £100 was brought down from Christchurch, find the place duly opened. This uroceediug was, it appears, against the wish of some person in the locality, for on September 29 Ji a letter was received by Messrs De Veaux & Co., of Christchurch, which had been posted at Little Akaloa on September 28th. It ran as follows :—

"Sir. —Before you go to any expense, we think it only right to give yo'i fair notice that we have determined not to have any more hotels here in Little Akaloa, and the}* will be burned down every time they are built np, no odds who puts them up, for they are only traps for learning our sons and daughters to tiie cursed drink, so you can take this w,truing or not, as you think lit, to save your money and perhaps your lives. — Yours respectful, " Littde Akaloas."

A secoiitl letter was s.?nt to Mrs hooper, the wife of the publican, on las!, Mo day night, the same night as the fire. It must have been posted on -the Sunday night, as it was foun 1 in the box at Little Akaloa on Monday morning. It was in the same hand-writing as the one we have quoted, and contained a reiteration of the warning, saying, " We have given you previous notice, and tearing that sending it to the care of Messrs De Veaux and Co., that therefere you may not have received it, we send it to you personally." It told that they were determined to have the hotel down in any case, and put a stop to the vending of alcohol m the bay.

Mi - Cooper got this letter at G p.m. on Monday, but not thinking there was any immediate fear, he closed tho place at 7 p.m., and went to Mr J. 13. Barker's, where he was lodging with his wife. Mr Banter's is about a mile away from the hotel, so that ihere was, of course, no possibility of any watch being kept, and indee I it appears that Mr Cooper must have attached little importance to the warning. At about 4 a.m. on the following (Tuesday) morning, Mrs Le Olcrc yoke her husband, who is the proprietor of the local store, and resides some distaue ; from tho hotel, telling him she saw a glare of light on the windows. He got up, and saw the fire through the end of his own building, :ivA then dressed and weal down. When he arrived at tho scon;; of (.he lire, however, the place was ufcti-rly coMs-.iiued, w-th its content*, which wore uninsured, and are valued by Mr Ow..j>or at £1.00. O.ving to the quantity of spirits in th» .-mid building, tho Sire must h.ivo i.i-.ted a v -ry iiitlo Lime. Mi' Le 01 ere '.vas the first there, ••aid the i;c -.rest neighbors Messis Tiioaias

and A.. Melntosh, app n ar not to have been alarmed at all, and report they saw nothing and knetv nothing of the fire till a later hour that morning.

Surmises as to tlv , authorship of the incendiarism arc rife, but then , is no!; a, tittle of evidence to connect any one with it. Tt was told the sergeant that the tracks of two horses, one very large and one very small, had been seen near the hotel ? and that it was supposed that the perpetrators enrne on these horses, one holding them whilst the other sot (ire to the building. It was true that trades were to be distinguished, but it was lvmarW by Mr l*o Clorc that he went to the hotel on the Monday with Mr >). B. Barker, Junr., who is leading the entire horse Mungo Park, which of course has a large foot, and riding a hack with i\ comparatively small one. This seems to account for the tracks ; but on the other side it may be stated that the larger hoof print is said to be that of a horse only shod on its fore feet, and of course a travelling entire would be shod all round. The warning letters were both written on a half sheet of note paper, and the handwriting, which is evidently has some peculiarit/es. • jSome people in the bay appear to fancy it is written from dictation by a child. The spoiling is correct and the punctuation fair. It is true that respectful is us d wrongly, instead of respectfully, but no doubt this is done purposely, nd that the caligrnphist is an educated person. Detective O'Connor came down from Christchurch on Wednesday night to assist ilie local force in making 'the necessary investigation, and it is to be hoped that they will be successful, having in this instance a tangible clue in the possession of the letters.