BASE RECORDS

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2788, 5 June 1916, Page 8

BASE RECORDS

THE DANGER FROM FIRE. .A.statement that our records af the Expeditionary i'orce will be in grave danger from lire when housed in the new office building being erected at tho rear of Government Buildings, was luado in the House yesterday by Mr. C. H. l'oolo. The Minister./of Defence snii\ that tho now building wa.l luing made as nearly fireproof as possible. It would bo lit by electricity, and the only heating would bo by menus of hot. ivater. There was no possibility of fire occurring in tho new building, and ns far as the main buildings- were concerned they were carefully watched. A speci.il watchman would also be detailed to watch the new build- ■ i"SThe Minister of Public Works (Hon W. .Fraser) said that the necessity .for taking all possible steirc to preserve th<a records had been recognised. It had been difficult to find a suitable site, and it was eventually decided to place it alongside of the Government Buildinga. The new building had been made «a secure from fire as possible. Tho walls were lined with asbestos, and tliero wt.ro no fireplaces, whilst no gnfl would bn allowed in the building: It did not seem possible that tho building could lie ignited unless some person set lire to ilio papers in it deliberately. It ivas true that tho now building was not far trom the main building, which .hjd beou ieferred to as a "fire-trap," but extraordinary precautions were spect to this building, which al*!'"c-,"n-tained valuable records. . Tbis bmltKng was-carefully watched, and the risk of fire there was not as great as it would be' in a brick building in tho heart, of the City. Mi'. Poole: You had a watchman at' tlio old Parliamentary Buildings before tile firo there.

Mr. I'raser said that it had been suggested that the soldiers', records might be placed in a portion of the basement of the now Parliamentary Buildings, but no portion of this space was yet far enough advanced to be suitable for the purpose of housing the staff. Tho only thing that could be done was to employ a man to cart the records to that building and to cart t.hein back again In the mornings, but, of course, that could not be thought of in regard to the records of some 40,000 soldiers. Ho thought that two men should bo told off to watch tho new records building nt night.