WORK OF SALVAGE

Dominion, Volume 32, Issue 157, 29 March 1939, Page 10

WORK OF SALVAGE

Part Played By Fire

Police

PREVENTING LOOTING

Owners Remove Goods In Cars And Lorries

As the magnitude of the five became apparent, the occupiers of shops and business premises, particularly in Willis Street, who were quickly on the scene, with the assistance of the fire police under Captain F. J. Ballinger and DeputyCaptain J. A. Short, began to remove their belongings to safety.

Amid the dense smoke and tlie thickening rain of sparks, shop-owners, their employees, and friends, worked feverishly to salvage their goods. The Empire Cafe was evacuated, and in the Empire Hotel a start was made in removing furniture from tlie lounge, but a fortunate change in the direction of the wind made this precaution unnecessary.

Into Willis Street, with its slippery, wet bitumen, criss-crossed with hoses, came cars and lorries to remove the belongings which had been hurriedly carried out on to the pavement. Some twelve premises were threatened, ami the scene resembled on a small scale the 'evacuation of a bombed town, with smoke and sparks heightening the illusion.

The windows and show-cases of E. A. Cattin, jewellers, were cleared, as also were stocks from the Columbus Radio Shop, F. J. AV. Fear and Co., bicycle and radio importers, Madame Dawne, gown specialist, the Boulevard Tailors, the Electrical Service Company Ltd., and Frank Petrie, tailors. The premises of McLean and Archibald, Ltd., tool specialists, suffered extensively from water, which poured through the shop, drenching everything and flowing out across the pavement into AVillis Street.

The police on duty, as well as some 14 fire police, did excellent work in controlling the crowds which thronged Willis Street, Mercer Street and Victoria Street, said Mr. Short. Tlie fire police had been scattered about to prevent looting.

Shops which removed their stock included : Madame Dawne: Boulevard Tailors; Hurry Up Boot Repairs; Frank Petrie Ltd., tailors: Turner’s tobacconist shop; the Electric Service Co., Ltd.: F. J. AV. Fear and Co., Ltd., hardware and sports goods: McLean and Archibald Ltd., ironmongers: E. A. Catiu, watchmaker and jeweller; Columbus Radio, both the latter in the Empire Hotel building.

An extraordinarily varied assortment of goods was stored iti the Carlton Hotel. Inside the main entrance were three hairdressers’ chairs, two dressmakers’ frock models, half a dozen sewing machines, yards of carpets, chairs, frocks, mirrors, cigarettes and tobacco, boxes of cigars, suits, boots and shoes, electrical equipment, watches and jewellery. A quantity of stock from the two tailors’ shops in AVillis Street found a temporary home in the foyer of the Grand Hotel.