ARSON PROVED

Hokitika Guardian, 7 March 1933, Page 3

ARSON PROVED

WELLINGTON, March 6-.

In giving his. finding of incendiari/m ■at hnMnqriest fire gt- i; the i 'pf , elii / - . ises; of- the Arctic Fur-jCompgny,' tlie •cbi-oner, Mr Gilbertson,' said the facts disclosed in the evidence shori'ed that •the fire occurred ori'ri Sunday when -tlie building wottlcl presumably lie uh--odbripifed,. Hie presence of prinerv.arid inflammable material partly saturated with kerosene, wa-s' evidently due to deliberate incendiarism.

. Movements in tfie room in Which the fire broke out were heard between ten a.m; and eleven, by two- men, who ocupied and were working in the room immediately above. The sounds continued .for some time, and were such as to be occasioned by someone moving about the room. The goods were insured for £SOO. According to the valuation placed upon them by the valuer employed by the insurance company, their value was £7lO. Ii the valuation was correct there would sbe no apparent motive for their destruction.

It was admitted by t?ie owner that the property so insured had been purchased os a job lot. at a much lower figure than the assessed value. That being the 'case, the goods would appear to have been insured for a sum in excess “of their real value. _ The owner had stated he recently relinquished the wholesale business, iii favour of tlie retail trade. The owner had averred that about .id, o’clock on December 18, he* was at : his shop, which-was- almost immediately opposite the storeroom. He said he did not enter the building in which the' fire occurred, b.ut ! called, only at the . shop. He stopped •-there a short time' before proceeding to Pohautanui, where liearrived about noon, and remained there for the rest of the day. So far as had been disclosed 1 by evidence, no other person' was in possession of the two keys that would he-required • in order to gain access to the storeroom. The door cf that room was locked when the fire brigade 'arrived to deal with the fire.