THE RUTLAND FIRE.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXII, Issue 812, 15 February 1910, Page 3

THE RUTLAND FIRE.

SENSATIONAL SEQUEL

Wanganui, February 13

A sensational sequel to the Rutland Hotel fire (which broke out on January 22nd), occurred on Saturday evening when Joseph Davis and Marlin Haynes, proprietor and manager of the jewellery and fancy goods shop in which the outbreak occurred, were arrested. At the enquiry held on Wednesday last, the evidence led the jury and coroner to arrive at the conclusion that the fire was the result of an accidental explosion of gas, and a verdict was returned accordingly. Since the lire Davis and Haynes have been staying at the Arcadia boardinghouse and by a strange coincidence, Miss Bellaney, the proprietress, required the services of a gasman to remedy a leak. A man was sent to do the work on Saturday and found it necessary to examine the pipes above the ceiling in the upstairs rooms. He went through the trapdoor at the end of the passage and near the rooms occupied by Davis and Haynes, and to his surprise, he discovered a “swag” comprising one large portmanteau, four paper packages, and two brief bags, which on examination by the police to whom the matter was reported, were found to contain a miscellaneous assortment of jewellery, fancy goods, and some of the books which were said to have been burned in the fire, including a day book containing an entry made on the date the fire occurred and records of sales for weeks past. The value of the goods found is roughly estimated at from ,£IOO to ,£2OO, but they have not yet been valued by an expert. The stock in the shop at the time of the fire was valued by Davis at ,£2600 and was insured for ,£IOOO.

The insurance money has not yet been paid over.

FURTHER PARTICULARS

(Chronicle.)

Mr Stone, manager of the Gas Works interviewed on the matter, said it seemed to him almost as though it was destined that the plant, or whatever it was, should be discovered. They had sent a man down twice previously to attend to the gas at the Arcadia, and Saturday’s visit was the third. The man, Thomas Pargarter, had been instructed on that occasion to go through the whole of the pipes thoroughly. Not long after the man left the works he (Mr Stone) received a telephone message from him saying it was advisable that he himself should come and see the place. Believing that it was some ordinary repair, and being at loss to understand why he should be required, Mr Stone asked the man what was the matter. He received the reply, “ This is the place Davis and Haynes are stopping at. The leak is above their room, and there is something here that will interest you,” Being conversant with the particulars relating to the Rutland fire, Mr Stone did not require a plainer hint. He replied that he would come down and bring what was required (meaning for the repair of the leak), and he immediately proceeded to the Arcadia. There, Pargarter being still above the ceiling, Mr Stone took oil his coat and climbed up through the manhole. Incidentally he mentioned that it was comparatively easy of access. The manhole, he said, was situated at

the end of the passage, and there was a bedroom on either side of the passage and one at the end. To get into the manhole with the aid of a pair of steps was an easy matter, and he considered that it would not have been difficult to get up without the steps by climbing up on to a clothes press standing right under the manhole. When he got up to the place, he saw the bags and packages, but, as Davis and Haynes were then standing in the bedroom immediately beneath them, he said nothing about them. He kept up a conversation with the man on the subject, while satisfying himself as to suspicious nature of the contents of one of the bags, and, having done that, they both V descended. He realised the importance of keeping an eye on the manhole until the police arrived, and he realised also—or thought he realised—that Davis and Haynes were particularly anxious for both he and his man to clear out as quickly as possible. The situation was somewhat complicated by the fact that the proprietress had very hospitably invited the man to have a cup of tea Sbwnstairs, and was desirous that he also should have like entertainment. This, however, he politely declined, and, after “ killing as much time ” as possible without arousing the suspicion of the two lodgers, who were still in the vincinity—he had, before leaving his office telephoned to the police station —he slipped quickly downstairs and told Pargarter, so that his remarks could be heard, that it was necessary for him to go up at once and hurry on the work, as another job was waiting to be done. He also took the opportunity of telling him quietly not to leave the place until the police arrived. Mr Stone then left and a few minutes later Sergeant Burke and Constable Wilson made their entrance. The charge preferred against the two men, as set out in the warrants on which they were arrested, are practically identical. Haynes is charged with having unlawfully set fire to the shop, and Davis is charged with having unlawfully counselled him to do so. We understand that a further

charge of alleged perjury ; s also to be preferred against Haynes, There is, vve believe, a probability that another plant will be unearthed to-day, the police having received information leading them to expect another similar “find” in the vicinity of Aramoho.