"RELIANCE” FACTORY TOTALLY DESTROYED BY FIRE.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 2465, 10 August 1922, Page 3

"RELIANCE” FACTORY TOTALLY DESTROYED BY FIRE.

AT RANGIOTU. CAUSE UNKNOWN. Three and a half hours after the conclusion of the annual meeting of the shareholders of the Manawatu “Reliance” co-operative butter and cheese factory at Rangiotu, Mj E. H. Hall, a resident of that, township, noticed that the building was on fire and at once aroused those in the vicinity. There were no fire-fighting appliances either at the factory itself or in the vicinity, so the wooden •building, which has been erected for about ten years, was burned to the ground and all the machnery destroyed. Nothing at all was saved. The factory was served by about*, 30 suppliers, and had a modern and up-to-date dual plant installed, its capacity being equivalent to about 300 tons of cheese. The loss on building and plant is between £5,000 and £6,000, hut is completely covered by insurances. As was to he expected at this time of the year, there was practically no stock in the factory. There is no clue to the cause of the outbreak. Arrangements have already been made for the suppliers’ milk to he taken by the Mangawhata and Pike Road factories.