LUNATIC OR LARRIKINS—WHICH?

NZ Truth, Issue 1237, 15 August 1929, Page 1

LUNATIC OR LARRIKINS— WHICH?

Trail of Destruction and Panic Follows In Wake of Daring Incendiarists

POLICE CONFRONTED WITH HARD TASK

(From " N.Z. Truth's" Special Christchurch Representative)

. The likely winner of the Grand National is always a lively topic of debate m Christchurch during July and the first week of August, but this year the result of that important event has been entirely subordinated to prophecies and speculation on the identity of the person or persons who have thrown the city into a state of nervous anxiety w^h a wave of incendiarism. When the statistical record of fire loss m the city is compiled for the period embracing July and August, the fire fiends will be found responsible for damage m the s vicinity of £40,000. . ' . ....;„.,...., ,: .'...'.

any person m his sane senses would maliciously set fire to property merely for the pleasure of watching it consumed by spectacular tongues of flame, yet such a confession was made by a convicted 'incendiarist to a judge m Christchurch some years ago. Throughout all the fires which have occurred m Christchurch, not the slightest clue has been given the police or the fire-fighters as to the motive of the incendiarista. In cases where the police and the firemen have arrived m time to make any observations of value before the fire obliterated all trace of the origin of the outbreak, the methods of the fire "bug" have been noted and his work can be classed as a "rough job." "-■"';lt -is • obViou§l'y' t a : ppai i eht that it is not the Avork of a skilled, incendiarist working 1 for a purpose. Rather is it :l pitiful' instance of the mere fanatical impulse to destroy. "Truth's" investigations at the several outbreaks induce the belief that those premises which were maliciously set on fire were not the work of one man or one gang. More likely is it that the original attempt on Do'oson's garage and a neighboring shop m Hei-eford Place was the work of the hoodlum element which has been making itself felt m the city for some time past, and the panicky and imaginative attitude adopted by the daily press . stirred others of the type to endeavor to eclipse the partial success of their unknown predecessors. The information issued from official quarters arid the testimony of eye-witnesses was magnified to such an extent that each succeeding day only aggravated the an- \ xious minds of people all over the city, whereas information judiciously presented and within the realm of actual fact and possibility would have served as a corrective and eased the public mind. However, a few gallons of ink and an abundance -of elastic imaginations quickly created and maintained the wave of apprehension. When the police ultimately closed down on the press and declined to issue any information it only accentuated the position from the point of view of public anxiety. In those cases where definite evidence was obtainable, it was found that the methods adopted by the fire fiends were similar. Either locks of doors were sawn off and entrance thus effected, or windows were broken . and burning material thrown m. Except m the case of the attack on the home of the Mayor of Christchurch (Rev. J. K. Archer) where the house was found, m the absence of the family, burning m four different places, spite or malice can hardly be advanced as the motive. Buildings -were just picked at random m congested areas m the city, and with few exceptions, the spread of the fire had covered any trace of its origin. The owners and occupiers of the affected property without exception, cannot advance any reason why they should be selected for such unwelcome attention which strengthens the theory that the fires were the work of either irresponsible hoodlums or a cunning lunatic to whose freakish mental makeup a spectacular blaze would appeal. There is, of course, a remote possibility that some previously convicted incendiarist, haying suffered a substantial "blister" m the form of imprisonment, may have selected Christchurch to square up his score with the police, but he could not hope f.o. progress so far as the present outbreaks have gone without the risk of

identification, as his presence m the' city would quickly be observed by the detectives, who, "m such a time as this, ■are well acquainted with the' noted incendiarists . appearing m the Police Gazette. The incendiarist is a hard man to detect for once he gets his work well under way the fire quicky obliterates any clues he might have left behind him. Practically his only risk of detection is if someone happens to come along m the. locality where he is engaged. . ' '.' : '"■' , ■ ' ■ ■ And then the chances of detection are m his favor unless the passer-by is a policeman or detec-

tive, for the average man m the street is notoriously unobservant. . It is- certainly an easier and safer method, to go and, inform the police of his observations, than to step bravely m and 1 attempt to' apprehend any stranger loitering suspiciously" about .a building. • One . moment's thought raises the doubt that the loiterer may be there for some perfectly legitimate reason, and- there are few people so imbued with a sense of responsibility that "will vrisk. even a rebuff, let alone a r tap on jthe skull.' to question any person's right to occupy side lanes and dark alley-

In the genuinely suspicious Christchurch fires, the culprits did not select isolated buildings, but went for big jobs m busy thoroughfares at hours when there was still a good deal of traffic passing and many people Were about. In some cases it was reported that two suspicious-looking men were seen m the vicinity just prior to the fires, but none of the observers have been able to supply a sufficiently detailed description of them to assist the police m their apprehension. From a close investigation of the facts it appears Highly, improbable that the men responsible for firing Bing, Harris's /warehouse , and Heywood's store were also the instigators -ofeonirioi? --outbreaks -m- -outhouses attached to private residences. In the one case the damage ran to many thousands; m the latter to a few pounds involving jobs which the wilful Incendiarist would not be bothered with. Though their activities might have appeared somewhat belated, the police, since coming on to the job as an organised force, have done all they possibly could with the information at their disposal. Their biggest handicap, however, was the "eyewash" distributed by the Chfistchurch daily papers which hindered, rather than helped them m their efforts. , - ' ■ ■ When Commissioner W. B. Mcllveney arrived m Christchurch to conduct a personal investigation, similar to the action he took some time ago to suppress the crime wave m Auckland, he quickly realised that the public were almost panic-stricken as a result of the publicity the work of the incendiarists had been given and thereafter the channels of legitimate information were closed to the papers. This gave the press its opporI tunity and the situation was daily painted much worse than it actually was, while it must have appealed to the conceit of those criminally inclined. . The attacks on private outhouses and isolated sheds of little material value were undoubtedly the work of larrikins, doubtless urged on by the glowing accounts of the real fire-fiends' latest successes. The real culprits confined their attentions to valuable city property, attacking whom they thought were the "big people" m business/ and though they went about the job_in a. crude manner, they, achieved ah unfortunate amount of success and covered their tracks well. The: chances of their now being apprehended are extremely remote. If they were real criminals they would hardly engage m such risky and hazardous enterprises without some prospect of reward, which' hardens the belief that the biggest of these fires were the . work of independent gangs of hoodlums. It was suggested that some weak-minded person, with a misguided sense of sympathy for the unemployed, burned the buildings down m the hope that their reerection would create work, but anyone so mentally weak as to harbor such thoughts could not be expected to display the cunning as was evident m the lighting of these fires. Though the losses to private companies m Christchurch have been heavy, they w.ill have served a good purpose; if they hasten the arrival of some practical solution of the Dominion's fire waste bill. t Foi\ more than twenty-five years the theoretical experts have assumed the ■■.i ' ■ . •

role of fireside generals and harped for a reduction of fire losses without offering one practical suggestion as to how it could be minimised. The blame cannot be laid at the door of the fire brigades. Their job essentially is to extinguish fire, and when practical experts' from the brigades have tendered recommendations for the prevention of fire they have been treated with scant consideration. The only solution of . the problem lies m the framing of a more rigid pet of building by-laws and a strict enforcement of them. Not a year goes by but fire brigade superintendents, all over the Dominion recommend to their boards the necessity for- by-law. . „a mendments >whicb. ; will ■-■•• that new buildings at least shall be; constructed .so as to ; offer the „ maximum of security against fire and not serve as draughty furnaces . m the event of a fire breaking out.' It is not suggested that the erection of fire-resisting buildings will prevent j incendiarism or even accidental fires, but there is only one cost m the end and New Zealand's fire Avaste is too big an economic loss for the business community to bear. IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!IIIIIIIIIIII!I!IIIIIIIIIIIII!!IIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!II!!I!IIIIIIIIIIIII!IIIIIIIII1I!IIIIIIJ