LIST OF THE MISSING.

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 66, 19 March 1931, Page 8

LIST OF THE MISSING.

AUTHENTICATED TOTAIi, 26. MANY NOT REPORTED. (By Telegraph.—Press Association.) NAPIER, this day. The list of those reported as possibly killed in the earthquake is a comprehensive one, but after full police inquiry it has been decided that many people included in the list cannot be said to be authentically missing. The total of the unidentified remains at 26. It is believed that many bereaved families who are fully convinced of the death of relatives have not reported such persons as missing, with the result that whilst 26 remains the total of the unidentified only eight people are definitely known to.be missing, as follow:— . Michael Baker, English tourist, staying at Masonic Hotel. Eotel S v * s ' tor ' a^3o a t Masonic Mrs. Ada Mary Walshe. Herbert Arthur Dennett. Miss Ellen McEvery. Miss Sybil Florence Wood. Miss Joyce Taylor. Thomas Ryan. Napfe SiX laSt mcntioned belonged to

SEARCH FOR HOMES.

MANY HOUSES NOT HABITABLE HIGH RENTALS IN NAPIER. (From Our Own Correspondent.) NAPIEiR, Wednesday. With hundreds of homes in such a condition that they will not be fit for habitation for some months (either because the necessary repair work will take a long time, or because the owners have not the funds to have their houses reconstructed), there is a reduced number of residences in Napier fit for occupation, and a consequent boom in properties available on leasehold.

Of the four thousand houses in the borough of Napier, a very small proportion was undamaged. Many were burned and 90 per cent of those which escaped destruction by fire were extensively damaged, not only to the structures themselves, but also to their furnishings, fittings and other contents. A list of over 2000 homes, and the extent of the damage to the structure, the sewerage, the lighting and the water service in each, was compiled by the reconstruction department which was opened, and the work of repairing necessary commodities such as chimneys and of restoring services where possible was pushed ahead with all speed. With the return of many hundreds of residents—many of whom had been living in homes which they did not own and to which they could not return — there was immediately a 'brisk demand for houses. Properties which had been vacant for weeks, and, in some cases for months before the 'quake, readily brought the required rental, and often a larger figure. While calculated exploitation of the situation is not being tolerated where it is at Jail possible to prevent it, some property owners find themselves in the desirable position of being in receipt of as much as £2 15/ for houses which were previously producing 32/6 and 35/, unfurnished. An outstanding instance is a house which, after it had been repaired, was sought by no fewer than seven would-be tenants in one day. Normally its owner would have accepted an offer of 35/ a week for it, but it was eventually let to a tenant who offered £2 12/6 above six others willing to pay rentals ranging from £2 to £2 10/.