TIMARU AND SOUTH CANTERBURY NEWS.

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 19724, 14 September 1929, Page 6

TIMARU AND SOUTH CANTERBURY NEWS.

TIMARt 7 .

BOWLING. At the annual meeting of the South Canterbury Bowling Centre the following officers were elected: President, Mr W. J. Watson; vice-presidents, Messrs J. Moves, sen., and T. Currie; treasurer, Mr W. W. Callender; secretary, Mr A. j Thoreau; hon. auditor, Mr C. E. Tor- j lesse; Emergency Committee, the presi- ' dent and vice-presidents; Match Committee, the president and Messrs B. ] Shillito and T. Currie. Oddfellows' Lodge. The monthly meeting of the Loyal Geraldine Lodge of Oddfellows was held on Thursday, when Bro. Norman Williams, N.G., presided. One candidate was initiated. An invitation was received from Loyal Timaru Lodge to at- j tend a banquet to celebrate its 65th an- j niversary. The invitation was accepted and details left over till the next meeting. Bro. C. Ilayward, delegate to the District Conference, gave an account of the proceedings, referring particularly to the admission of honorary members. Seven members gave the necessary notice to take various degrees at the next meeting. j Magistrate's Court. At the Magistrate's Cdurt yesterday, before Mr D. McLennan. J.F., Joseph Arthur Neylon, a middle-aged man, who was charged with wilfully damaging an electric light globe, valued at 4s J&d, the property of Archibald Richard Clark, thereby committing miseaief, was convicted and ordered to make good the damage. On a charge of being fpund in A. B. Clark's premises, 94 Stafford street, without lawful excuse, but in circumstances which did not disclose the commission of, or intention to commit any other offence, Neylon was convicted and fined £lO, in default two months' imprisonment. A. and P. Association. The monthly meeting of the committee of the Timaru A. and P. Association was held yesterday, Mr P. B. Talbot presiding. ' Sir Joseph Ward wrote acknowledging receipt of a copy of the resolution passed by the Association concerning the suggested taxation proposals. He would be glad to give careful consideration to the Association's representations. Messrs C. Carr and J. Bitchener, M.P.'», wrote promising to support the' Association's protest. The chairman: We can't do anything further just now. We will have to wait and see what is being done. A member: The matter is being kept steadily in view. (Laughter.) The chairman: Well, the Prime Minister has promised further consideration. Mr A. Thofeau, secretary of the Ttmaru-St, Andrew's branch of the Farmers' Union, wrote stating that his committee had agreed on the formation of a veterinary association, and would like the A. and P. Association to co operate by electing a sub-committee to work in conjunction with the Fanners' Union sub-committee. It was decided to support the scheme, Messrs D. Grant, W. J. Bassett, and M. Maze being appointed a sub-committee to co-operate with the Farmers' Union. The Otago A. and P. Society wrote advising that its annual summer show would be held on November 28th and 37th. The committee considered that a conference should be held during winter show week to arrange show dates. If the principle of holding shows in rotation were adopted, breeders could select the show they would exhibit at and also give the stock an opportunity of recovering from any effects from transit and handling. Mr H. H. Traser (the secretary) said that some time ago the Timaru Association had proposed calling such a conference, and the Otago Society bad been the first to knock the proposal on the head. The letter was received. Mr B. Mehrtens, of Seadown, was elected a member. The financial position as at - August 31st showed a credit balance of £95 5s 6d. It was decided to hold next year's Timaru ram fair on March 28th. Wai-iti load Fire. An examination by electrical experts yesterday of the residence in Wai-iti road in which fire completely gutted the top storey, showed that the outbreak had not been caused through any fault in the electrical installation. Mr E. F. Hollands, general manager of the Municipal Electricity Department, arranged for the inspection, as at the meeting of the Timaru Fire Board on Thursday Superintendent P. Campbell expressed the opinion that the fire had its origin at the switchboard. This statement had also been published in the newspapers after the fire. ' An investigation was made by Mr G. W. Morrison (engineer-secretary) and Mr A. J. Larnder (assistant engineer), of the Booth Canterbury Power Board, with whom was associated Mr W. J. Harding, builder, who inspected the house after the fire on behalf of the South British Insurance Company. There also were present Messrs E. F. Hollands and W. Malcolm, of the Municipal Electricity Department, and J. G. Duncan, representing the South British Insurance Company. After inspecting the fuses on the switchboard, all of which were intaet, Mr Larnder removed the casing, and it was then seen that the fire did not originate there. The wiring was quite in order and the insulation was not even scorched, although the effects of water were noticeable. Below the switchboard a hole three feet by two feet had been burnt through the wall. This damage, it was surmised, was caused by burning embars which apparently fell between the partition from upstairs, gaining access thereto by means of a small rectangular hole in the floor which had been cat for the purpose of bringing through the oonduit tubing. A thorough inspection was made upstairs, and expert opinion was that the fire had not started on the ground floor. It waa stated that the seat of the outbreak was on the east aide of the house, probably in that portion of the hall which adjoins the balcony. Mr Larnder said that the fuses were sound, and the wiling was not damaged. If there had been a short eircuit in any section of the wiring one of the fuses would have blown. He waa convinced that the fire had its origin upstairs. The damage done below the switchboard bad been .used through burr ig embers falling between the partition separating the entrance hall from one of the front rooms. Mr Harding said that he stood by his previous statement. "The fire had not started at the switchboard. The origin was somewhere upstairs on the east side of the house." He agreed with the theory advanced by Mr Larnder. Mr Morrison remarked that he was perfectly ire that the fire h-d not been caused by any electrical fault. The switchboard was intact. If the fire had started there it would probably have been destroyed. The interior of the house upstair* was completely destroyed, which was ample evidence that the fire had its origin there. The only damage downstairs was the hole iu the wall below the switchboard, which had been satisfactorily explained. In answer to a question, Mr Hollands remarked that when he had reported on the fire to the Borough Council the remarks made by him did not refer to the Timaru reporters. "My reference was general," added I r Hollands. "It frequently happens that the cause ef a

fire ia pat down to a fault in the electrical installation, and this very often is not the case." He further atated that in his report for the period 1926 to 1928 Fire Brigade Inspector Hugo had set down 260 fires which he alleged to have been started through electrical defects. This report, howeTer, was amended, a* it was found that for the period under review onlr 41 fires had been caused byelectrical "faults. Electrical engineers throughout the Dominion now intend to investigate cases in which the lighting system was blamed for fires.