FIRE DAMAGES FACTORY

Press, Volume LXXX, Issue 24270, 30 May 1944, Page 5

FIRE DAMAGES FACTORY

SAFE FOUND OPEN AND MONEY MISSING (F.A.) AUCKLAND, May 29, . A fire which swept through the base* ment and portion of the ground floor of the clothing factory of Ross and Gleb* dining, Ltd., in Wellesley street west shortly after 7 o’clock to-night, caused considerable damage. An unusual feature was the discovery that about £l6 in cash was missing' from the safe on the premises. ' • The outbreak started in the basement where materials, mapy of them imported, were stored in bales, and it already had a good hold when the alarm was.raised by a passer-by. Four engines answered the call, and when the first one arrived, sheets of flame were issuing from the front windows oL the ground floor. Masks had to be worn by the firemen going into the smoke-filled basement. It took about half an hour to control the flames. An of the firm who was called to the scene discovered a cash box and money missing from the safe, which was found unlocked. Some of the contents of the box were found strewn across one of the desks in the office. No other parts of the office appeared to have been searched, and a substantial sum of money in notes in the safe was overlooked. No official estimate of the damage caused, or details of the exact amount missing from the safe are available.