Arson Suspected In Fire At School

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31649, 8 April 1968, Page 14

Arson Suspected In Fire At School

(N.Z. Press Association)

AUCKLAND, April 7.

Arson is suspected in a fire which caused damage estimated at $lB,OOO in a school music room, and in a second fire which damaged a Bible in a church about half a mile from the school in Manurewa today. Charred sheet music, the blackened frame of a piano and twisted steel furniture were all that remained of a music room at Manurewa Intermediate School. The room was well ablaze when the alarm" was raised about 3.43 a.m.

Fireman with five engines from Manurewa, Papakura and Otahuhu subdued the fire after about 20 minutes. Classrooms on both sides of the music room were damaged and cloakrooms and toilets attached to the block were gutted. Prefabricated rooms will be erected at the school this week to replace the block temporarily. At St Luke’s Anglican Church, parishioners arrived

for an early morning service to find the church full of smoke. The Bible, a large and expensive edition, was lying charred and smouldering on the lectern.

The vicar, the Rev. Milton Campbell, said it appeared that the offertory box might have been interfered with. The church was not locked. Otahuhu detectives are investigating.

Dr D. P. Kennedy, the Dir-ector-General of Health, will visit Burnham Military Camp on April 24 to address members of the three services who have been selected as replacements for the New Zaland joint services medical team in South Vietnam. Dr Kennedy will discuss conditions under which the team will work and the types of diseases most likely to be encountered.