WHAT WAS THE CAUSE?

Evening Post, Volume LXXXVII, Issue 75, 30 March 1914, Page 7

WHAT WAS THE CAUSE?

EXPLOSION STILL A MYSTERY ACETYLENE GAS OR WHAT The origin of the fire and the cause of the explosion are still unexplained mysteries. Such evidence as could bo gathered on the spot by The Post's representative yesterday was of decidedly conflicting and confusing character. No two men seemed to agree on the vital points: Where did the fire originate? In what part of the building did tho explosion take place? The excitement in the darkness of the night, the frightful crash and appalling havoc of the explosion, gave lise to wildest rumours. Out of these it is possible to gather but scanty clues at present towards the solution of the mystery. At the Upper Hutt there are two distinct parties with two distinct theories as to what caused the explosion. One party asserts, in. spite of the most definite and unqualified denials on the part of the store keepers, Messrs. Benge and Pratt, that there must have been explosives of some sort— dynamite, gelignite, blasting powder, or something of the sorb— on the premises at the time of the_ fire. The other party scout the explosives theory, in view of the specific statement o* Messrs. Benge and Pratt, and consider that the explosion could have been and probably was caused by acetylene gas with which the store was lighted. Only tlie most searching enquiry can elicit the facts. THE STOREKEEPERS' STATEMENTS ' Mr. Herbert Victor Benge, senior partner in the firm of Benge and Pratt,

in an interview by a Post representative yesterday morning, stated that v.hen he left the store on Satuulay nigh! shortly after 10 o'elork there was nothing to arouse suspicion of fire. lie was quito unable to explain the cause of the explosion. The store at the back of tho grocery depaitnlent was apparently where the file first originated. He was at the back of the premises by the bakehouse when the explosion took place. He could not account for it. He had no explosives on the premises with the exception of two or three pounds of black powder, \Vllich could not possibly have caused damage. There were two cases of benzine in the store at the back and some drums of oil. There wore a few cartridges, but not enough to cause any appreciable trouble. Mr. Benge's statement as to explosives was confirmed by his partner, Mr. H. L. Pratt, who also could not account for the explosion. Against this is quoted a story of a boy named Albert Cooper, who is said at 'the time of the fire to have told witnesses that there was a barrel of powder in the store. WHAT EVIDENCE OF EXPLOSIVES. On the other hand, a former employee of Messrs. Benge and Pratt, who stated that he had worked in the store for three years, informed a Post > reporter that never at any time during that period had the firm stocked or carried any explosives whatever. Another mail said that, with the late Constable Ma* honey, he had called at the store to get .some gelignite for blasting stumps up the valley, and had been unable to get any as Benge and Pratt did not stock it. It is plso understood that very^ little explosives are used in the district at all. Men who have been accustomed to using explosives in their work, and who saw the explosion, say that after it there Was not the slightest trace of the fami' liar smell of gelignite, or the- still more pronounced odour of burnt blasting ! powder. Several of the_ pieces of timber scattered by the explosion were covered with a fairly thick black deposit, which by some was ascribed to powder smoke. It had not the least smell, such as is Usually supposed to accompany a deposit from a gunpowder explosion. THE THEORY OF ACETYLENE. The other theory was that of an explosion of acetylene gas in one of the upper rooms used aB a warehouse. The generator which lighted the premises was quite a small affair situated at the rear of the building. It would stand about 6 feefc high by about 2 feet in diameter. It was to be seen yesterday morning quita uninjured structurally. The generator was of the automatic type which generates gas according to the amount actually being used. There were, it is understood ; seven burners on the premises, including two upstairs. The main pipe from the generator was about three-quarters of an inch in diameter. The consumption of each burner would be small— about two cubic feet an hour,' it is understood, and, if only one burner was used, that would be the amount of gas generated. Similarly if all the burners wel'e going for a hour the amount would be 14 cubic feet. If, however, there were any breakage or I serious leakage in the main pipes the I consumption would be vastly increased, the 'float of the generator rising to pcl 1 ' mit tie inflow of extra, water "to fill the vacancy left by tho quickly-escaping gas. ARGUMENTS IN" SUPPORT. The arguments in support of the acetylene theory were these : If either befor« the outbreak of the fire or subsquenlly the pipe became broken or largo leakage developed in any of the upstairs looms, then there would be a quick and continuous accumulation of gas in one or more of the looms. Assuming any serious leakage or break, it is argued that it would nos take long for an accumulation of gas in one of the upper rooms suffi' cient, when the fire actually reached it, J totalise an explosion capable of doing the damage that was actually occasioned. Where the explosion actually occurred is not known, but there is a preponderance of evidence that it occurred upstairs. The fire was certainly all the time creeping up from tlie neighbourhood of the southern brick chimney and had not reached the front of the shop properly when the explosion took place, as the a of helpers were going in and out The force of the explosion cut off the ton of the biick chimney already mentioned and left the bottom standing. This is ugainst the theory of the explosion taking place down 'below on the ground floor. , It also swept the verandah of the Provincial Hotel, killing Michael Toohey and smashing every window along the front. It did far less damage down on the ground floor. This supports again the argument that the explosion took place in the upper story. The debris of the shop and the walls' also came down on those who were buried under it, which seemed to indicate that the explosion was above and not below the party of helpers. The carbon deposit on the wrecked j timbers could also be explained by an explosion of acetylene gas. J In reference to the theory which has been advanced to the effect that the cause of explosion was acetylene- gas, it is plain that the producing plant itself did ngt explode. This remained quite intact, and has been damaged by firo only. Had the explosion originated in this quarter there is not the slightest doubt that the whole ot' the plant would have been blown to pieces. The plant was at the lear of the piemises. The s.mall bakehouse near-by suffered little structural damage, whereas places oppq- ;

site and tlie hotel on the south side suifeied scscrel).