FIRE AT AUCKLAND

Evening Post, Volume CXXXVII, Issue 126, 30 May 1944, Page 4

FIRE AT AUCKLAND

MONEY MISSING FROM SAFE P.A. AUCKLAND, May 29. Fire which swept through the basement and portion of the ground floor of the clothing . factory of Ross and Glendining, Limited, in Wellesley Street West, shortly after 7 o'clock tonight caused considerable damage. An unusual feature was the discovery that about £16 in cash was missing from a safe on the premises. The outbreak started in the basement where materials, many .of .thenimported, 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 arrived sheets of flame were issuing from the front windows of the ground floor. Masks had to be worn by the firemen going into the smokefilled basement. It took- about half an hour to control the flames. An employee of the firm called to the scene discovered that a cash-box and money were missing from the safe, which was found unlocked. Some of the contents of the box were found strewn across one of the dasks in the office. No other parts of the office appeared to have been searched, and a substantial sum in notes in the safe was overlooked.' No official estimate of the damage' : caused »or details of the exact amount I missing from the safe are available.