MONEY LOST IN FIRE

Greymouth Evening Star, 24 August 1939, Page 12

MONEY LOST IN FIRE

1 _ j PETITION TO PARLIAMENT. I — a j [PER press association.] ; WELLINGTON, August 23. | The misfortune of a young Crom- ! well woman, Williamina M. Rowe, ' who had saved £2O to pay for an i operation, and then had the notes de- • stroyed in a fire, was referred to in the House of Representatives to-day, ; when the report of the Public PetiI tions Committee on her petition for I compensation was presented. I The chairman of the Mto Z section jof the committee, Mr A. H. Nord- , meyer (Government, Oamaru) said the • committee was of opinion that the : petition should receive the most favourable consideration from the Government.

Mr W. A. Bodkin (Opposition, Central Otago), who thanked the committee for its recommendation, said the young woman had had all of her personal effects destroyed when her father’s home was burnt down. She had lost £2O in Reserve Punk notes, which she had saved to pay' for an operation she had been ordered to undergo. Had she been able to notify the bank of the numbers of the notes destroyed, she would ha r e been able to get a refund'; but she was required to prove the identity of the notes, and also the fact that’they had been de-

stroyed. “She could not do that,” Mr Bodkin said, “and the only course open to her was to petition Parliament. She proved to the satisfaction of the committee that the notes were destroyed, and I trust that the Government will act on the recommendation of the committee, particularly as a refund of the amount by the Reserve Bank will not mean any loss.”