UNLUCKY THIRTEEN

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXVII, Issue 4473, 21 November 1933, Page 3

UNLUCKY THIRTEEN

BUSINESSMAN LAUGHS AT SUPERSTITION “I’m not superstitious; I just take it as a joke.” That declaration was made last Wednesday by Mr E. E. Weston, of Christchurch, managing director of Weston Bros. He planted 13 plants in his garden the previous night. He lost £13,000 worth of stock in the fire the previous night. The fire was the second in 13 years. He took over* the business on April 13th. He says that 13 is his lucky number and —he was in the Napier Earthquake. Yet on Wednesday morning Mr Weston said that he thought he was the luckiest man in Christchurch. Standing outside the building which he had seen filled with smoke and flame the night before, he told a Star reporter about the extraordinary way in which the figure 13 has come into his life. The fir'st thing he mentioned was that he lost £22,500 in a fire which destroyed his premises in 1921, nearly 13 years ago. The business was established in 1904; he joined his father in 1908, and took control on April 13th, 1916. The most peculiar event in the 13 sequence the previous evening long before Mr Weston knew that his business was going up in smoke. He was bedding out some plants in his garden, taking them from the box. He placed 13 in one bed, put a quantity in another*, and then discovered that there were 13 left in the box. “I said to my wife that it looked as if something was going to happen,” said Mr Weston. It did. Mr Weston arrived back from Australia some time ago, and, although his premises have been destroyed, he is facing the task of reconstruction in an optimistic manner.