VANDALS RUN RIOT IN CORDIAL FACTORY

Manawatu Times, Volume LIV, Issue 6902, 7 May 1929, Page 6

VANDALS RUN RIOT IN CORDIAL FACTORY

Damage Totals £2OO

STOCK DESTROYED AND JARS BROKEN

LEMONADE IN PETROL TANK. Per Press Association. NAPIER, Last Night. During the week-end, two boys, one aged nine ami the other 11, caused damage estimated at £2OO to the stock and buildings of W. Plowman and Sons, cordial manufacturers, of Hastings, in an amazing escapade. The boys, after prising open the door with a crowbar, threw' tins of powder out of the windows, broke open a hundred-weight barrel of tartaric acid and spilled the contents ou the floor. Several gallon jars of essences, some valued at £4 each, were broken and the contents poured on to the acid. The boys then swept the debris to a hole in the door of tho first storey, through which it fell to the ground in a-great litter. Downstairs, tho boys threw about scores of bottles and syphons and thousands of labels.

A motor lorry in tho yard was loaded with empty cases and broken bottles before the boys set about with the intention of filling the petrol tank with lemonade. The cup had been screwed off and the boys were about to pour in the lemonade, when a constable arrived.