BEING UNLOADED

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXII, 17 January 1939, Page 8

BEING UNLOADED

DAMAGED CARGO THE RIMUTAKA FIRE (United Press Association! AUCKLAND. 16th January. The unloading of cargo damaged by the fire in the upper ’tween deck of No. 3 hold in the liner Rimutaka continued all day. Most of it has now been stored in a shed on the wharf, but a portion still remains to be removed before attention can be turned to the two lower decks of the hold. New items in the cargo unloaded today included a large number of cases of drapery piecegoods. hales of paper, rolls of insulated wire, tins of salt, jars of meat extract, drums of white lead, copper plates 12 rolls of newsprint, a number of cases of telephone equipment. electric cookers and several crates of plants and trees, j Almost everything showed signs of ; damage by fire and water. It is fear!ed that all the electrical equipment | has been seriously damaged by heat. Strangely enough, a number of cardboard packages of matches did not appear to have caught fire, possibly I through having been reached first by . water. I Waterside workers unloading cargo j from the hold are being paid an additional 6d an hour because of the dirty conditions, caused largely by the ; chai red and sodden woodwork of packi ing cases. Men handling damaged cargo on the wharf are receiving an extra 4d an hour. The cargo is being grouped in the wharf shed according to the port of consignment, where this is discernible The southern portion will later be reloaded ; nto the ship When the parcel mail carried in the lower ’tween deck of No. 3 hold was i examined by postal officers it was seen ! that some of it had been damaged by water and some parcels appeared to ► have suffered from heat. The extent | of the damage will not be known till the mail is collected by addressees j from the parcel post office in the norI mal way. A start wifi probably oe made tomorrow with unloading cargo from the j lower ’tween deck, the middle of the three sections of the hold. A number of cased motor cars are in this section, in. which there are also many bales of wallboard. some tinned goods and general cargo. In the lower section of l the hold there is a largo consignment of asphalt for Wellington, carried in drums. Had the fire reached this, the consequences might have been very serious. Other cargo in this section Includes bales of knitting wool, tiles , and cases of drapery and tobacco It will probably be rt least a fortnight before insurance claims are sufficiently advanced to allow of the Auckland portion of the damaged cai-go being auctioned on the wharf. Work concerning the 10 per cent, general j average declared on cargo in the vessel is keeping the New Zealand Shipping Company’s staff exceedingly busy. Many thousands of forms will have to be completed. A number of importers visited the wharf to see if goods consigned to them were among the damaged cargo.

Consignees are concerned as to whether they will be able to re-order damaged property under their quotas. The Collector of Customs in Auckland. Mr Abercrombie, has written to Wel- ' lington for instructions on this matter. [ but has not so far received advice.