SEQUEL TO A FIRE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVII, Issue 14294, 14 February 1910, Page 5

SEQUEL TO A FIRE.

ARRESTS AT. WANQANUf. A HIDDEN. PORTMANTEAU. [BY telegraph.— ASSOCIATION.] , . Waxganci,' Sunday. As . a sequel to the fire . which destroyed the Rutland Hotel, on the night of January 22, Joseph Davis and Martin Hajmes, proprietor . and ; manager respectively of the jewellery and -fancy goods hop in which the' outbreak occurred, were arrested last night. At the inquiry held on Wednesday last, the evidence given was such as to ; lead the jury arid Coroner to arrive at the conclusion that the fire resulted from the accidental" explosion of gas, and a- verdict was returned accowingly. -iv - Since the fire. Davis and ■ Haynes have been staying at the Arcadia boardinghouse, and Miss' Bell Aney, the proprietress, required the services of a man to remedy a leak in the gas service. The workman, found it. necessary to examine the pipes above the ceiling of the upitairt> room. He went through a trapdoor, and at the end of the passage, '■ and * near ■ the rooms occupied by Davis and Haynes, he discovered one .large portmanteau, four paper packages,. and two brief bags, which, on examination by the police, were found to contain a miscellaneous assortment of jewellery, fancy goods, and some of ,the books, which were said to have been burned in. the " fire, including, it is alleged, a day book, . containing an entry made on the day the . fire occurred, and records of sales for weeks past. • The value of the goods'is roughly estimated at from £100 to £200. The stock in' the shop' at the time of the fire was valued by Davis at £2600, and insured for £1000. The insurance money", has' not yet been paid over.