WAREHOUSE FIRE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21962, 20 November 1934, Page 11

WAREHOUSE FIRE

INQUIRY CONTINUES MANAGER IN WITNESS BOX COMMENTS BY CORONER [by tklkgiuph—l'nrcsr. association] CHRISTCHURCII. Monday "You have been hedging and hedging all'morning," declared the coroner, Mr. E. 1). Mosley, S.M., to William Davidson, manager of Davidson and Company, Limited, when the-inquiry into the fire in the company's warehouse was resumed this morning. Davidson at one stage said there had been three vinegar casks in the warehouse. The Coroner: That's one more than we've heard about. Witness at first said it was hard to say whether one particular cask had been brought to the warehouse before Dr after the fire. Later, in reply to the coroner, he said it arrived in the warehouse before the fire. Cross-examined concerning the stock sheets and an invoice referring to tea, Davidson said the tea was being delivered by a carter from bond to the warehouse. The other goods might have been added to the A.B.C. Stores or any other order, and sent from the warehouse together with cheese. "Rubbishy Explanations" The Coroner: That is rubbish, Mr. Davidson. They were never taken into your warehouse. Don't put rubbishy explanations before the coroner. Davidson added that the stock sheets did not include goods that were only in the store. They included goods that were stored in bond or elsewhere if paid for by the firm. Mr. Thomas (for the Guardian Assurance Company) : You have sworn that is not so. You made a declaration stating that "No goods in bond or in transit were included." The Coroner: That is perjury, is it not? Davidson: As far as I am concerned, I believe it to be in order. The Coroner: There is the declaration made by you on September 7 that all goods listed in the stock sheets were in stock in the warehouse. Signing of Document Witness: That was substantially correct. I have no recollection when I signed the document that tea was in bond. I signed it believing it to be true. The coroner read a further sentence from the declaration that "the firm's stock books represented the net value of the stock in. hand at the warehouse on February 28." Witness: That document was drawn up by someone else. The Coroner: But it was signed by you as correct. The fact is you declared it to be true and correct and now you say it was not true. Davidson was in the witness box all day and his evidence is not yet completed. The inquiry was adjourned until November 26. Several witnesses have to be called by counsel for Davidson, but as the coroner said to-day, "This inquiry has to end some tim&."