SHOP EXPLOSION

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22976, 2 March 1938, Page 12

SHOP EXPLOSION

CLAIMS FOE DAMAGES OVER £2OOO INVOLVED NEGOTIATIONS TO BE OPENED Arising out of the explosion at Remuera on January, 9, when the shop of Mr. R. D. Wylie, chemist; at the corner of Reniuera Road and Victoria Avenue, was wrecked, a claim for approximately £2OOO damages by Mr Wylie and three other minor claims amounting to about £2o were considered! in conjunction with a report submitted by the board's solicitors at a meeting of the Auckland ElectricPower Board on Monday afternoon. The discussion, which lasted almost three hours, was held in committee. The decision of the. board to instruct its solicitors to open negotiations .with the claimants with a view to arriving at an amicable settlement of the claims was announced in a statement made by the general manager, Mr. R. H. Bartley. yesterday. "The board's solicitors submitted an opinion dealing with the claims," said Mr. Bartlev. "The opinion was read to the hoard and after a full discussion, the view was expressed that, while the evidence did not conclusively determine whether the board was liable for the damage suffered, it would be inequitable to expect Mr. Wylie yersonally to bear the whole of the very substantial loss involved." In discussing the explosion Mr. Bartley stated that no trouble or exnense had been spared on the part of the board to ascertain the cause of the accident. To this end the board employed experts to investigate and to carry out certain chemical analyses, with the hope that some trace of the explosive gas might be found. Reports by Mr. A. J. Parker, public analyst, and Mr. A. Holden. chief draughtsman to the board, had been submitted to the board in committee. "The results of these investigations, however, have not provided conclusive evidence," said Mr. Bartlev. "The one definite fact that is known is that it was tiie heat produced by the fault in i the cable . that ignited a pocket of j gas of unknown origin in the building, ' resulting in the explosion."