LOSS BY FIRE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23404, 21 July 1939, Page 8

LOSS BY FIRE

POST OFFICE STORE RECORDS DESTROYED FIERCE BLAZE AT PUHOI BUILDING 61 YEARS OLD [By TELEGRAPH—OWN CORRESPONDENT] \ WARKWORTH, Thnrsday A fire which destroyed the .Puhoi ■ post office and telephone exchange and a general store conducted by Messrs. A. and L. Scholium on/the same premises, broke out at 5.20 o'clock this morning. There was no fire brigade or water supply available, and although tlie hotelkeeper. Mr. J. IVTolloy, who first noticed the fire, immediately called two sons of the postmaster, Mr, J. Scholium, they could do nothing. Valuable Maps and Books The outbreak seemed to start in a grain store at the southern end of the building, and quickly established a firm hold, while a kerosene store some 20ft. away also caught fire and blazed fiercely. Among the few things saved ■was the post office safe. Two other safes, the register marriages and $ deaths, and a collection of valuable j; old maps and books of the district were lost. The building was insured with the Alliance Assurance Company for £12.50, <•. but it is stated that there is an added loss of stock worth £IOOO. ! Use of Public Library • Mr. Scholium has been postmaster of the district for 56 years, the building , itself having been- constructed in 1878 by his father, the late Mr. J. Scholium. one of the original Bohemian settlers. The post office was thus one of the oldest in New Zealand. Additions were made in 1924 to cope with increasing demands for space. In the meantime the public library is being used for usual post office business.