FIRE RAISING.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 13520, 15 February 1908, Page 6

FIRE RAISING.

A MAX DETAINED. Per Press Association. CHRLSTCHURCB, Feb. 14. Tha city's experience last night leaves no room for doub-. that incendiansts are at work in Chiistchureh. The six small outbreaks of fire were in each case amongst rubbish in a yard or a right-of-way. r lhe premises threatened were Messrs Whitcombe and Tombs' building, the Chiictchurch " Press" office, the Cafe de Paris, Mr G. Andrews' butcher's shop, Mr V. Hairis' auction rooms, and Messrs I.ucas" iron foundry. The outbreaks wero a.l small, and were suppressed without diticulty, but in one or two instances they might have supplied the base of big conflagrations. ' The fact that six tiles so closely resembling one another in general character should occur in one evening is strong evidence of incendiarism, but the facts collected by the police and the hie brigade go further still. In the case of the " Pi'csb""' office tire, -trace.-* of keiosene were found among the rubbish in which the outbreak occurred. A man was seen running away from Mr Victor Harris' premises just as the lire was fiis't noticed. No one went in pursuit, the only observe], an employee of the United Service Hotel, being more intent on giving the alarm. A man was teen rummaging amongst the lubbish at the back of the Al Hotel by Andrews" shop jtct before an outbreak of lire was discovered there. He also made off. It is stated that one of the men suspected in connection with the outrages, a half-caste negro, wa.s seen in the vicinity immediately before four of the six tires. This morning the half-cade was detained by the police pending an investigation of all the circumstance:-', and a. seaich is being ii.a;L- for the men with whom he Ims been associated. The suspected man is understood to hail fiom Wellington, but ha.s been in Canterbury some time. He has not thrown any light on last night's occurrence. The police were disposed to ugard the. acts of incendiarism as stupid jokes rather than serious attempts to start big tires. The outbreaks, tli.v point out. nccuired in every case in rubbish boxes, and were- not at all likely to constitute ami rMave danger to the adjoining premises, and a little effort sufficed to extinguish the Haines. Last night, however, they warned the pmprietois of hotels in the ii;y to keep a watchful eye on such danger poinis as open yards and rights-of-way. Tile lire brigade-men lake a more .-•.'.inns view nt the po.Mtion. "It is no jok • to the brigade." Superintendent Smith said. "We have been l.epr on the.

jump ever since the big fire, and you have, to r-. member ihafc we have only two permanent men. The rest are volunteers. 1 have two men working all the time repairing hose and last night the firemen got v.ry little r<--t at all. I'll.- p.-.qile who insist on keeping their luhliish exposi-d aiv as much tn blame as anyone. All rubbish should b.? placed in galvanised iron bin.s with tops, and the t'se of intlammabk- wooden boxes f<iT this purpose, should not I>l- allowed at

Chtv.-.tchureh has sliilVred from a- succession of lires since the. big disaster of last week scarcely a night having passed without a lire of some description. This is probably meiei coincidence, the evidence suggesting that the incendiari-ste <iid not commence their nefarious work until la-t night, but the public has no Very definite assurance on the point. Even the big lire itself, it is pointed out, was first discovered inside a door down a right-of-way. The outbreak at the Cafe de Paris last night which occurred shortly before 7 o'clock, was a double one, two lire.-: being discovered in the back portion of the premises within ten minutes of one another. Only slight damage was done, and the- fires were- easily extinguished, but they might have, started a serious blaze had they not been noticed at once. Mr J. F. Grierson to-day visited the Mayor and suggested that a meeting of citizens might very well be called to consider the advisablencss of forming a volunteer fire .police corps as was done once before in Christcliurch, when 200 men were sworn to Seal primarily with an outbreak of incendiarism. Mr Grierson pointed out that such a corps would be invaluable in case of a large fire, and during a period of incendiarism the men might be used to advantage in patrolling the city. The Mayor lias promised to consider the matter. The half-caste who has been . arrested lies been identified as one of three men who asked Mr Andrews for a match shortly before the fire was discovered at the back of the Al Hotel.