FIRE ENQUIRY.

MR BURNARD'S PREMISES.

Tho enquiry into the circumstances surrounding the recent fire at Mr A. V. Burnard , s premises, the Square, was continued at the Court House on Saturday before Mr A. D. Thomson, S.M., and the following jury:—Messrs W. Bowles (foreman), W. Rawlins, P. Smith, J. Halpin, H. Oliver, and Chas. Brown.

Sub-Inspector O'Doiiovan and Detective Quartermain, of the Finger-Print Department, Wellington, represented the police, Mr Harold Cooper the Fire Board, and Mr J. P. Innes, Mr A. V. Burnard.

After the jury had gone over the premises and scene of the fire,

Arnold Vernon Burnard was called to give evidence. He stated that he had purchased his dental business in December, 1906, for £400, £200 cash balance [ payable within two years. This amount j included the whole of the articles of i the business and the goodwill. Paid oft' j the whole, of the liability before the ] specified time. The insurance policy in I force at the time he purchased the business was taken over by the witness. He could not state the amount of policy. Took out a new policy when the old one expired. Remembered the fire of the j 11th March, which broke out in his den- ! tal workshop. There was no carpenter's j bench in that room. He left the preI mises at about 6.45 p.m. that evening to teach a class at the Technical School, and heard of the fire at 8.30 p.m. from a Mr Marshall. Witness used gas to light l the premises. The jet in the dental room j was an incandescent one, and in good order. He had a burner alight that j evening, part of an apparatus for casting plates to heat up a case to work on when ho returned from- the school. This burner was on the other side of the room from the burner used for lighting purposes. It takes something over two hours to heat up a case for casting purposes. " On his return to the premises he found the Fire Brigade at work in his workroom. He slept on the premises. His insurance on the dental -property was £425, and on his personal effects £125. The policy wae in force since the beginning of February, 1910. Before that date the insurances had been £250 and £40 in another office. On making an inventory of his effects he found that l?e was under-insured-, and as soon as the old policies had expired he took out the present ones for the increased amounts. He had added considerably to his appliances and furniture since 1906, when he purchased the business. The insurance received from the first fire, was £25, which reduced his policy on the dental goods by a like amount. On March 31 another fire broke out on his premises in a different room to ■ which it had occurred on the first occasion. This room was used as a carpenter's workshop by witness. He did not continue to sleep on the premises after the first fire, but removed to the Empire Hotel, where he was sleeping at the time of the fire. He was working on the premises on March 30, returned there about 7 p.m., and remained till about 10 o'clock, when he retired to the Empire Hotel. The room where the second fire occurred was not included in his regular suite, but he was allowed to use it for a carpenter's workshop. Had been working in that room that night, and used a kerosene lamp for lighting purposes, which he blew out before he left. Had lighted a candle just prior io going out to go into another part of the rooms. He invariably left matches that had been struck in the candlestick. Was not a smoker. There was a quantity of shayings and other articles usually found in a carpenter's workshop in the room. He kept hie supply of kerosene on a box in this same room, alngside the wall near the window. He used a pump to remove the kerosene from the tin. He kept a supply of gas used in dental work in cylinders" Stored one cylinder in the surgery and one in the carpenter's room. There would be probably 400 gallons of gas in the cylinder in the car-pcntei-'s room. The outlet pipe on this cylinder was not in proper working order. Was not aware of any actual leakage in the cylinder. Ho did not think the gas would ignite if it escaped from the cylinder, but if the cylinder was heated up to a white heat it might explode from expansion.' When he le£t the premises as far as he knew there were no lights burning. The doors of his rooms were not locked, being left open to get rid of some of the smell caused by the smoke from the first fire. Ha locked the street door when leaving. Other tenants in the building also had keys for the street door. Some of the windows could not be locked owing to the locks being broken. Mr Devine awakened him at about 1 a.m. on the morning of the second fire, and he dressed hurriedly and proceeded to the scene of the fire. Yesterday was the first time he had been allowed in the rooms since the fire.

To Mr Thomson : From what ho could sco he was of opinion that the fire had commenced in room No. 3, and he could not account for the outbreak. Had not been using the gas that evening. The gas meters had not been turned on till he was requested to do so by the Brigade to give them some light. Had separate meters for his gas, which were generally turned off each evening. He had two working and one lighting meters at his rooms. To Sub-Inspector O'Donovan: From what he could See the majority of the articles on the promises previous to the fire were still there. His practice was not confined to Palmerston; ho visited Kimbolton and Apiti monthly, and kept some dental tools in rooms which he hired there. The tools wore not included in his insurance. None of his dental goods were at the Empire Ploter'on the night of the fire. He put down the value of his wearing apparel at £60. He made a list of the goods covered by insurance with an estimate as to their value, which he gave to Detective Quirke. The total value of personal effects was £188, and dental effects £571. To Mr Cooper: He was painting up 6omo cabinets and other articles of furniture that had been damaged by the first fire on the night of the second fire. Was using nothing that required any heat. There was no inventory of goods made at the time that he purchased the business. Considered that ho had made a great bargain when he purchased the practice. Had no means other than what he had earned at the business. To Mr Thomson: Was not in any monetary difficulty. To Mr Cooper : Did not owe anything at the time of fire excepting current accounts. .Usually paid his rent monthly. Cheque book- produced showed that his rent was paid up till February 28,1910. Messrs Brophy and Mowlem collected the rents as agents for Mrs Coombs. Had often left the gas burning in No. 5 room for the whole of the evening. Did not consider it dangerous to do so. To Mr Innos: The lease of the premises expired on December 1, 1910. His business was in such a condition as to enable' him to purchase a property in Palmerston at £1200, on which he had paid £100 cash of his own money, and had agreed to pay £100 per year off the remainder. When he made an inventory of the goods prior to incurring the insurance in January of this year it showed £578' dental goods, and £175 personal effects. The inventory was shown to Mr C. Mowlem, who effected the insurance. To Mr Bowles:' The tin of kerosene standing in the room whore the second fire had supposed to break out had been there for about two weeks. The gas jet in his dental workroom was a fixture. William Devinc, proprietor of the Empire Hotel, deposed that Mr Burnard had been having his meals at the house since March 1, and had lodged there entirely since March 21. He remembered the morning of March 31. Heard the firebcll at about 12.30. Went to telephone and ascertained that the fire was in the King's Chambers. Hs returned to his bedroom, when his wife informed him that Mr Burnard was sleeping in the

hotel, and he had better arouse him. He went to Mr Burnard's room and awakened him, and informed him of the fire. Mr Burnard got up, and he (witness) wont downstairs a few minutes ! afterwards. Mr Burnard came down- | stairs and proceeded to tho fire. He was j not fully dressed when he left for the j scene of the fire. To Sub-Inspector O'Donovan: Could not say at what hour Mr Burnard came home, asvho always went straight to his bedroom when retiring for the night. To Mr Thomson: Mr Burnard was sleeping very soundly when he called him. Nathaniel Malcolm, furniture nianufacturer, deposed that he had made a, valuation of tho furniture in the rooms occupied by Mr Burnard in the King's Chambers. Ho valued it at £146 13s sd. This amount was for furnituro alone. To Mr Innea: The values supplied wero at the original value-, of the articles before either fire. , David Gibb Thornton, commercial traveller for tho Consolidated Dental Co., deposed that he had made an inspection of tho dental goods at Mr Burnard'i rooms. He produced a list, showing a value of £276 17s 10d; there were , some goods under the debris which he could not find. In dental appliances there was a large quantity which were easily dissolved, the witness enumerating them at length _ ' To Mr Inncs: Had not included any goid or platinum in the list. In fact, it I would not bo possible to carry on the I business of a dentist without a stock of such goods. Charles C. Warner, Superintendent of tho Palmoreton North Fire Brigade, doposed that he remembered being called to tho two fires at Mr Burnard's rooms. He attributed the first outbreak to a gas jot alongside some shelving on tho wall being left burning. It appeared to him that the fire originated ,on the second occasion in room 3. He received tho alarm at 12.50 a.m. on the morning of March 31st. He considered the seat of tho fire wae just below the window in this room. The fire ran up the wall and into the ceiling of, the room, and went through tho wall into room No. 2. There was a good deal of damage by smoke. There was also a quantity of goods destroyed by fire. Ho did not think the fire had been caused by the explosion of a lamp. In his opinion tho tin of kerosene in tho room had been capsized, and if the tin had contained kerosene the contents must have gone out on to the joists and carried the fire into the next room. Tho window-sash in the room at which the fire broke out is in the same position to-day as when tho fire broke out. When the Brigade arrived tho glass was out of tho sash. This was no doubt caused by the heat breaking them. He instructed the men at the fire to use as little water as possible, and not turn on the second lead. Ho did not think the kerosene had been disturbed by tho firemen. The tin was perfectly empty when he picked it up. If the tin had been standing upright and had contained any kerosene it would havo still been there, because there was not sufficient heat in the fire to evaporate kerosene. Considered it would take a terrific heat to explode the cylinder of gas in the room. Was also of opinion that the gas cylinder was not a factor of the fire. The fact of leaving the doors open would materially affect tho spread of the fire, as it wouid cause a draught. After the fire was out he took charge of the rooms and left a man in till 8 a.m. the next morning. There had been no one in the rooms except himself and Mr Burnard since tho fire. He could give no reaeon as to the cause of the outbreak.

' To Mr Innes: Witness raised a ladder at tho back of the room where the fire was and the firemen went up the ladder, and directed the water into the room. The window, was not locked. Did not think it possible for the jet of water to upset the kerosene tin. To Mr Thomson: The man with the branch could play tho water on to any part of tho room from the window. To Mr Innes: Did not notice »iny box in the room until yesterday. Did not notice tho kerosene tin lying on its side at the actual time of the fire. Considered that it was still in the same position as it was when he first saw it. To Mr Thomson: Considered that the kerosene wae the cause of the fire spreading to the next room. To Mr Bowles: Considered that the fire had only been burning a short time when the alarm was given. Robert Talmagc Rush deposed that he was a fireman on duty at the fires in Mr Burnard's rooms. Gained access to the second Bre by a, ladder raised against the verandah of O'Connor and Tydeman's, opposite tho District Nurse's room. Took a, line of hose up through the room, but did not turn the water on. because the Superintendent instructed him not to. Remembered seeing the kerosene tin lying on its side in room No. 3, the seat of the fire. The tin was empty Found the pump among the joists' when chopping up tho floor to put the fire out. Removed a bicycle from tho room which was on fire.

To Mr Thomson: There wae a very strong smell of kersone when he arrived at tho scene of the fire.

To Mr Rawlins: The kerosene tin was lying on the sound part of the floor, with tho hole nearest tho floor, and wae quite empty when he saw it. Clifton Leslie Mowlom, representing the Alliance Insurance Co., deposed that Mr ißurnard was insured in his office, for *£425 on dental instruments and furniture, and £125 on his personal effects. Prior to this new policy being taken out Mr Burnard was insured in tho Phoenix Office. Had asked Mr Burnard to give him a line. Mr Burnard did not state the reason why he mado the change of offices. Ho did not tell witness the amount of his former insurance nor did witness ask him the amount. To Mr Inncs: Hie offico adjoined that of Mr Burnard's. To Mr Thomson: He checked all the largcet and more valuable items to get their value. He took the list at the time that he made out tho proposal and Mr Burnard was also supplied with a list. Albert Henry Rushton, insurance cleric., Wellington, deposed that he came up to Palmerston in connection with tho first fire to assess the damage, which he estimated was £25. Hβ made an inspection of tho goods in tho dental chamber with a view to future risk, and thought tho insurance was too large, and reported tho matter to tho head office Mr Burnard produced his list, which totalled nearly £700. He did not say anything at the time, and on his return to Wellington the head office communicated with the local office with a view to having the risk cut down to £300. Did not make a very thorough examination of the dental goods, but was surprised to hear. that he carried as large a stock as stated in Court to-day. To Mr Thomson: Thought thaS Messrs Malcolm's and Thornton's estimates of £422 was fair value for tho stock that he saw. Took no list of goods himself. To Mr Innes: Came up solely to assess tho damage at the first fire. Had no instructions to examine tho stock so as to ascertain whether or not it was overinsured. It was not the general custom of insurance companies reduce a risk after a firo had onco occurred on it. Checked ' the inventing produced by Mr Burnard. To the beet of his knowledge ho mentioned- tno matter of over-insur-ance to Mr Burnard. Did not look underneath tho top row of cards when examining the teeth to see if there were any more in the drawers. Arthur Garnet Quartermain, detective from the Finger Print Department, deposed he was present with Mr Thornton when the goods were examined, and every item on tho list was produced. Considered that tho value placed on the books and personal clothing by Mr Burnard was not excessive. To Mr ■ Inncs: His valuation of tho whole of tho goods that he saw was £527. There may be other goods of value under the debris . In addressing the jury Mr Thomson said that there was no doubt that the firo commenced in room No. 3. The only question they had to consider was whether or not "tho place had been set on fire, accidentally or deliberately by some person or persons unknown. In tho matter of insurance the estimates seemed to compare very favourably with the estimates supplied by the experts. The jury, alter a brief retirement, returned with the following verdict: "From

I the evidence given to-day the jury is of • opinion that the fire which occurred at i Mr A. V. Burnard's rooms on March 31, 1910, was intentionally 'caused by some person or persons unknown." They also added tho following rider: "That no blamte is attachable to Mr A. V. Burnard in connection with tho fire."