WILFULLY CAUSED

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 49, Issue 201, 11 June 1929, Page 6

WILFULLY CAUSED

AN AUCKLAND FIRE. VERDICT BY THE CORONER. (Special to the “Guardian.”) AUCKLAND, June 10. Allegations that an 11-roomed house in Arthur Street, Ponsonby, was wilfully burned, were made by the police at an inquiry into the circumstances of the lire before Mr F. Iv. Hunt, S.M., this afternoon. The house, which was owned by Airs Gavegan, was found blazing early on the morning of April 30. It had been unoccupied since August, 1925. Chief-Detective Hammond, who conducted the case for the police, said the house, which was fully furnished, had been partially burned. “We found seven feet of burned fuse leading from the front door to the switchboard,” said the Chief-Detective. “There was also a strong smell of kerosene. It is almost proof positive that the house was wilfully burned.” Superintendent W. L. Wilson, of the fire brigade, said the fuse had b.een found. It was on the following day that his attention was drawn to a strong smell of kerosene. Under cross - examination, witness said he noticed that the wire had losed but he did not suggest that that vas the cause of the fire. Thomas William Allsopp, detective, said that he examined the house and found that the fire had started underneath the stairway. A hole- about 18 inches wide was burned right through the floor. He found an ordinary fuse laid along the wall from the front door to the seat of the fire. He examined the debris carefully and noticed _ a strong smell of kerosene. A portion of this debris was submitted to the Government Analyst. A lock which he examined was in good order and there was no evidence that the place had been burglarised. Kenneth Griffin,' Government Analyst, said he had examined a sample of charred wood from the debris and had found traces of petroleum in it. Charles Edward Hankins, fire insurance adjustor, said the house was insured for £I9OO in the South British Insurance Company, and the contents for £6-50 with the same office. Near the seat of the fire, which was under -the stairway, witness discovered traces of kerosene. He also found strong traces of kerosene permeating the felt underneath the linoleum in the smoking-room just off the hall. The debris was at the foot of the staircase. The insurance company had not been notified that any of the furniture was going to be removed. A piano and billiard" table which were not insured had been removed. Catherine Gavegan, owner of the house, said the house was bequeathed to her in August last year, and neither she nor anybody else had occupied it since then. Witness said she was in the house on the morning of April 26, the Friday before the fire. She was there to look oyer the place and see that everything was all right, as her husband was away and .she was going to the hospital that night. She took her key with her when she went to the hospital, and the house was securely locked un that morning when she left. The piano and billiard-table were taken from the house about a month after she acquired it. They were insured and she had sold them. It was dark in the house and she bad had the lights on. She had turned them oif when she left. The front-door key was in the door, so there was no chance of that door being opened from the outside.

Questioned by the Coroner, Detective Allsopp said that when he visited; the house tlie key was not in the front door. After hearing further evidence, the Coroner found that the lire had been wilfully caused, but that there was nothing in the evidence to show by whom it was caused.