HIMATANGI FIRE.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 245, 16 October 1929, Page 9

HIMATANGI FIRE.

had men quarrelled? STORY TOLD CORONER. <;SCENE» OBSERVED FROM AFAR. FIELD-GLASSES USED. (By Telegraph. —Press Association.) FOXTON, this day. The statement that he had witnessed what appeared to be a. quarrel at the Westlake house was made by William Maurice Griffin this morning, when the inquest into the Himatangi fire tragedy was resumed. Griffin said he knew Westlake and ~ Wri'dit, and he spoke to both a few days before the tragedy. They always appeared on good terms with each other, but a day or so before the fire, when ho was standing on a ridge with fieldclasses, looking over the sheep, he saw three men outside the Westlake house whom he took to be Westlake, Wright and Thomson. The man, he believed was Thomson, walked away from the other two and ran back. I his was repeated several , times, and witness thought they were having an argument. To°Jlr. G. C. Peterson (representing the relatives of the Wright family): There was nothing to show that the others were participating in the quarrel. —He could not swear that the three men were occupants of the house. He watched the scene for two or three minutes from a ridge half a mile away. When he last had a conversation with Westlake he said Wright was one of the fairest men he had ever met. James George Coley, labourer, of Foxton, said he saw Westlake on the morning' of the tragedy, and later in the /afternoon, riding back to his farm, between four and six o'clock. ; Wright's Financial Worry. Norman Ilalliday Knight, farmer, of llongotea, deposed knowing the Wrights and Thomson well. He could not have wished for a better neighbour than Wright. Thomson' was not "bright," but was a good worker, and had a .pleasant temper. Witness borrowed a gun from Wright last June, and in August Thomson called for the firearm, which was handed over. * He said ;he wanted to shoot hares. Witness identified the gun produced. . Ellen Mary Howe, a married woman residing at Palmerston North, said she knew all the parties well. She was a confidant of Mrs. Wright, who told her that her husband was worried over finan- ! cial matters. A year before they left Eongotea he could not sleep, and used to "get up at night and make tea. One night Mr. and Mrs. Wright had a row, and Thomson got up to separate them. Wright told his wife on two occasions that he would take his life. On the occasion of their difference Wright pulled down all the pictures in the .sitting room. . i Mr. Petersen objected to the evidence, but the objection was not sustained by the coroner.

' Witness said -at times Wright would ;.talk like a gentleman, at other times '■hb was very peculiar and not normal. Mrs. Wright was a good, hard-working woman. Thomson was a simple lad, devoted to the family. Westlake was very straightforward, upright and exact. ' William Gerald Davis, farmer, of flongotea, said Wright bought the farm from witness' father, but did not make a success of the venture. The farm was returned to the trustees, and Wright jwas given a clean receipt for £520 on signing over the farm. Wright was worried financially for years. He was a peculiar man, not normal at times. Witness would not have been surprised to hear Wright had gone mad. Wright had a bill of sale over his stock, which, if it had been executed, would have made lira penniless. Wife Locked Out. William Matheson, farmer, of Rongotea, corroborated the previous evidence. He said Wright was a moody man. Mrs. Wright and Wright stayed with witness two nights before leaving Rongotea. Mrs. Wright told witness that Wright put her out on the road one night at 2 a.m. _ An hour later he let her in, saying, "This is enough of this." Mrs. Wright said on one occasion, years_ ago, that she had the pins taken from a shotgun, as she was afraid of her husband. Witness never suspected Thomson of violence. Arthur Hill, farmer, of Rongotea, gave cvitlcnce as to Wright's peculiarities. He said that Wright was a bad farmer, and used to say queer things. He did not better himself by going on to the Westlake farm. Only a madman would go there under Wright's circumstances. (Proceeding.)