FATAL FIRE

Evening Post, Volume CXXIX, Issue 64, 15 March 1940, Page 9

FATAL FIRE

DEATH OF WAITRESS

INQUEST VERDICT

COUNSEL AT - VARIANCE

The death of a seventeen-year-old waitress named Kathleen Olive Matthews as a result of a fire which occurred in Lloyd's Hotel, Cuba Street, early on the morning of February 10, was the subject of an inquest before the Coroner, Mr. J. Emslie, at Wellington yesterday. The,evidence showed that the girl, in endeavouring to escape when trapped on the fifth floor of the building, had fled into a storeroom and had there become suffocated from the heat- and smoke. The burns on her face, arm, and ankles were insufficient in themselves, according to medical evidence, to cause death. During, the inquiry a passage-at-arms occurred between Mr. O. C. Mazengarb, who appeared for the parents of the girl, and Mr. E. Parry, Who appeared for Mr. It. S. Wilson and Miss Wilson, proprietors of Lloyd's Hotel. Mr. Mazengarb, who arrived after Wilson had given his evidence, asked permission to have Wilson recalled in order to ask him certain questions about the window in ] the girl's bedroom, and Mr. Parry objected, claiming that Mr. Mazengarb was merely seeking sufficient information upon which to base an action against the. proprietors of the hotel. "A'"fishing." expedition," one counsel called it. - ! The verdict.returned by. the Coroner ..was that jthe girl had died as the "result of - suffocation from the smoke caused by-the fire. . { Reference'was made also to Press reports in which the need for greater safety precautions in hotels was urged, and suggesting that death in this case had been due to a locked window. . ' Mr. J. O'Shea, with him Mr. J. R. i Marshall, represented the Wellington City Corporation, and Mr. F. W. Ongley watched the interests of the hotel workers: Ruby Kelly, employed as a general and residing on the premises of Lloyd's Hotel, said that on the night of February 9 she went to the Centennial Exhibition accompanied by Miss Matthews. After returning to the hotel they had supper together and retired about 11.30 p.m. Miss Matthews went to her room and witness did not see her, again. "I wish to add," witness went on, "that I am in a position to know that Miss Matthews knew where the fire escapes were situated in the building. I was on. several occasions in her company on the fire escape outside her bedroom window for the purpose of sunbathing, and I am certain she was conversant with the fire escapes." r To. Mr. O'Shea witness said the window of Miss Matthews's bedroom could quite easily be opened, though she could not remember, any specific ..occasion when she had actually seen it open. Medical evidence was given by Dr D. C. L. Clay, of Whangarei, who was a guest, at the Royal Oak Hotel on the night of the tragedy. Miss Matthews's night- attire was smokestained and covered in soot, he said. There were second degree burns on the left side of the face and left arm, and "also on both ankles. The burns in themselves were neither in degree nor extent sufficient to cause death. Artificial respiration had failed and in his opinion death was due to suffocation, which would be consistent in a room filled by dense smoke. PROPRIETOR'S EVIDENCE. , Robert Stuart Wilson, owner and occupier of Lloyd's Hotel, said that at 1.45 a.m. on February 10 he was awakened by the sound of the Fire Brigade stopping outside the hotel. He took some of the firemen to the top floor in the lift, and after they had extinguished- a fire in the furnace chimney from the kitchen, the firemen left the premises. Witness subsequently searched the building and everything appeared to be in order. There was no further sign of fire. "At about 4 a.m. I was again awakened by the sound of a fire," he went on. "I immediately went downstairs and switched on the lights. On going back to the first floor I noticed that the.brigade had arrived. I called out to them to go to the top floor and get a' girl out of the end room. I then went around all the guest rooms and assisted the guests" out of their rooms. There were between 30 and 40 guests in roms on the first, second, and third floors. No guests were on the top floor, and the only person sleeping there was Miss Matthews. After the fire had been extinguished she was found in a bedding storeroom. It appears that she went out of her room into the passageway and then into the storeroom. The fire escapes in the building were all in order. The electric wiring was in good condition and had recently been inspected and passed." Sergeant James Gracey, of the Taranaki Street Station, said that at 1.45 a.m. on February 10 he received information that smoke was coming out of the top floor of Lloyd's Hotel A constable gave the alarm and witness went to the hotel and pushed the front door open. He examined all the floors before the brigade arrived. There ; was no sign of fire, but the brigade discovered that a chimney was on fire. The chimney led from the ground floor of. the kitchen, where a coke furnace was situated "I saw;.the pipe leading from the furnace to the chimney, and I could hear the roar of the fire inside it," he went on. "The brigade went to the top of the building and in a few minutes the fire appeared to be extinguished. I heard one of the firemen remark that the chimney had given them a lot of. trouble." , THE SECOND FIRE. Witness returned to the hotel at 4 ajn., when.; he found some of the lodgers coming down the stairs, .and at this time the fire had a good hold. In company with his men he went around the rooms and assisted lodgers out of the building. To Mr. O'Shea, witness said the first fire had been in the furnace, but he could not say where the second fire had started. . " .To Mr. .Mazengarb: He could not say whether the occupants of the fifth floor had been informed of the occurrence of, the first fire dr not.To Mr. Parry: He was in the building immediately after the first fire and left when the brigade left. William Stewart, station officer at Constable Street station, described finding the body of Miss Matthews. He was in charge of the appliance which, turned out at 4.17 a.m. in response to a call from Lloyd's Hotel. "While at the fire," he added, "a man whom I now know to be Mr. Wilson called from the hotel balcony and informed me that a housemaid was missing. "I at once entered the building and went to the top floor where I inspected all the rooms on both sides of the passage. "I then came to a room at the extreme end of the passage which was

used for storing bedding, and here I found the body of a girl reclining in a half-sitting position, the face pressed against the mattress. A casual inspection convinced me that the girl was already dead, having died from the effects of heat and smoke. I am of opinion that she was endeavouring to get out of the window of the room in which she was found, as this is at the end of the fire escape. Her bedroom was next door to this room. To Mr. O'Shea witness said the city! fire engines also were at the fire, having arrived before witness. When he arrived the brigades were at work endeavouring to quench the fire. Witness did not endeavour to ascertain how the fire started or how it got to the top-floor. To the Coroner: There was no fire burning in Miss Matthews's room, nor in the room in which she was found. Witness presumed the heat and smoke would be sufficient to cause the burns on her face. The girl had apparently gone towards the fire until she could go no further and was then compelled to go back. Mr. O'Shea said Miss Matthews could easily have been burnt when she was j attempting to reach the staircases, both of which were blocked by the fire. To Mr. Mazengarb: Witness opened the window in the room where the girl was found, but he did not see the window in the girl's bedroom. He had gone to the fire on the second engine, which left the Newtown station about ten minutes after the first, and when the times were calculated for the arrival at the fire, his being informed by the proprietor of the presence on the fifth floor of the waitress, and his climbing of the five flights, it would be about 22 or 23 minutes after the fire call at the station to the time he discovered the body. COUNSEL OBJECTS. At this stage Mr. Parry raised the question as to how far Mr. Mazengarb was to be allowed to pursue this line of examination. The inquiry, he said, was into the cause of the death of the girl, and he did not think it was fair to allow Mr. Mazengarb to put these questions unless Mr. Wilson were "given an opportunity of calling evidence upon the points also. The Coroner: I' don't think it will make very much difference to the Court. Mr. Parry: If there is going to be an inquiry into the cause of the fire, it should be done thoroughly. In reply to a sotto voce suggestion from counsel's bench that Mr. Mazengarb was on "a fishing expedition," the Coroner said: "I hear something about a fishing expedition, but, there is going to be no fishing expedition here." , Mr. Mazengarb: I am not on a fishing expedition. We are inquiring into the cause of death. At the conclusion of the evidence Mr. Mazengarb asked for the right to recall Mr. Wilson. He himself had arrived late, as he had been misinformed as to the time of the inquest, having received a message that it was 2.15. He was surprised on arrival to find that it had started. Mr. Parry objected to the recall of Wilson. "He is trying to get information to found an action," he declared, referring to Mr. Mazengarb. Mr. Mazengarb: I am not, but I want to ask one or two questions of Wilson. The Coroner: I do not want this, to be a fishing expedition. Mr. Parry: If Mr. Mazengarb is going to have the right to recall Wilson, then I would ask the right to call at least six other witnesses on the points raised. The Coroner: You cannot do that Mr. Parry: Exactly; nor can Mr. Mazengarb have the right to recall Wilson unless I have similar rights The Coroner: No; that is not fair Turning, to Mr. Mazengarb, the Coroner asked: Upon what do you wish. to ; question Wilson?-; •-■ ■ Mr. Mazengarb: As to?whether the girl was informed of the first fire. I would have' been able to ask these questions if my message had not given the wrong time of the starting of the inquest.. The Coroner: Mr. Parry asks for similar rights. Mr. Mazengarb: He has no right at all. That is only a smoke screen. PROPRIETOR RECALLED. The Coroner finally agreed that1 Wilson should be recalled to answer Mr. Mazengarb's questions. ■ Wilson, in reply to these questions, said Mr. Donald, manager of the hotel, and witness himself, were the only ones to know of the first fire. Who was the first fireman you informed about the missing girl?— When I awoke I rushed downstairs, switched on the lights, rushed up the stairs to the first floor balcony, and called from there to the fireman below. I told the fireman to get the girl from the end room on the fifth floor. ' The fire was breaking through from the ground floor, where it had started, to the first floor where witness slept, he continued. When he looked at the girl's bedroom on the day after the fire the window had been lifted out, including the frame, he did not know by whom. He could hot say when he had previously seen that particular window open. He did not know anything about this window having been nailed. He had "been told after the fire that the window had been nailed, he did. not know by whom. When he inspected it there were two old nails in the window-sill, but not sufficiently far into the wood to hold the window. Two fresh nails had apparently been put in by firemen after the fire to hold the window frame in place. Mr. Mazengarb: What were the nails there for?—l do not know. They w^re not put there with my permission. They had been put in from inside the room. When Miss Matthews came to work at the hotel the staff quarters and the rest of the place were full and there was no other accommodation for her, so witness assigned her the fifth floor room. There was accommodation for II people on the fifth floor, and the beds were made up for their use in the following week. Miss Matthews had been sleeping alone on the fifth floor for only one or two nights. REPORTS DISPUTED. When the evidence had closed Mr. Parry referred to a recent Press report which quoted the remarks of a speaker at a meeting of fire brigades held at Petone. This report had implied that an investigation had been held into this particular fire and that it had been found that a girl had been trapped and burnt because of a window which had been nailed up. The speaker quoted in the Press had urged more strict safety precautions in hotels and had said that there were too many fires in hotels involving danger to life. Mr. Parry added that neither Mr. Wilson nor his sister knew of any investigation into this fire except the inquest. They had not been asked to give evidence elsewhere, and if anybody had come to conclusions about the fire it had been without giving Wilson an' opportunity to give evidence upon the state of the window or of the hotel. The Coroner: As far as I know there has been no investigation. Mr. Parry: The hotel was inspected by the underwriters two months before the fire. Mr. Mazengarb: The same statement about the window being locked was made by Councillor Luckie at a meeting of the Fire Board. There must have been some evidence somewhere about it, and I think the whole facts should be brought before us. lam trying to get at the facts. Mr. O'Shea: The only intimation that I have had that the window was

locked has been from Mr. Mazengarb here today. In giving his verdict, the Coroner said he did not think the girl had received the marks on her face as a result of actual contact with the fire, but rather as a result, perhaps, of a fall or a knock, as there was a scar on her face. So far as the Press comment was concerned, the Coroner said it would be difficult to name other hotel tires occurring in the past two or three years in which life had been endangered