ELTHAM TRAGEDY

Hawera Star, Volume XLV, 29 March 1926, Page 9

ELTHAM TRAGEDY

INQUEST RESUMED.

EXPERIENCES OF SURVIVORS. LESSEE’S EVIDENCE.. The inquest into the circumstances surrounding the death of the four victims of the fire which totally destroyed the Dominion boarding'-house at E lth am in the early hours of Wednesday morning was resumed at the Alagistrate’s Court at Eltliam this morning before Air J. W, Stubbs, J.P. (acting-coroner), and a jury comprising Messrs 11. at. Carman, J.P. (foreman), J. Phillips, J.P., G. W. Peebles and E. Payne. Sergt. J. Henry conducted the inquiry. 1 , , , Air D. Clement appeared on beliaii of the Eltliam Fire Board, and intimated that an inquiry would be demanded by the board. Air A. Chrystal represented Airs J. Taylor, the lessee of the boarding-house. Julia Taylor said she had been in cliarge of the boarding-house for the past four years. She had at first taken a lease for six months, and there after held the lease month by month. Up till a month ago the premises had been owned by Air A. L'. Cremer, of Auckland, and on Alarch 2nd witness received advice to pay' the rent to Mr Barnard, of Helensville, who had ac quired the property. The building was a two-storied one of 13 rooms, and a bathroom and scullery. All of the upstairs rooms, eight in number, exclusive of the bathroom, were used as bedrooms. Witness gave the disposition of the eight upstairs bedroonis and the three downstairs. On the night of the fire ten persons had slept in the house. Two of the deceased, Priscilla Rebecca. Cranfeldt, employed as cook, and Irene Cecilia Harrison, employed as waitress and housemaid, had occupied room No. 2 upstairs, and Geo. iN’iclsen, "’also deceased, had occupied room No. 3, both rooms being on the Railway Street side of the house. The Davidson brothers, one of whom had met his death in the fire, had slept in room No. 7, on the same floor on. the other side of the house. Witness occupied one of the bedrooms downstairs, and Air Calder another, while the thrid was empty. On the evening of the 23rd, witness had been in the sitting room, situated on the ground floor in the front portion of the house fronting the main street. A wood fire was burning in an open fireplace. Two boarders. Mnacer ’ and MeCjueen, who had also been in the room, retired at about 10 p.m., and about half an. hour later witness went to bed, leaving Mr Calder, who assisted in the management of the house, to lock up for the night. Witness usually kept a lamp burning in her room, and on the evening in question had left the lamp standing on a washstand before the fireplace. Her first intimation of anything unusual was when she was aroused by cries from Air Calder at the window. The room was then in flames, and after she had'secured some articles of clothing witness was assisted to escape through the window by Mr Calder. All the bedrooms were lit by candle and the other rooms by gas. In each upstairs room a rope fire escape, fixed by rings to the skirting board, was provided. In the room occupied bvi the Davidson brothers the rope was situated between the two, beds. Rooms 2 and 3 had at one time been one room, and the end of a partition, which had been put in, came against the middle of tlie window. There was ample room to allow a, person to get through the window from .either side of the partition. So far as witness knew, all the windows in the house worked freely. The bathroom opened on to a landing from which an outstairs stairway, which could have been used as :ai fire escape, led to the yard. About twelve months previously, Superintendent Nuttall had inspected the fire escapes and had pronounced them in order. The house was registered as an eating house, and was licensed by the Eltliam Borough Council as a private hotel, witness thought. About three months ago the premises had been examined by Mr Gray, health officer, who had ad vised witness to have a certificate placed on the door. The insurance on the furniture amounted to £SOO and on the personal effects to £250. After getting through the window the first person witness saw was • Air Ale Queen dropping from his window on to the road. She then saw the youth George Davidson going through the gate, and Air Stone crawling across Railway Street on his hands and knees. Witness then went to the Railway Hotel, but could not remember' how she got there. Everything was all right when witness went to bed, and she could give no opinion as to the origin of the lire There “was no benzine or any goods of an explosive nature kept" in the house, but there was a bottle of methylated spirits kept for use in the household and enough kerosene, to fill a lamp. When witness retired for the night there were a lot of dying .embers in the sitting room fire, but there was no wood in or about the fireplace. AIR CALDER’S ACCOUNT, William James Calder, who had previously given evidence in connection with the identification of the deceased, deposed to having extinguished the lights on the ground floor of the house prior to retiring for the night. He corroborated the previous evidence regarding the condition of the" fire in the sitting-room. The room occupied by witness was on the ground floor. Shortly after 2 a.m.. witness awoke to find his room full of smoke, and after groping in the blackness for his clothes, made his exit through the -window. He then went to the front of the house and opened the- door from outside, but ,was prevented from entering by the intense heat and flames which enveloped the hall. Calling out to arouse the other inmates, he then ran to the side of the house. He managed to wake Airs Taylor and pulled her through her bedroom winjjow. Air Ale Queen, who dose ended a rope fire escape was the next to make an exit. Witness then threw stones at the upstairs windows, and going back to the front of the house saw Air Stone standing before the window of his bedroom. Witness called to Stone, and in response the latter threw out the rope fire escape and descended from the window. Witness later saw Air Aiancer come from the back of the building. By this time the brigade was on the scene.. He thought this would not be more than five minutes from the time he had discovered the fire. Witness could not say where the fire was burning most fiercely', as when he opened the door the whole interior seemed a mass of flames. It would then have been impossible for anyone to use the stairs from the hallway. A strong wind was blowing, the direction being from the front to the back of the house. Witness did not think that any of the persons who perished in the fire had heard his call. When the brigade arrived the building was a sheet of flames, and it . would have been almost impossible for anyone i

then in (he building fo have made an exit. Witness had been living in the house since July, 1922. Witness considered there was sufficient room for a person to get through the window on either side of the partition between rooms two and three. He had actually known this to be clone. The partition did not actually touch the window. Witness knew that each of the_ bedrooms upstairs was equipped with a rope fire escape. Two had been recently tested by r witness. Witness could not, front the appearance of the fire when he first saw it, form an opinion as to its origin, though it appeared to be more on the east side. Except for a few loose ceiling boards, the house was in an excellent state of repair. So far as witness knew, Airs Taylor, when she took over the boarding house, had paid £BO cash for the furniture and given a bill of sale of £BO for the balance of the purchase pricey The furniture was then in a very bad state and most of it had since been renewed. Witness had no idea, of the price paid •for the additional, furniture. Replying fo Air Clement, witness said that when the brigade arrived he was in Railway Street, and he and Mr AlcQueen Intel shouted out that there were some people inside the building. To Air Chrystal: Witness said the sitting-room was at the front of the house and the room occupied by witness was on the opposite side of the entrance. The sill of the window in rooms two and three kept the partition a few inches away- front the window. It could have been opened front either side, and witness had known persons to get' through the window. The furniture at the time of the fire was in very good condition and was altogether different from its condition when Airs Taylor took over the boarding house. To the jury: Witness said that the window in rooms two and three would be about 30 inches wide. There was a rope on each side of the partition. Of those who escaped two had been able to put on a portion of their street clothing, but the remainder had barelyescaped in tlieir-jiight attire. The court adjourned for lunch at 1 p.m.