INQUEST ON THE CHAPEL-STREET FIRE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XII, Issue 4216, 19 May 1875, Page 2

INQUEST ON THE CHAPEL-STREET FIRE.

An inquest was held yesterday afternoon, in the Governor Browne Hotel, Hobson-street, before T. M. Philsoii, Esq., distriet coroner, and a jury of thirteen, of whom Mr. Albert Woolford was chosen foreman, to inquire into the cause of the outbreak of the late tire in Chapel-street. The jury having iuspeeted the scene of the fire, the following evidence was taken: Frederick Lawrence deposed : The house which I occupied was a two-storied wooden one The roof was shingled. Mr. and Mrs. Craw and family occupied part of the premises. I occupied the south half of the lower story ami all the upper story. Mr. Aslter was the landlord. Mrs. Craw occupied the north end of the lower nt'iry. My wife and sister-in-law Wire also residing in the house at the time when the fire occurred. I had been residing there for about ten weeks previous to tlm time, i had wearing apparel and furniture in the building to the value of c>so. The furniture wa.s valued at £'J0 and the apparel C'O'O. hi this latter item were included books and a .st_ wing-machine. My property was insured in the >'onvich Union for C2')o. 1 effected the insurance about eight Weeks lief.ire the lire took place. Un tlie 7th instant, at about 9.45 a.m., while in the back par: of my premises, I was alarmed by-Mr. WorraiJ, who lived on the opposite side of the street, running to the entrance of the gate, and asking me if I knew that inv li'iuse. was on lire. I immediately ran upstairs ,i,:,l discovered the paper lining of a spare room to be on lire close to a chimney, and !ie:.t the ceiling. The room was situated at the rear of the house. My wife followed me, and. being weak, fainted. Several persons then entered, s.>i;:e of whom assisted me to convey my wife downstairs. When I returned 1 made no attempt to stay the progress of the lire, as it seemed to have too strong a hold upon the building. Had inv wife not fainted I believe I could have extinguished the lire easily with a few buckets of water. 1 then "commenced to throw out the furniture. I estimate the value of tiie pro].eity saved at about £l."> 0. I cannot account for the origin of the iire. The house was lighted with gas, but the gas had not been lit that morning. I perceived a <l:-:agive:>l.U' smell of soot at ab-mfc eight o'clock or afterwards on the morniiiL' in cjuestion. I had perceived a similar smell several times before,—John Finlay deposed : At.about ten o'clock on the morning of the lire, while at work on my premises, I was informed by my wife that Mr. Asher's house was mi lire. I proceeded outside, and saw steam or smoke ascending from the roof of Mr. Asher's building. It was at the north end of the roof and away from the chimney. I met the last witness in the passage, and told him his hous-e was on tire. He replied, "No:it is uvxt door.'"" At this time 1 saw a large cln st in the act of being thrown from the upper window. 1 went upstairs, but was unable to see any trace of the lire or smoke, did not enter any of the rooms. I feel satislied chat the chimney had nothing whatever to do with the outbreak of the lire.—Aslier Asherd-[".seil : My wife, Mrs. Asher, was the owner of the building destroyed by the ! ;l te lire. It was insured "in the Norwich I'nion for t'-100. it had been insured for about twelve mouths. Mr. I,:r.vr.'iuee and Mis. ('raw vere the tenants. There were two double chimneys and four theplar. .-,• in the house. Two "of the fireplaces w.'iv in Mr. Lawrance's portion of the l.uildii.L' :uid two in .Mrs. Craws. The ehimnev- were well built. I arrived at the s.-eiie of tli.- lire at al-out 10 o'clock. Smoke was then issuing from the shingles at the north end of the building, about IS inches fnun the chimney. I went upstairs and saw smoke in the long room above Mrs. Craw's part of the house. I have not the slightest idea as to how the tire broke out.—This completed the evidence, and the jury after a short deliberation returned an open verdict.