OSBORNE HOUSE FIRE.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXIX, Issue 124, 18 July 1911, Page 7

OSBORNE HOUSE FIRE.

I PUBLIC ENQUIRY. j An enquiry was liekl at tiie Court I hou.se on Aionday morning before M jo. Ward, ,}.¥., iato tiia Circumstance j surrounuing u;e recent lire a.t Os I borne Jtiroaclv/ay north". lhe following jury was empanneli j oil:—-Me-sssis •>. Anisteis (.foreman.) j (J. D. Scie, „\. ,). King, i£. Wuwlo ■H. J. llop.,.his, and i\. -t. liray-shaw I Sergeant (Juik-n represented tno po rcoivuso (i reig, boardinghouse-keepsr gave evidence tiiat on July Stii sin holered to bed between 'J and li I o'clock. She wont to bed from tilt | front sitting-room, and was not neai I tixe wasuhouse. She could not remember whether oi not she locked I the back door of the washuouse on ! the dour leading from tiio waslihouse jto the kitchen. On the Bth there j was « quantity of soiled linen—sheets, towels, pillow-slips—and some boardI ers ; underwear, in tiie waslihouse. There had been no fire in the washliousfc since the previous Thursday. '] here was no connection between the kitchen and the waslihouse chimneys. Between three and half-past three on tiie morning of tiie 9th, witness was awakened by smoke. Witness slept on the ground floor, opposite the kitchen . When she smelt tho smoke, witness got up at once and called Miss Wilson, the servant, thinking she had lit the kitchen fire and left the lid off the stove, thus allowing smoke to travel through- the house, binding that Miss Wilson was still in bed, witness opened her bedroom door and saw a shoot'of flame coining into the kitchen from tho was'hhous'e'; Sue did not'look very particularly, bui did nob notice any lire in the kitchen—it all seemed to bo .coming from tiie waslflVouse. There'was nothing very inflammable in the washhouse. She. at once called out to the boarder*; 1 informing them that the house was on fire. She could not account lor the fire in any way. Miss iionic was sleeping with witness on flic Wight of 'the Bth'.'" Witness had her furniture insured for £275, and her piano for £45, in the State office:;'•'•; L'raeti'cally the whole was desiroved.' ' She had been in charge of the. house for the past twelve months'. She had ten boarders, but one (Mr I'earon) was away on the Bth. "Wlien she went, to bed everything, so far as she knew, was perfectly safe. She had been in negotiation with the owner of the nro-

perty with a \ lew to purchasing it. To Mi. Sole: Her business was paving well. 'i" Mr M«stars: She h.ul said slio thought tin. place had been intentionally set on lire, but sho had no proof in that direction. - Sho could .">•>! iiccoimt for Lac fire in any other I way. Most of tho boarders had their effects insured. She knew tnat ia all cases the boarders were insured for iess than the value of tho stuil in their rooms. '•'<• Mr Kiug: A man, tho worse for liquor, came to the- house on Samr- ' day asking for board. He v.as not given board, and went away, hue returned about mid-day, when lie went into the dining-room and asked for I a meal. lie was refused this, and Went a nay. | To Mr 'Sole: Miss Home lost all I her . H : <v In

:ier . uec is. Grace Wilson, domestic servant, said she was in the washJuuse on the- 3th—slio nns in and out ail dav. 1 •/<• last Lime sins \va.s in the was-h----house was just after tea. There v, as no sign ol lire then. The .week's v-ashing had been done oa i he pre--vans Thursday, am! no fir« had been tiU!!sp afterwards so far as she kunv. There was an exit In th« inlok vaid t:;; ; i'-gh tiie washhause, hut she aid not Luink this way oat vas i.v.icii i>> the boarders, /she Je' not T.;mi<i the boarders were in the hain't or smoking, tihe went to sleep about saint) 'tin <• as Miss l!re ; jg,'"~;.ncl she did not woken until eatted bv .U.-, C'rcig ai about three .I'duck*. M-s "'reig asked iter if she had lit the firs. Witness got up, ihn kiLeslie had overslept herself. She opened her bedroom door, after Mis Ureig Loid iiei the hoasowas on fire. When witness saw it the whole of tJio rire seemed to he in the washhouse. _ She did not lose hiueJi property in the fire, as the lire did not i ate!) he.i room. There was no smoke in her room when she was awakened. To Mr Brayshaw: Both coal and -"< ~ ■ js ■} i the ;• shlio ,;. i,-. ( ( kit.r-hen fires. The hvA was kept • 'utside. There was a lire made up ■a toe copper. There were no straw or (lax mattresses in the washhouse. Kerosene was not kept there. \\ illeim Hoigirway, clerk in Newton Ring's nfliw, a boarder at tee bouse, said that he reached homo a",mt I 1.-io p.m. c:i the Bth, finally r. tiring about midnight. Before rething, lie passed through the kiteiien to toe dining room i'or the purpose of g« tiing supper. Ho saw nothing auywher ■ fco suggest a lire. He v.as a vi iv heavy sleeper, and could i ot say uJiat wehe. ned him G;l ,-j x (!j , - '•'-' '' L! s Tils w.oei, wjii< h was just over the s el ol the (ire, was fall •>i f-.-noke. and lie w is imaMe to leave by tee passage, the smoke being too iiot ami I hick. He therefore left I'/ the hre esoauo—a knotted rope. '! ii"ri' \\a; -re. o! these in every room, • >ml a chain huh! r from the haleonv. ih; us :se:red for tloO 'in the \\.,_ laona! offlee. Nave- of hi R propertv i'.as saved. He had .no idea how the fire started. To ?,h Hole: lie was tin, last perron to leave the house after the lire started. lie did not think there was ■\ny flame coming up the stairs when ho opened his door. He was very dase-l. Me did not know of anything which would make anv of tiio I boarders have a "set" on Mrs (Jreig. '

To Mr Masters; Ho had £K)O h oiii-iuic-e on In’s personal effects, S’. ! "ii ii;:' hievcie, and CIO On mate;!, which lie was retailing. 1 o an iMi'i.': ;m>i v o! the amid were of an iidlammahlo nature. To Mr Ward: He would lose ,C 1 d! O'. i iawc wince. Io Mr Sole: The insurance coni pa ay was satis lied it was a good loss truest W alter Lewis, auoilio hoarder, said lie arrived home a I’d. id pan. on the di.ii, having jus jinishotl lighting r town at iloi .< riint.v Onitreh. He iool-ed into tin sitting-room, and then went upstair to Ids hod room, finally retmng to res al i-oil a.to. At no tone did in ■i .Lee a nmeli or smoke. .Just * Ul going to ids room lie went nlore. Sr) tec h.itin com in skurch oi ho, v.;’d.‘r. lie was awakened by Mr; (Lcig- calling out that the house war on Inc, wineii awakened most of the ic.uuders. lie ruicn ins t'loiims out rim window. Somehody coded out 1 -la to wake iV:** Heigh way. ile opened his clooi and went along towards rd.r tieighv.-ay's room. dim smoKe was vei v >- tiuck. lie heard aoaiehody say ‘‘All lignt.” lie took tins to mean that Mr HdgJnvay had gv>t out, and he returned to Ids room, a.j ter wards going down the lire escape. He nad no idea how the lire V.tarted. He was insured tor idO in the Matronal office. (o ear Sole: A representative of

tin: oilier* was living- in this nonce. I his influenced most of the boarders to insure, the Troeadero lire also influencing them. .Henna t Walter Dcugias, clerk at Newton King’s office, said fie resided at Mrs Cieig's. Wncn he went homo for lunch on the Bth he found an intoxicated man sleeping on the verandah. Mrs Greig said she knew nothing about him, and witness therefore woke him up and turned him oil tiie premises. The man leant mar tuo gate and locked in the window. About tun minutes alter being turned out, the. man came back <tnn walked right into the diningroom, saying he wanted a meal. Jxc was told he could not have one, ami was then tinned out again. Willises returned homo about thin p.m, on tiis Util, entered the music room, racing the .struct, and remained tn me reading until about; midnight. Lie d-d not go to any other part of the budding before retiring. The lire I sen door was at the bottom of the stairs; and if there was yuv sign ' f due anybody .going upstairs would be .sure to notice it. He thought the kitchen door was slightly noon on tins occasion. lie v.as c -.afire that there was no fire about when he i cured. On one occasion recently lie had risen from bed because lie smelt hrt, and had found rubbish being burnt about thirty yards away. . Me was insured for £3O in the New Zealand o ill eo. to Air Sole; The boarders very seldom went through tiio washhousj on (>ic wav to the yard. To do this took them out of their way. William ilmvson, lieutenant of the hire Brigade, said that whoa he arrived, flames wore breaking nit ->u the south side of the house. Aftf helping to got the water on, no r < i to Ihe biu-h of The building. ( 1 the following Monday he inspect" the iiuikli’ig in company with Sci geant Chilian. Ho was satisfied {be < lie seat ot the ii;'• was in (be was; house, an ! that t!ic tire did no start under the building. it wool l"‘ diflieidt to say bi what manim Hie tiro started. Ho smelt no k< r< sene at the spat, not oven while work mg itii the lire. in Ah S )o • If the brigade bad cr waU i- oa. her. they would aare fruV c« ■ore. To Air King; He could not say i Mr Sole was standing on the hitdug. file plugs were about tw uciies under the ground. iim Coroner: Do you desire ilia ast answer to go in the evidence. .Air. Masters: !t has nothing to dHtii the (iitpiii y. Ue are here n iud out how the lire started.

Mr. King. Ami also, 2 take it, anything touching on how much property might have been saved. ivii. Lving proceeded to ask how long it whs hefore the brigade got tiicj water. '£ lie' Coroner: I believe Mr. C-rnbb will report on fcJioso matters to the Bcrougii Council to-night, so it migtd b a battel to say nothing of thein now. Thomas G. Grubb, captain of the brigade, said ho was on the scene sis minutes alter the alarm was bounded". When ho arrived on the kcpiio .flam ok

were breaking out of the kitchen windows, from M siibsequonl view of the building, ho was satisfied the lire started in the south-west comer of tne wasiihouso. Ho examined the chimneys and found no faults in any

To I\lr. King: He knew of several chimney recently built in for which payment was refused beI cause of faulty construction. He had j only become aware of this recently. j There was a chimney u> the middle of j the town which ho had found on fire, a.-i ! ;<itt , u;:cis <jmok.> was milned j coming from under the rod', which showed it was a defective chininey. iU' ,\ as liorongh lire inspector. Mr. Masters: Why did you not report the eases to the Conn: i! ? 'Witise:.! : i did not know it was I part of my duty. j T<> Mr. Sale:'The fault in the chimI noy at the school might have been I caused by inferior mortar falliug out. I To the Coroner: Re thougJ t tJie I Borough Council building inspector was responsible for inspecting lire escapes. To Mr. King: He would have no objection to informing the .I3oivni<r|j Council of the owners of the defective chimneys he had mentioned. To Mr. Brays haw: There was nothing i.i the debris after the fire to suggest thai: the place had been purposely set on lire. Mr. Misters said everybody seemed to think the lire had started in the waslihouse, I nit from his observation lie would say the fire started in the kitchen. . Witness said the south wall of the w; shoucs wis entirely gone, while only the inside of the wall in the kitciaa was damaged. Sergeant Cullen produced the io'h of the back-door of the washouse. !l showed that the bolt had not been shot. After a short deliberation the buy returned a verdict that the building was destroyed by fire, hut. there was no evidence to show hotv the lire started. __ Peppermint Cure. "ever fails. It|i'or inhnenzH take Woods' (-Jreal fid. ■>« 6d * Progress, advancement ant! new ideas meet one at every ti;'ii. '!' we desire to keep up-to-date, we welcome them. WV fi;.d sli three at our service at the Kgrnont Clothing Company's bright sad •• howful establishment in ilroadway, reference to which is made in another column.* Our bi'-al drapers guarantee every pn'r of Warner's Corsets to iit r.oiiifortablv, to* weai' well ami to -iisr break or tzzr* We specialise in Warner's Rustproof Corsets as we know of no oilier models that are so -irongly giiaii.n----lae-d. Stratford D.-e.uei a+ ' j