INQUEST ON THE REMAINS OF A LATE INMATE.

Colonist, Volume XLVI, Issue 10708, 4 May 1903, Page 2 (Supplement)

INQUEST ON THE REMAINS OF A LATE INMATE.

An inquest was held on May 1, by Mr H. W. Eobinson, Coroner, in the Museum building of the late Stoke Orphanage, on the remains of the boy William Wilson? who perished in the fire on the 27th of April. The following jurors were sworn : Messrs' P. Topliss (foreman), L. Kerr, W. Dee, P. Harris, C. Snow, and J. R. Barltrop. Mr Fell watched the procedings on behalf of Father Mahony and Mr Fitzgerald ; Mr Pope on behalf of the Education Department ; and Sergeant Dougan was also present. Messrs H. Edwards and Wilson, insurance agents, likewise attended. The Coroner briefly referred to the ; facts of the disastrous fire,* and the duty of the jury to diligently inquire as to how deceased met his death, and whether anyone was criminally connected with his death. Sergeant Dougan called: — Eev. Father George Mahony, the Manager of St. Mary's Industrial School, sworn, stated : Deceased was an inmate of the School. He was admitted on the 17th of September, \ 1900, having been committed by Mr ; R. S. Hawkins, S.M., at Grey-! '■ mouth, as a destitute child. It is t not known where the father is. De- j ceased's mother was dead, and he was; for a time under the care of Mr George Shilton, of Greymouth. Deceased was seven years and four months old when he entered the School, and was now nine years and | eleven months old. On April 27th I arrived at the scene of the fire about 3.30 in the morning. I obtained the roll of the inmates, and had it called, when it was found that the boy William Wilson was missing. As I understood the boy had been saved, I asked that those of the boys j who had seen deceased to stand out, when six or seven boys did so. I . was then satisaed that the boy had been seen out of the burning buildj ing. I organised search parties to • look for him, and information was 'given to the Police that he was missing. All efforts to find Wilson were fruitless. I produce a photograph 'and a plan of the building that was 1 destroyed. The upper floor of the south wing was occupied by a dormii tory, known as Mr O'Shea's, and it i was in that room that deceased slept. The windows of that room faced ' west, south, and east, the room being communicated with the rest of the building by a. corridor, which led to I the main staircase. The room was provided with a fire escape in the shape of a shoot, which was on the east side. By means of the shoot the 'room . could be emptied in two ! ! minutes. Under this dormitory was ' j the School chapel, which was con--1 nected with the rest of the building by a corridor, similar to the upstairs. (The chapel had a, door which led to : the outside of the building at^the 1 j south side. There were store rooms 1 and rooms for the masters in charge *i besides the dormitories. There was ' j another large dormitory on the 1 • upper floor, which had a fire escape iin the shape of an outside staircase. ' There was a hospital, lavatory, and dressing room, and the latter 1 i was fitted with presses in which the ' boys' clothes were placed when they went to bed. The property was [ vested in the Manager and Arch- ' bishop ix~*<*,nnA — The Droperty destroyed was worth about £9,uuo, aua the insurances amount toj £3,600. ' There were 109 boys in the institu--1 tion" when the fire occurred, and the ! staff numbered eight. The master !in charge had to go round as near midnight as possible to see if ail was right, and one of the senior inmates was supposed to go round every hour. The senior boys who watched at night were not kept at the duty long, and were changed. There were hoses in various parts of the building, and forty-six taps in the lavatory, which adjoined the dressing room. The boys were instructed in fire escape drill, and that accounted for the way they behaved on the night of the fire. If a boy was found careless in the matter of j watching at night, he was at once changed. ±5y Mr Pope: Atfer receiving the Regulations fram the Education Department I gave each officer a copy, and impressed upon them the necessity of studying the same. I carried out the Department's circular of July 7th, 1902, in its entirety. I impressed upon the officers that I would hold them responsible for any breach of the Department's regulations. The roll used after the fire was a true copy of the official roll. Steps were immediately taken ' to

ascertain if all the boys were out of the burning building. The official diary. has been destroyed in the tire. I slept at the Orphange occasionally, and on those occasions visited the dormitories at night. Regulation 83 was complied with, Mr Pirzgerald doing duty as my deputy. Ido not think- there was a fire alarm signal, but there was a big bell in the building. The roll contained the names also of those boys who had not been committed to the institution. The boy who acted as watchman went on duty when the boys went to bed, and was relieved from duty the next day. William Fitzgerald, the resident master, sworn, stated : I slept in the j building on the night of the fire. I ' was aroused about two o'clock in | the morning by an alarm of fire. When I rushed out of my room Mr ! Beech had most of the boys in the corridor. I ran to the hospital, but found the three inmates had been removed. I rushed back into the dormitories, and ascertained that they had been, cleared. The boys were sent to a place of safety up the plantation, and afterwards down to the cottage. I was satisfied that every i ornate was got out of the burning building. Tho utmost steps were taken to save the building. The fire originated in the dressing room, where there was a ventilator, above the clothes presses where the fire was. If it had not been for the ventilator, which carried the flames upwards, I believe we should have saved the building. We had plenty of water, but not sufficient pressure to use a hose. There was no water in the dressing room, and we had to carry it from the lavatory. When the roll was called deceased did not answer .to his name; search was made for him, but with no result. {One of the inmates found the bones, in the corridor leading to the; chapel. The doors were open, so deceased could have got into the building. I did not see him after the fire. Mr Beech gave the boys instructions as j to life saving in ease of a fire. The boys were got out very orderly, there being no panic nor confusion. I found great difficulty in getting down from the upper floor. The lights used in the dormitories were Rochester kerosene lamps. When I went round at ten o'clock I saw the boy oil duty watching.. No. light was kept in the dressing room. The boy.

on duty watch i rig was 15 years and 8 months of age. I have found boys put to watcfi asleep. The boys were not called upon to save things from the burning building. I made my last round of inspection that night near twelve o'clock. I was aroused by a cry of fire. Wilfred L. Baech,tbe head teacher, sworn, stated : I was in charge of No, 2 dormitory. I was alarmed by a cry of tire, and I at once told the boys to fall in where they had been preVously told to do in case of a fire, and every boy obeyed the order. I had the staff aroused. I went to the hospital, but found the inmates had gone. After the boys safe, assisted the staff in trying to put out the fire. I led the way down the stairs, carrying an injured boy who liad been in the hospital, and the boys filed down in twos after me. I told the boys to get away from the burning building as far as possible, and I saw them go through the gate. I saw that the dormitories were empty before I left With the boys. I went back twice into both dormitories, and ran back a third time to make sure if anyone was there. The third time I could not get into N0. 2 dormitory for the thick smoke,, but was in No. 1. I never saw the deceased after the fire. The boys in No. 1 dormitory went down the shoot. One of the senior boys was on duty at night instead of a watchman Silvester Hannigan was on duty the night of the fire. I always went round the building before going to I bed. I went to bed early that night, as J did not feel well. The flames i were bursting through the top of the ! presses when I first saw the fire. I think if the ventilator had not been there we could have saved the building. The fire may have been burning ; I for a quarter of an hour before it j ! was discovered. There was very I little smoke in No. 1 dormitory when I went into it; the lamp was turned ! up, and it was impossible to have ! missed seeing anyone in the room. All the boys that were in No. 2 dormitory were mustered in the corridor. I carried Johnston, the injured boy,out, going out by the front , door, which was open. I was better able to endure the smoke than Mr 1 Fitzgerald. Three of the senior boys i assisted in the salvage. In case of fire the boys in No. 1 dormitory were instructed to go down by the shoot, ! and those in No. 2 dormitory down i the gfcaircase. One practice was given ito illustrate my instructions. My I room was in one corner of No. 2 dorjmitory. The fire had a thorough " good hold when I saw it. I have [frequently got up in the night to see |if the boy on watch was doing his iduty and 1 never found one asleep. i I did not see deceased at all on the ! night of the lire, and he did not help fin the salvage. I should like to see 1 a nightwatchman in all institutions where there are a lot of people. It I is a complete mystery to me how the i fire originated. If a boy ever was | found asleep on night duty, he was i at once relieved. j Joseph Dennis, one of the boys, •sworn, stated: I slept in Mr O'Shea's ' dormitory, and Wilson and myself j were the last .to leave it on the night of the fire. I looked round the room and I found Wilson asleep with the bedclothes covering his head. I lifted him out of bed and carried him along. When I got half way across , tho dormitory with him, I fell and ' that woke him up. I carried him to . the shoot, put him on it, and he ' went down, I following him. lam certain no one was left in the dormitory when I left. Mr O'Shea had gone previously with the other boys. I afterwards saw the deceased go down the path towards the cottage, ! and lam quite sure it was him. I ! did not see him at the cottage. I j was one of the last to awake ; I did 1 not see Mr O'Shea till I got to the cottage. The smoke]|was just coming through No. 1 dormitory when 1 went down with Wilson. 1 did not see Hannigan that night. I have not acted as nightwatchman. I have : been about a year at the School, and i I am 10 j^oaia ar»cl 10 ■naonth.o old. i The Coroner: You behaved very ' well, my lad, and did your best for ■■ the deceased. j William Donnelly, one of the boys, sworn, stated : lam 11 years aDd 7 months old. I slept in Mr Beech's dormitory on the night of the fire. That night I saw Wilson standing on ; the verandah of the cottage, where i the boys were sent to. lam sure j that it was Wilson, and he had on a flannel nightgown. I saw Wilson afterwards, before the roll was called, going up the road towards the fire. He was then just by the stables, and some boys were in front of him. That was the last time I saw him. I told Mr Dwyer and Father Mahony that I had seen Wilson. I heard O'Halloran wake up Mr Beech. I saw the fire then ; " it was in the dressing room, and it was a big one. I have received instructions how to j leave the building in case of a fire. I There were four boys in front of Wilson when I saw him going up the road from the cottage towards the fire. Sergeant Dougan said there were several other boys who could give similar evidence to Donnelly. It

was not deemed necessary by the jury to call them. Edward Alexander Smith, one of the boys, sworn, stated : On Tuesday morning I found the bones produced to-day in front of the chapel door. I was looking in the ruins for what I could find. I had charge of the bones unbil the Police arrived. Most of the. bones were covered with ashes when I found them. I was raking about, and it was very hot where I found the bones. Silvster Hannigan one of the boys, sworn, stated : I am 16 years and two months old. I was on watch thei night of the fire. I had to see all the fires out, and every hour had to go thiough the dormitories and. hospital. I stayed in the kitchen between my rounds. I saw nothing of the fire- before the alarm was given*. [ was in the kitchen asleep. I usually dept a little between the' times of joingmy rounds. I had been watching at night for a fortnight. I heard the rushing about upstairs, which woke me, and when I looked out I saw the fire. I was in the dressingroom at nine o'clock, wheu I saw two boys to bed. No light was then usedj the boys knowing their places. O'Neil had to go to bed after those boys, but I was asleep when he went to bed, I having left the key in the door of the dressing-room for him. Doctor Hamilton, sworn, stated : I have had submitted to me a number of bones and fragments for examination, which are lying here. I carefully examined them. They are charred, and have evidently been subjected to a very severe heat. In my opinion they are human bones. I base that opinion chiefly on the right upper jawbone, containing the remains of the first and second molar teeth ; the^upper part of the right thigh bone, and bones of the lower jaw. They are the bones of a young person, who was below the age of puberty, and it is quite possible that they were those of the deceased. | The Coroner briefly summed up. He pointed to the medical evidence, and to the fact that when last seen alive deceased was going in the direction of the fire. The questions were, Did deceased perish in the fire, and was anyone criminally liable for the fire? The jury retired for a while, and on their returning, Mr Beech was recalled : It was between 440 and 500 yards from the cottage to the burning building, and

deceased could have walked thtf distance, by the nearest path, in five minutes, The chapel was the last to burn". From the time I wa3 aroused until it vf&S impossible to get through the chapel by the southern* door it would be 30 to 35 minutes. t passed through the chapel after the tower fell. lam of opinion that deceased missed one of his mates, that he went back to the burning building to find him, that seeing the chapel'door open and the light, he went in that way, and the corridor being full of smoke* he became overpowered. No one saw him go bank into the building. Deceased wa3 rather a bright lad, and was particularly curious, wanting to look into everything. I am quite satisfied that the bones found are those of the deceased. W. Donnelly, recalled: Deceased was running when I saw him going back from the cottage towards the fire, so were the four boys in front of him. . „ The jury again retired, and shortly returned with a verdict to the effect that they were satisfied tne bones found were those of William Wilson, ithe missing boy; that after being taken from the burning building, Wilson re-entered it, and therein accidentally lost his life. The jury added the following RIDER. The jury recommend in case of the 'School being rebuilt that a competent night watchman be employed, and kept upon the premises. The jury also desire to express their commendation of the efforts put forth by Messrs Fitzgerald and Beech ; and the conduct of the boy Dennis towards the deceased. The inque3t, which lasted from 10 ! a.m. until 6.30 p.m., closed. During the proceedings numerous questions we*e asked by the Coroner, Mr Pope, Mr Fell, Sergeant Dougan, and the jurors. The replies are given in the evidence as reported. The regulations mentioned by Mr Pope specially, referred to providing for the safety of the inmates of Industrial Schools in the case of an outbreak of fire. i __. .