INQUEST ON THE LATE FIRE.

Thames Star, Volume III, Issue 16610, 11 May 1874, Page 2

INQUEST ON THE LATE FIRE.

„„ The following e|j| le||» was; lllsu.rday, for whi^r^ j cooi ;hpt .find spac|:— f^ '% lGrant, sworfi'l'said —I am the agent of the Grahamstown branch, of the -'T7nj(m ;^]^kv^..oi\AQjstraUa.v:7 I ren^e^ber, Monday"night'last'.""T' sleep in a cot'fage next the BaijkC TJiefpl^pjf#ducefl^Vjit; correct ground plan,of the bank premises. I went to bid at dne'TO'ciock. if was the bnlyi person in theJßank-jprenaises on the ■feigllv ?ol^^tHe>-..|fire,T;f.^lr Wwfl. Sn the building marked melting-house, between 4 and 5 o'clock—Mr Garrick, the., i i .ssayer, was with me. !No fire had been ■i ised in the melting-fipu.se on {JMJoiic[ay L last. When we left the melting-house i sverything wasj correct so^far as jvc could nee. I ufuaJlt kee^^tle'imeltilig.h^use j bcked . I'cannot say * whether ' Ihe*"do6r ■ Fas locked when I left the room. The-. '. Ley is put in a place only known to those : n authority; ;I;neveivagain entered the : nelting-htfuse^ if any >ne else did'J!'no One did'toimy knowledge. '. [n the corner pjf the room marked in the )lan assay-robhi tliere'h'ad'beei ho'fire lit or 8 or ,10 days.., -The messenger !ias theriliuset-' r6f ' the, melting-house., yhen not , employed , in the bank. pefore 11 'went;''to f bed I j did; not go tothe rear of the premises/but-went atonce 10 my o«^h apartments.,' The door leadpg to the yard was seciiredi ff;Mocked $he front door. 1 was aroused by a loud (knocking at the'back door. >'I had hot' jtime to dress, but went to the back door; and opened it. When I did'sbl'spoke' jto one of the Advertiser men, '* Cboperj jwhom I now recognise. Mr-Brdce was f the first peiSonT sa# when I'opened 4;ne frontdoor. That was the first I saw, of Mr Bruce that moinifigCl;'JW^Eeii; 1 saw ,the fire firs;t,it r ,was coming, fi^a r tlie furjther *p%t:;df; ? fhq^buildin£ fi-o^nj the fury Jnaces, ;arp' J crumbles Ipart?! Th*e hielting" ftirh'ace" "stands 1 on a' jbrick foundation. r I was present during Jthe wholie^f tn¥Hime^h^ fire-^as burn-. |ing. ;It is '^ossibre thflt ?'6ine one may 'have*b^n'^'smtlking in?|lie i';ineiting-hOuse |on Monday. There were a great many rats labbjit the buildin^ji Phiavfe ta^en'.nests of ftheiir^ut nxajjae\p I cannot give the jury any^iaea/ 1 aif "t^H^jpaiise of the fir|. I have never knowiii nitric abiS igriilie'wood;' The Bank premises were insured, I. think fin the Victoria and the Royal. There [was no gold kept in the melting'house. \ |The windows are, generally kept closed rand fastened. |Tiere il no*truth i^ihere shaving been gps| le|t inl^hepelting jhouse. People may. haye been panning |off the rubbish, but that' was^«6 fdr as I;know, for the recovery of the platinum (weights, which are more valuable than jgold. | Win. Carrickj,-s-v^orn: IjAm- assayer to Ithe Union Battk: pfj AustraJia,¥^Gr|ibims? jjtown. I had a fire in the melting house ion Saturday last, but did not use it. The, Jassay fires had not been lit for some days IbigfßrelTl^pil Ktf&ne&Jf so£ assayingwe; tuse acids of dinerent Kinds—nitric, suljphuric, and hydrochloric acid. Thesi, jacids were kept in the assay room. £' i cannot,,'sayJxthitoV wlere'l^riatbhek'bid; the! jpremises. There was some small wcod lloose in the melting house. This was" (kept in, a-plaqe;ngar;the t Advertiser office. 11 think there "was some kerosene there falso. Nitric acid generally comes, in' 'boxes, packed r ; in .sawdust; the [bottles an'd'^fioMnt^Sign' fel 19p> W :101b. I was in the assay office about |5.30 the evening before the fire, with Mr' [Grant. There was some one else with 'us, but I do) not "recollect who ij was. I When Ileffc''|he*ir^omtl|saw_n% sig^l of jfire; everythmg was in order. When |we left the room we left a.small dog mit j which was not tied up. The dog could I not jump on the table or shelves in the [rooms. The floor undei^l;h^,|helfe^ isja twooden one. The key''of tne^dobr^is put Sin a place only known to the officers, of [the .Bank. I was not on the ' Bank prej misesafter,businesrs hoiirsi v' ■■ The mornings I after I was aroused and went to the LBanki-ji'iStrCwashlin'J a^^ull'/Bla&e^ lihav&i lost valuables hooksorela/tivei'to'fm'y''pro! fessionibysthe>fireitbtsth^Jamourit of £50;; |.I cannot give the jury any ided, asitoth^ | cause of the fire. Nitrjc acid itself^ will?; jnot set fire to woddj ifc||r6ul3j; perhaps/if: [mixed with Other chemicals." ; : ;-i■■■•:" t ;^K

To a jaroif:: fsTHerei was:ino sodium in the melting house. There were [cli ps> JcepHm thel assay»: rdom^peri ■ haps £3 or £4 worth altogether. '<'-. '..•/■ Oliver ,D,eandeposed?4--I am messenger at the Unioa'Kißftttfc/>Grrahamsi:bwn., ;I f do nofersrelaidel pttrthef p'remises.nWheni not actually employed about the bank, I spend}!i»&sfcyjoiLH my;time! in thel melting house. I might have been six or eight times,riar.andf,ou;t)ofjtKe : melting house 6a Monday. . I light the fires and trim the lamps} ferathjß ,banK nolr-doathis; in the/ mplting-hous_e. We. onlyi;iise one lamp, and Icjn^eve.r uHadrto light that.* , WeJao not keep kerosene In the melting-house, but in the coke shed. I say positively there was nbMObin of!:kerosenejthefl£r lmi, Monday. u'MeilJli^eiieft^ffrburMngikerisene, so I dp not have to clean lamps now? at all, consequently do not hare: any. cloths. Mr. Grant burns candles. We keep small wood for lighting the fires in the melting-house at the iSide/nextShev Advertiser office. We had about enough there-,on. Monday to, light four,,firef v There were patches kept in 'the melting- 5 house. There was a bos near the furnace and another in' a drawer at the,; end, "Beit the Advertiser office. Tliere*were a matches occasionally kept in the assayroom, but not'as|Trule7|, I could not;|say whether therej? were^l any| Iherel on Monday last. I do not smoke. I tried it once, but that was since the fir£{ lEney er| silked an |he»aieltingf house. ' I lit a" fire in the 'meiting-house on Saturday. We leave the fires open, tnittheygo out. We never throv any^ wrter ©a the fijM, Wb«a I was in on

Monday I emptied the furnaiG^|£ftl%^re was then no fire in it nor any.)?nitii^s|fM sJ|^..wh.i^^;4ooMo\it;xojf ||M "ftonaW;'o§ts|l© tofnpttiiding^f :^p &M mamder, whiteb|l put &f%^(laj|||| ,bbx outside jlte meij|ng}ho*ise Behitfdi|K^ h^se^aboutpiree^ll from'tji^.ch.ijpley. There was nolire in the stuff wKiahl put in this box. I was last in the meltinghouse at^ 5 ,in „the^.,aftern(gini r There was no person ;- i m*e^"'" lr'lre'i'e'!: f «had| pthers'bfjside M||J?ant and Mr Carrick in We^^ melting-house during the day, bit rain -not certain"^af'wflat-timlr I did not see any matches r JightedjDuj;. 1^ |think|M;r orar(i was^Snulh^ng & 'tfie 9.fterp noon. I lbek"eU l'the''d6br' Iwhen fleffiihe' .house. There are no cats about the mel-ting-house, but there are a great many rats, jlinev^rr.'jtrji^liperiments with the acids, nbf meddle 'wTth them. I was at ,'jthe fi|e.j,©n Tuesdayv. mqrningr, .When I |prot t|er| the melting-house' wag wholly in 'fiaiiies^and the back part of the' bank. ,^By the Jury: Bats could get into the drawer in which the matches were. I swept the-nifclting house,vandnput the; sweepings atthe.bacfc 11 rieveriknew raits! to kn"dc;k;.down the)bottles. ! There was a little dpg in the melting-house when 1, •lbcke'd-it up;I-"" -:u,r --viS*

Adjourned till Monday,

MONDAY,

' , TheVina^uest to enquire injtb^the cause of the late, fire by which 'the Union Bank jWas.destroyed was^resumed at,the'Courthouse to-day. : '■■ ; Macdonald ■ JEsq., r UQroner.r /., : /' c. r ['',-,.. ,.''""'!;,^,l v "."'yr ", Mv, Bullehconducted the examination. '. ; iT|ie representatives of ,the vanousunhuraiic^ offices were also' in? attendance, called wais— • !, '■'',',] A^lbert.Bfuce* w.ho ,deposedrr-G>n,Tues-day last I left home about eight'minutes .tp;fiye^f^^as a going shooting. On passing'the meltirig house of the Union Bank in Queen-street: I observed -smoke issuing; r «I then iSaw flames coming from thfeirppf ;pf the mettiiSg hpuse.;./I called out.." Fire." Iran back ;aijd>placed the g;,un-aid dogs ;i^ safety.-and returnedi I ..sa^i Mr>.(jrrant*, rat^'■the';Baiik v, L^anS; went to the premises ■ ancL Ipokecjl,, jl sthlnk there were two persons there, fb'uit tarn,inot certain., , The whole of .tliej inside jpf, »the melting, house ,w,a^ .in flames^ J , i^i >^9 7 ;djgQis;( w^s; lpcked- and- the. win^fs rfilb.s t ed^ Si l), think that the, fire briginated i inside/: -£ saw there Vas np hope of saving the melting house. I was in the melting house the day before at about half-past threeVK'Mr want was with me. We were npt smoking-nor using matches, but w;ent tbppok affcer; a pupi I h^ given Mr Grant. "*" I found the dog d eM. I. after the fire,in^he spot,l had made his bed. I tried the side gate on my return and found it fastened. '

Gr. J. Cooper, examined, said —l am machinist at the Advertiser office. On '^Tuesday tlast,^ betwgett* fi|ur/,and five, I had occasion! to£ go Ito ithW/back of our office. The Advertiser premises adjoin those of the Bank of Australia. The first time 1,,w,e,nt, 11 0.ut.-I.j..saw nQ,4r i e^in>|he MeltiaglnWsfe^JnwMA I i&£&m£itfß&s about a minute after, one of the windows off the melting-house burst out. I saw ,;that the .whole of, the pjacerwasjn .flames Inside" 'igWe LWe';a*lal'm*Vfrd 1 sent?'some of .the office hands to ring the bell. I ..then we&t to Mr Grant's 'front door. I twith''anothericbtiiia^nbit blirsi^the cfoor-in. . I.then tried the back, and got over into the bank premises. The tback door was mdc o^eta. >; l;rv»ientrfpis,ideijjAndMsaw Mr Grant and Mr Bruce there ; they were in ; Mr Grant's bed room. Mr Grant was dressing at the time. I said the best thing yi>u cando js to clear .out,, the fire ts|lose f on iqp o¥j&s. It ami^f opinion (lilt tfce«fire .originated inside life meltinghouse nearest to the Advertiser office. Mr: Aitfcen, Mr. Smith aad others were with me when the alarm was given. I did not s^ee-fMr Br^|p before I saw him in j3&r Grant*! bed-rgj^. i " 3". D. Partridge, sworn-—I am manager of the Bank of Australasia, also smelter.' tW!e use nitric, <acid also., hydrpcloric in IJ6ur ?l!xt)rbfessMnr *TtiSs^<to£i§&imto contact would, not 1-oause^'; ignition, to f|^at i l|ast^s^mk3fc.-^ i :h^!tried AtS '''■ igiiiKeV nftric 'acid';"witE' sa 1 match, ;|^/jif^/!jwoto^j£f ;r yss.^ The .^ieces^'' of :wo^.^p^^u^Ml^h^avj^- I \been :^|: Ji !yOOPSr r'eciallejdj; !rV'T^e .tinje of tWlrfe: '|five. M/V". ;S? 'A'itke'n 'corrbtiorate'd 1 Cooper's evidence. .'.■;"._. ■.,...,,',, . „v }■■ Cbnstsibi^ Ealf, sworn, seated— ■';I; > a^.|i:.iiaem ißi?r'"of iih"e Armed; Cbnstabullary^statipned'^^atoimstb^n.^^ was parided foy;''4utj ia^:>^/'^iiairter'td i 'j£v>c on Tuesday:la^tV if Jiifter Jiya^ingtiie T s|ation, ■"I weaii 'alonf Wf^iie6ny^reet Jpl§lbert. 11 passed, the; tTjaiott Banic^ v got to the 1 blfcikinfiftsnorts^time"fcut!^tiiot notice anything unusual,^ T I went to^Jhe;Pacific and rioficed 1 We' felocki' which? indexed a qiiarterjiofive. . I. saw the^nigitt'fi watchman', JjJam|4,'?§tiiiauig t in, o^eh-s|reet. I \ gbt as fair^s th^Bbwe&*#henl'fifeardthei fireibell 5 gb/ h'l' vwlnt'% W to; alarm the men. .The fire may have been Jsmouldermg^bWrsaw myUtizefc^'-'; j ■V.GeOTge^^bbertshawi,' iUsisitfl^tJamelter j rßitokVo^^ ovi- f dence to the effect that some time since \ he had received tL case cbntainihg twelve \ bottles nitric acid. One got broken, and] on opening the case the sawdust in which! 'the bottles were packed was much charred! aud in such a state that the fire could easily have been fanned into* flame. This i completed vthe; i evidenceV and the Coroner having commented upon the same thfe jury' returned the following verdict—] " That there is no evidence to show how| Jhe fire originated. ■ ' j

To learn the value of money.—Try toj borrow it. j ;?i I;have just taetfaman wjiq told me J looked exactly like you,—" Tell me who it was that I may knock him down."—* "Dort't'teouWe yourself; I did thai xaystlfatoao©." i