THE KAITI FIRE.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXV, Issue 2156, 12 August 1907, Page 1

THE KAITI FIRE.

DEATH OF BALFE,

The injuries sustained by James Balfe, the victim of ‘ the • Kaiti fire, proved" moro serious than! had been at first ■ supposed, his condition of health . accelerating colliipso froni shock. On Friday the' -unfortunate man became delirious, and despite the host attention at the hospital succumbed at'4 a.m. on Saturday. Deceased was a man of 36 years of age and, so Far ns can he ascertained, lind no relatives in the district.! AA’itnessos were promptly subpoenaed by the lolico, and at inquest was jield at the Hospital on Saturday afternoon before Mr.'' Barton',' 1 Coroner.j Sergeant AA r illiams' represented the police, lin'dthe following jury was enjpannelled r Messrs. Geo. G. Sliierlaw ((foreman),, Goo; Elliott, Jno Ed. Foster, Rueben Fisher, John Ferris and Jns. Fisher. Mrs. Dailey, who condiicted the boarding-house, identified fjlio body, as that of James Balfe, who had been

boarding at her house for home time. She stated that bn Wednesday night. •7th just., she 1 last, saw th'e deceased about' 8 o’clock; he was then in the dining-room. The occupants of, the house retired to rest at- jtlie usual hour,' and about-3.30 am. {the following morning she ' was awakened by "hearing a nOise as if I 'something had fallen. .'Shortly afterjvards witness’s daughter; who was sleeping in the : roOri)''with r her,' called outj that sho could ‘smell- something 1 , I 'lilvc burning.. Witness then got- up, arid pn opening, the door the room became) filled with smOke. She at once awoke the children; .also Mr. Stewart, a boarder, who occupied the adjoining room, The latter came to the door and asked ..what was the . matter, witness .reply-, iiig that there was a lot of smoke in the house. Mr. Stewart hastily aroused the occupants of the' outside rooms, whilst witness and her children obtained exit througji the win'dow. The alarm was so stulden that the children .had .to dress in the yard. Witness" did not see anything of: the deceased after, the alarm'; he was -occupying the front room (facing the Esplanade. Deceased had'been in the employ of Mr. Frederick Hall, as a painter, but owing -to 'a drinking bbut' ho had not' been' at'work for over a week prior to the fire. jWhen witness last saw.Baife on thejevening of' th© i7.th he was under the influence of liquor. ;i ! Witness could not say in ■what''part of the' house the fire originated. t;

Dr. Morrison deposed jthat Balfe was brought to his surgery about '4 a.m. on the Thursday morning. He wasilbadly bdrned about tile-face and : arms, ..and was in a somi-jdazed condition from .shock. Witness attended ■to the -man’s injuries, ancl -had him romoved to the hospital, j AVitness saw the, patient., at the j institution that“dayy~he~was"then suffering very severely from hjs injuries (and shock, being still in'a'dazed condition. On Friday, 9th inst., the patient became ; 'de!irous—ill' other ' words delirium itremens developed. Balfe) gradually sank,..and witness was informed that .hgi succumbed -at; 4: o’clock on Saturday morning. The cause of death’ was general collapse, as tlic result of liis injuries aggravated by delirium tremens.

j Maurice Alartin Roche, iahorer, residing at KSjtii’ deposed that on tlio Occasion of tlife- fire he was hoarding iit Mrs:"Dailey’s. He savv Balfe at the house that evening, between 8 and : 9'o’clock, when" the latter remarked that he;,had been lying'down most of the day. About 3.30 a.m., witness was aroused by Stewart calling out “FiroV Fire.” When lie! emerged Jrpm,. his, room he sayr; portion of the house'in flames," and "the other occu.pants of the house rushing out. He went .on the verandah and 1 there saw Balfe, who was suffering from burns and had liis hair all scorched. Balfe only made one remark to him, inqiiir-' dug! whether he could get admission to the hospital. "Witness added, in re--ply to questions;; l that the -deceased had been drinking since the previous, Monday week, eight or nine days in 'all. ' ■ ' t '

To the Foreman : AVitness did not notice whether Balfe’s room was ablaze, when the latter rushed out. The jury, without retiring, returned a verdict that the deceased’s death was due to injuries sustained at l the fire. .( i ; • V 1