Inquest on the Motoa Fire.

Manawatu Herald, 13 November 1894, Page 2

Inquest on the Motoa Fire.

"-- - ■» l I Yesterday ai 1 o'clock ibe Coroner, E. S. Thynne E=q., held an inquiry, at the n quest of the Insurance Company, into ihn origin of the fire tit Ml 4 John Burr's hottso at Tui to Kai, Motoa, at Mr Edward's granary. Messrs J. T. McClosky, A. Cruick* shank, A. E. T Ni2c.ul, A Kerr, VV. Carter and J. Walden were sworn id as a jury, and Mi 1 McClosky was chosea Foreman. i The following evidence was | taken : — John Victor Burr bring sworn, Faith that lama farmer residing, at ! present, at Op:ki near Foxton ; I was formerly living at Tui fee Kai the scpno of the fire ; I went to Kanape with my family a week before the fire; 1 moved a few things we wanted there ; there were chairs and tables, clothing ajd bedding, eroukery, kettle and fryingpan and articles needed for cooking in the house at Tui te Kai at the time of the fire ; there were three chairs, iwo tables, two pots ; there was one wooden bedstead there ; I moved to K-mape for the shearing and planting potatoes ; (here was no one living in the house at Tui te Kai ; I was ihere toif.»hr and morning and have slept there twice ; 1 la3t saw house on Saiurdiy ihe 20th October nt half pa*t sis in the evening ; 1 was fet ding the calves ; there was no one with me; I was inside of the house on that occassion ; I do not think I had had a fire more than once in the hou«e after we had shifted ; this would be the morning afver shifting ; I mxc saw the site of the house on the following Hundny morning about seven o'clock ; . the house waa burnt down, some of the wood was burning when I arrived there ; I can only think the house caught lire from a fire I had made outside, about thirty or forty fe t i.way towards the river on the i revious evening ; on- Saturday evening whilst the milk was warm* ing I went inside the house to get a I air of boots, I cannot say for certain i hut I struck a match but think it most likely I did so ; the building wa» a wooden one, of totara, red pir- and part white pine ; rusticated on the outside, all matchlined inside, the leanto and one oi the front rooms were frfr, the other room was sciiiuiuef? and papered ; the building measimd forty feet by fourteen fret ; the studs w^re eleven feet ; the main building was 24 feet by 14 fret and the lean-tv was 16 feet by 12 or 14 fret; there Were tur c r oms ; ib< j ceilings were match lin^d and the roof was covered with galvanized iron ; there was one chimney made of iron, and only one fireplace in which stood a portable range ; I let the contract for the erection of the house to Mr J. W. Liddell, I told him I wanted him to erect a building of two rooms 24 feet by 14 feet, finding labour only ; I paid him £14 and helped him, and found meat and potatoes; I built the leanto; the whole cost me about £125 ; I think I have lost all the accounts; I got some timber from Henn<*ssy, Westwood & Co., and other material ; ] paid hem £25 cash for timber, and the rest <f the materials werf hooked, being nails, hinges and It oka ; i got some matpiial from Squire's in P.ihnerston, totara anc red pine scantlings ; I have paid fot it ; 1 do not remember how much I ihink I gave one chique for £9 ; ] do not know what more I paid him I got the. iron from Hennery. West woxl & Co ; I got no material trun any oue else ; I estimate my owr !ah ur at £14 ; B ruard Spelmar did some of ihe car ing, I did some Mick tulwar! did some, I paid hiu

£2 ; I paid B. Spelman somewhere about £8 ; 1 value the Cartitig 1 did at £3 or £4 ; tbns t did £17 worth of labour and carting ; the buildiflg was insured ih the New Zealand Insurance Company with Mr Walde- ¥ grave the agent in Palmerston North ; it was insured in March last ; the insurance was for |78 j 1 $aye faiiii ihe dimensions or the bUilding; I diJ not give to any one the information that the building was 40 feet by 14 feet.; I sighed no document to that eftftot * I signed as. to the date the house was built ; the plan drawn on the application form is incorrect ; there were 16 bricks in the chimney left from the fire, the bricks were obtained from Hennessy, Westwood & Co. l I think there Were . sixty bricks used in the chimney, w and it was a range that was built in ; the house had been built eight mouths before I applied for an insurance upon it; the ground is easehold ; somebody claimed a lien on the building and applied to Mr Waldegrave dairtiiiig the insurance j t believe the "somebody " is ftenry Flyger living at Palmerston North ; Flyger held a mortgage over the property ; the property ia between 22 or 23 acres, my wife had no interest, in it at the tiuie of the fire } •lince the fire my wife has got a claim i upon the proceeds. of the insurance by staying proceedings taken against my father by William Flyger and Armstrong by her giving security of stock which she owned, I gay« her a mortgage over the proceeds of the insurance. | By Mr Bolam — The range was brioked on the three sides, single brick on edge on the back, and double brick on the sides to the level of top of the range, above that it wad simply an iron chimney; By the Foreman-— "i have Hst heard anything from the insuraiida donapafty about re erecting ov paying I for the house. Charles Edward Waldegrave, being sworn, saith - 1 am an insurance agent at Palmerston North for the New Zealand Insurance Company ; ihe last witness John Burr came to me on 29. h March last to insure his cotiage at Tui te Kai ; I asked him for a plan and particulars of the buildiDg, he gave them to me; he saw me draw a plan upon the application form after he had signed the proposal, afterwards he said it was correct ; the proposal 1 now hand in, marked "A" is a correct copy of the > proposal made. By Mr Burr — No one was present when application was made but Mr Innes introduced John Burr with the proposal and then left ; I did not fill in the application which was signed. By the Coroner-^Mir - 'lnnes, the solicitor, filled in the application. The answers to printed questions in the proposal do not agree with the plan drawn thereon, so much as to leave the lean-to out. By the Constable— The plan upon: the proposal shows the main building to be 40 feet by 14 feet, and the lean to 14 feet by 10 feet. I cannot say whether this is correct by the remains of the burnt house. Arthur Edwards, being sworn, saith— l am a farmer living at Mou« toa. lam the nearest neighbour to Mr Burr, The fire at Tui te Kai took place about four weeks ago. As I 1 was returning from Foxton about midnight I noticed at Strang'a corner, a glare in that direction, and when I got home I saw it was Mi 1 Burr's house on fire It was nearly hmntd.iwn when I saw it. No one lives round there. Jotin Watsou Liddell, being sworn saiih — I am a builder living at Foxton. In May last year I built a cot" tage at Tui te Kai for John Burr. I contracted for labour only. My contract wat» for £10. He wanted a building 24 feet by 12 feet. The. building was of 4 x 2 studs, matai and red pine, matai and red pine rusticating. Inside was match-lined throughout, and ceilings, except one partition wall. Iron roof. Front door, bedroom door, two windows, ready for hanging. The building would cost now to erect £42 5s 6d, i his would not include a chimney or lean to or spouting. The lean-to could be built for £14 or £15. I think the building would have cost moi-p. The sketch on proposal marked A shows the building as forty feet long, and on the ground I mea- . sured it ths morning and found it to i be only twenty four feet. On the , sketch it shows 14 feet in breadth, i whilst on the ground it only meai sures 12 feet wide. The lean-to ,on • on the ground measured Bft. Gin. by [ 10 feet, instead of 14ft. by 10 as : shown on sketch. The building as [ represented by the plan on the proi posal would cost about £75. : By Mr Burr — I was* working at ; the building about 14 or 15 days. I ■ am certain the building is only ; twelve feet iv width. I told Burr 1 the building might have cost him > more than I estimated its value now. I By the Foreman — I measured the i blocks of the building. 1 JJy the constable — Tho estimate. r of John Burr's of his assistance to ; me £14. is excessive. The value of [ the assistance rendered by Burr to ; me on .the erection of the main - building would not exceed twenty i shillings. i. John Victor Burr, being recalled i ' said, on his former oath—-The'furni- , tuie was uninsured,- the insurance i of £15 was on the house alone. I

value the property in the house on the night of the fire at £85. !the jury almost immediately found their verdict that lio evidence of the origin of the fire did appear the jury.