THE FIRE AT PALMERSTON MILL.

Manawatu Times, Volume III, Issue 31, 2 April 1879, Page 3

THE FIRE AT PALMERSTON MILL.

Dflf. Bxwkstrow, the ( Coy6ner for tKe District, held an inquiry at Dearda' Hotel, yesterday, as to tHe'ori&ih; o$ the fire, •ijhich; took: place at the rnilb of^essrs v i^<^tsr, Nannestad, ;.& Co., Palmerstori, on ' Tuesday irightj the 25th ult. The following Jury were sworn, of _whqm Mr.. James Linton was elected foreman :— Frederick Crawford, Thomaa Home r iJohniDiin^i^/ iHenry Palmerson, William Draond, JSdward.Collins, Charles (^tfo^^Wi^in P^ds, Edward Cox, Solomon Abrahams, Boberfc Keeling, Thomas IHoe.J Gerhard Engels, Charles Bridges, Bobert Eingj and-Emile !£*«*, ; Ofj^fS, .'..:.:■;■ .W. .' Mr. Boardman;. representing the South British Insurance ;;?Mr. Waldegrave, the New Zealand; and Mr. Snelson, the Victoria, were presenfcj>jaj)d wafcclied ! the proceedings on b«at^tff^eirir«Jßp«cjbiTe:offlees. After the Jury had viewed the scene of $ie fire, the folloiwjug.Bijid^4ce: was taken :t- --> Fritz Jenssen, sworn, deposed : Xam an engineer and part proprietor of the Palmerqtbn Sawmills. About a quarter to nine on IVsday, the 25th ult., I left the'mill, and » little while afterwards I heard some one Wthe street calling out in Gern^n^Fire;'' There wjere three or four. imore -in the room' *,nd we; all rußhedibjit and saw that the mill wM'tfn fire.. My house was about fifteen chains front the milt^' lt was the fftstern; corner irliiii^ r was? on fire, close to' where the f«rtic»l saw wa§; ••- Weleave off in, the mill, as a rule/at fiTe!o'olock> wh«^he.ftres are "banked up,"i>ut oni the night . in q^ujefjtion .they were working overI ah^nof aware' at what tiin« the' men left offy h.ufc'sf % ciras dark I am sure fbey hB4 dbine. so.;/ We; were insured to the of £18PO for. the.' whole mUI, but, we were: insured for more' up tb'httt December: fiOj whole, of the, jM^i^ll '^as deplSoyecl, consider: the total loss to the, firm would }p &2OQ. Thtt^^inc^d^eyerythujg. A* the pfenfs^d' there in working ftrd^F it waa wor^h^ttlisaßklibatcsumiwThe plant itself would be. worth about £1800 ; <he j buildings, jfcbje daEerenpft., howg made up in Value of timber, deptroyqd t^nd |os»: of three months'- time. L The mffl has b«e9 very nearly fire years in existence, and ' fcaslalways bee4?iipuredC o '■£%". 3. '^,:l ' '* To Mr. Bpardman : I have not had any fpepific quarrel wilb^^;;«ttji pt jay nSeßiyibut •bout trn^ee weeks ago there was some disiftisfactionaboyt.the pay-night. 'The Thill wal let ip two named Anderson and Niwmanj as. partners', and the contract had about nine months to ! rn> aV the! time, of |he. fire. It should have -proved a prpfitiible «>ntract to ''them, andthey were carrying it. on qtpfeS prop«rly. o Newmaitwas in the; milj at the tioie:l Jeft. in jthe'.wE ternobn;; Anderson does not work there, lie works in the, bush. There were, none of tßie: contractors' m^n workmg r with.;,th l e'engiheerjin the crecMoq,. o£- the/i^^h;me^*;.'^Tie^.'ii^ ; new men. T^he'jr had^^ eyeryfaciUty to make the. contract; japy- well, ,a ji^w tram having been latelj^kid in, and v there beine plenty ' ■ - y To :%t. ■''^**egw^;:- -The'-'-largep policy had beflia, on, the .mij^ up to jjh^eft months, ago ; bjjt payers expecting Vfire they thought ft was quite, enough to pay the premium on 4180\ : .<C\.: ■■* ' '-'- Alfred Bo^x depose^'f-Iv was the engine: driyeg. at the. Palmerston Mill. ' I remeinbpr night of, Tuesday, the:2sth. u)t.T was at work^ at the- miU-iin^ 'about half^-past yx by the.toyirn'timei that $ hjill-past seyen l»y the; mjlt: tnnp. EyerythirigWas igute Mife, abpujt twei^^e> j^u^s.r^ateam. in, the boiler, and hardly any fire, me»ly ashes in th«.fire ; bpx> I left thento go hopiJß.anU kbont an hpur;a^terwa^dß l sjayif the^njpl in flames, and haflteneaVto the* spenft arriving ji»t as the roof fell in, There was no pprr ten on. whep, I left,, bpt then*, were Ipur of us working. I went out atone.side, anfi the. other, three; %ent <$£ the other. There. wai^no fire : abpuife, ex,cej>fc thai in. the, wre/bb.x We. generally light our.pipps by thfl. fire-box, before.weleaye, so that there is s» chsipoe of fii*. .^ conjd not say.whether ■lpey used matches or riot. '-• . To Mir. Boardman s The. flrerhpxhacliiot been c,leanpd 'b'uji frdm.tjhe preyious Saturday. There, is-'no ashes wheeled. a\xp unless Ijhey are qn/te/de»d; They are. carried to toputtwepty. or. thirty, feet, at the. back, of I did not^otiue any igp-irka' that njght a.imjne: iron); the. f^tjpnpl ofthe.floiirIjull, but I have, on previous ' oflea^ions. Even, if rtpre had snark^ th-ife night the wind- was- i?^ the- wro^loli^tKm.to do -P^r^' a " ri| w ' J e° n for fSCpa^t^ ; 'a3fk' 'months' |^^ <B^ uen % :#^w?^OTiiS%J»ye beeo;nof : Bha' ■'J '^A'tob Spe]^;;There f Jttas never been

over-heating of the bearers, a» I had lu* bricatpraon. ; ' -, To'tb* foreman :I "know nothing as [to where the fire . originated, only from "hearaajv The iftnd was blowing dead from the vertical. «$:. The engine was about thirty- feet in. a] direct line from where the fire originated. r - ,: To Mr. Boardman • A match thrown on the sawdust might set it on fire, but it would take a.considerable time to.do so. Gerhard Engels deposed : lam residing at PalmeratonV On the night of Tuesday the 25 ult, at about a quarter past eight I was*passing by the front of the flour mill, and looked in the direction of the saw mill as my attention was drawn to the danger which might arise from a perfect shower of sparks which wais coming from the chimney pf the flour.inill. It was then going in an oblique direction, but the wind was easterly and changeable. The direction of the sparS'l were about we3t to north-west and the bearing of the saw-null was about north. ' I went to the reading-room in the TownHall, and had not been many minute3 there befpre 1 heard' the cry of "Fire." When I passed I did not see any one about the saw-mill. . . Robert Newman deposed: I am a contractor, residing in Palmerston, and was working the Palmerston Sawmills by contract on the 25th of last month. I left the mill on the night in question at about halfpast six o'clock, leaving -Box and three others working. They were to stop there until dark. When I left the mill I went to my house, which is about thirty chains dis- ■ tint.; ' I' was ifi/*bed~ when^the alarm giyen by Mutcrfordi who came to my hbiise" to tell me that the mill was on fire... Thad ' no dispute with Messrs. Bichter, Nannestad, and Co. The contract has paid us very well ; ! but had it not been for the fire we should have done far hotter, as we notf lose the best months. of the year. We.havealways been on; the best of terms'wtth^oiur : men. So far from ..gaining, vekf hare 'lost at" the very least £10 per month by the fire. -...■■"'•' To Mr. Boardman : We were at the mile before -it "wash totally burned down;' The ■■ fir» started fir3t by. the vertical, as far as I could - judge; ' There is: always plenty, of stuff, Qrhich with a little breeze would burn. Round about, the vertical- 1 there is only a shed as a the whole, of which was- on fire, There could be no sides to a vertical shed as the logs, have/- got to be rolledin; j. ; .... • „-- ,, To the Foreman : IWe no idea-as to how the fire originated;- ■• • - ' ■ , Toa ; (Juror-4-Our.contract;ends in July,: have an understanding with the .firm, that if Jbhe: specifications are the same, we go on ; to the end of the year, i . : i ■.•;. . This conaUided the evidence, and after the coroner; had reviewed the -testimony given By each witness at some length he .called upon them, to $ad their, v.erdict.. ...... B,efore proceeding to do so, the FOEBJCAN said he wished to ask the Coroner a question: By what right were eighteen men c^ed away from, their, businesses , and compelled to lose the best part of the day at the whim, of an ins^ra^ca agent. / On tflie part of the.iury,o he -would- ieei obliged if the Coroner 'would read . the section of the Act wb^ch; combed attendance. - 'In reply, th,e Cohq^be stated that according to) the <A<s. all citizens who. had not -been convicted' of perjury, high treason, and .other such crimes,, were eligible to serve. 0.0, inquesjw, .the' k^ thereby, holding that it was .an honor.; .Nevertheless, rif .the. Jury had any expression of op^.nipn to, which to give vent, if they would' intimate it to him offlidia]ly in writing, he. ußOjcdd be most .happy to . forward it to . the -proper, quartet, and- give the foreman the reply w;hen it should have been received;. ; ' ■' r . The jury o theii retired* and after, a few minutes deliberation returned a^ verdict to the following effect :-^-' *'*" : --■''■>-• "•That the Palmerston mill was burned on ! ; the_2sth March, 1879, but there is no .evi.dence to say'how the fire originated." ' The foreman ajsp handed in a rider as follpyfJ;— ; " That the jury wishes to protest against the unnecessary waste of time and loss sustained through being compelled to aWen/3 inquests requested to W neld at the A in- : stance of insurance, companies, when the 'circumstances in connection by no means : warrant a shadow of suspicion. ■ : . The foreman having then written formally; to the ; Coroner, asking him to • bsing- the matterjunder the notice: of the/Qov^rnment, the latter said he would be happy to do so and forward the reply.--'; | .■,:;. " ; ; - ;'..