THE FIRE IN GROVE STREET.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VIII, Issue 32, 6 February 1873, Page 2

THE FIRE IN GROVE STREET.

COKONEIt's INQUEST. An inquest was held yesterday afternoon before Lowther Broad, Esq., coroner, and a jury, of which Mr Gibbons was foreman, upon a fire that occurred On Monday last in the house of Mr Thomas Nisbet, in Grove-street. The jury visited the house, in the bedroom of which were marks of fire in the centre of the floor, part of wbich was completely burnt through. The following evidence was taken :— James Lipscombe stated that between twelve and one o'clock on the day in question he was passing tbe house when he saw smoke rising from the roof. He called Harris, who was near, and tbey burst open the door and extinguished the fire. Thomas Harris, a laborer residing in Tasman-street, said that being called by Lipscombe, he went to the house from which smoke was issuing and burst open the door, which was locked. Finding no fire in the front room he opened the bedroom door, and immediately smoke and flames burst out. The flames were issuing from a heap of some kind of clothing on the floor. He felt his way to the bedstead and pulled off a mattrass with which he smothered the flames until water was brought, and they were extinguished. He and Mr. Edwards then examined the heap from which the fire ascended, and found it to consist of bits of blankets and sheeting, and on the floor was some bulrush. He saw no matches about. There was no fireplace in the room. He saw nothing of Nisbet or his wife that day. When he tried the back door to go out for water he

found ifc locked. He did not try the windows. He bad to use force to. open the front door. Was not personally acquainted with Nisbet. The heap of stuff did not appear to be whole blankets or sheets but bits. He removed a box but did not notice what was in it.

George Edwards and George Capper corroborated the evidence of the former witness.

• Thomas Nisbet : lam a carpenter, residing in Grove-Street. lam the owner of, and am residing in the house in which the fire occurred. I left home on Monday a little after 9 o'clock in the morning. I left my wife and five children iv tbe house. I did not return to tbe house until after I received notice' of the fire. I was up the Maitai playing in tbe band at the Oddfellows' fete. I was in the bedroom just before I. left tbe house. There was no heap of anything on the floor then. I left some boxes in the room in one of which was money. It was in a little box inside a big one. Both were in their places when I left home. When I came home after notice of the fire, I found the big box burned outside. There was a lid but no fastening to it. I lifted the lid. When my wife came home about ten minutes afterwards, I examined the money box. I lifted the lid off with my haods. It had been fastened on with nails. The money was gone, I had been putting money into it for two years. There might have been about £30 in it. My wife knew of the box. I don't think anyone else did. I had not examined the box for a week before the fire. A lot of small bits of paper had been put into it. I was saving tbe money to pay for my land. I have not paid anything off. My house is insured. It is more than five years ago since the deeds for the land were prepared. I have never offered to pay anything off. The house is insured in my name for £80. I pay the premium. I owe Mr Wright £80, secured "on the property. He has offered to take payment in instalments. The small money box was fastened by a nail to * the bottom of the large box. I was to pay Wright when I liked during five years. The time will be up next month, and I was reckoning I should bave about half the money.

Jane Nisbet, wife of the former witness, said : On Monday last my husband weDt away before half-past nine. I remained behind with two of my children. I went out about 11.30, having locked both doors of the house. The windows were not fastened. I went into the bedroom just before I went out. There was nothing on the floor then. Two of the beds are made of bulrushes. I saw the money box that morning when I took the children's clothes out of the big box. The children knew there was a money box there. The three eldest went out with their father that raorniDg, the two youngest with rue. I had had no fire in the house since halfpost seven in the morning. I have never seen the money box opened.

William Wright : lam an hotel-keeper residing at the Port, lam the mortgagee of Nisbet's house. He has paid the interest very regularly. I have lent him £80 on the property. The house could be built for £85 or £90. I produce the policy of insurance, wbich is in my name. He has not paid me any of the principal. I have offered to take it in iustalments of either £10 or £20. The jury at once returned an open verdict to the effect that there was no evidence to show how the fire originated.

The Marlborough Express says : A notice in another column of a cab to ply for hire in tbe streets of Blenheim, will indicate the progress in civilisation that we are making in these parts, as well as the enterprise of the present mail contractors, Messrs Stevenson and Fiven.

Mrs Clark was recently charged before the Resident Magistrate at Blenheim with failing to attend as a witness at a Court constituted under the Commissioners' Powers Act, and the Civil Service Act, 1871, having been duly summoned to give evidence in regard to charges made against Mr Eyes. The Magistrate said the offence was a very serious one, and striking at the dignity of the Court. The question was whether extenuating circumstances could be considered in such a case, the full penalty being £20. He should however, take upon himself to mitigate it to one half, £10, with costs.

The Eyes enquiry continues, but the excitement k of the first few days has passed away, and but little interest is visible among the people. Some of the witnesses have been put to great inconvenience in regard to their own affairs, by reason of the delay, wbich however is now unavoidable. The accusers finished their case on Wednesday evening, since when the following gentlemen have been examined :— Messrs Welford, Gwynneth, A. Mowatifc, Church, Freeland, Laery, Barleyman, Galloway, Godfrey, Griffiths, his Honor Mr Seymour, Messrs W. Noawqrtby, Blick, and Sergeant Scanlon. To-day the enquiry will : be continued, but *#| s E °t

possible to indicate when the conclusion will be, as there are a large number of witnesses yet to be examined. We may say that tbe most exemplary diligence is shown by the Commissioners, who sit daily from 10 to I, and from 2 to "7 p.m. — Marlborough Express, Feb. 1.

Coming Events. — An ugly rumor comes from Wellington to the effect that at the next sitting of the General Assembly, the Government purpose introducing a Bill to provide for the taxing of all lands throughouM<ie colony. A tax of one shilling an :/*'<" re is spoken of on improved lands; such a measure added to the Road Board rates will tell heavily on landed proprietors. — Hawke's Bay Telegraph,

Destructive Flood. — Ou the night of the 23rd January, Lake Ellesmeve (Canterbury) rose with unusual rapidity, and a number of sheep, belonging to Mr A. Williams and Mr Minchener, were unfortunately drowned. Tbe former lost about 350, a large portiou of which were fat wethers, and the latter lost 50. — Lyttelton Times.

A "wbitee iv the Lyttelton Times asserts it is becoming every day more evident that long-wooled sheep will by-and-by displace the merinos in a considerable portion of this and the neighboring province of Otago, and several men entitled to be heard on such a subject are of opinion that ultimately New Zealand will have a distinct breed of its own, combining the qualities of the most distinctive varieties. Whether this should be the case or not, it is clear that long wools are rapidly gaining iv the estimation of stockowners and farmers, aud that increased attention is paid to breeding.

A Correspondent of the Hawke's Bay Herald, writing from the Seventy-Mile Bush, says that all the Scandinavian**, settled there have now gardens, with vegetables growing in them, beside their respective houses. The road work, he thinks, is not pushed on so quickly ns might be desired. The Herald believes that some people are disposed to make it a ground of complaint against the Scandinavians that they show a strong preference for working at the improvement of their properties over working for wages. This, no doubt, may result in some temporary convenience but the disposition must undoubtedly be regarded, in a general point of view, as the best conceivable recommendation of them as settlers.

A Waiter at Wagga Wagga was reaching down a bottle of soda-water, when it burst, the glass being split to a sharp edge from the neck to the bottom. One of the pieces struck him on the inside of the calf of the leg, cutting through the trousers and inflicting a fearful gash. The blood issued from the wound in streams, and but for the assistance of those who witnessed the accident, the man would have bled to death.

We [Melbourne Argus) may expect a visit at an early date from the Italian frigate the Garibaldi, which recently started on a voyage round the world, undertaken partly, as we understand, for scientific purposes. Tbe Garibaldi has amongst her subordinate officers a nephew of the King of Italy, Prince Thomas, Duke of Genoa, whose rank corresponds to that of midshipmau of a British man-of-war. Professor Delpino, a distinguished botanist, also accompanies the vessel. The Garibaldi is to call at Gibraltar and Rio de Janiero, and may be looked for in Melbourne some time in April.

Australian Telegraph Banquet.— The London correspondent of the Australasian writes : — There was one incident in the proceedings which deserves notice. I refer to the tremendous enthusiasm with which the toast of the " Integrity of the Empire," was greeted. The sudden and spontaneous outburst was quite startling in its vehemence, the cheering being repeated again and again, and the demonstration culminating by the whole company rising to their feet and waving their handkerchiefs. It was a manifestation of feeling in regard to the colonial question which Lord Kimberley is never likely to forget. The remarks of the Colonial Secretary in proposing the toast were eminently satisfactory , and elicited frequent applause. Indeed, were it not for the inimical influence of some other members of the Cabinet, we should have little to fear in respect to the disintegrating policy from the present functionaries of the Colonial Office.

Bank Rates in Melbourne. — The Australasianoi January 25, says : — "The banks on the 16th inst. adopted a new scale of discounts, under which their customers will pay 2 per cent less than formerly. For bills of 65 days' currency the discount will be 3 per cent, instead of 5 per cent; for bills of 95 days,' 4 per cent, instead of 6 per cent and for bills of 125 days', 5 per cent, instead of 7 per cent. The interest on secured overdrafts has been fixed at 5 per cent., except in the case of the Bank of New South Waleß, at which establishment tbe charge will be 6 per cent. In consequence of tbe reduction

by the banks of the rata of discount, the Government en Friday decided to reduce the interest allowed on the Postioiffi.ce Savings Banks deposits from 4 per cent, to 3 per cent. — " JEgles," a contributor to the same paper, wbo always loves to take a humorous view of things, writes as follows on this subject :— " One of tho soundest and most respected bankers in Melbourne tells me that he thinks he sees a smile on the faces of all the people who meet him, as much as to say, " What a fool you are to lend us money at 3 per cent.'** The most grievous trouble is however, that of a genial capitalist who, in anticipation of a rise in the value of money, had been lately selling out stock and realising securities. When the news of the reduction of bank discount was told him suddenly (not broken cautiously) he turned pale, and ejaculated " Good heavens ! I am stuck with £20,000." Poor fellow ! he has the sympathy of everybody. The newest idea is, however, that of an enterprising speculator who proposes to invite the banks to compete for his unsecured overdraft. The lowest or any tender not necessarily accepted."

The Tichborne Trial. — After many legal cousultations and sparrings, tbe Tichborne trial difficulty has been solved. In the first instance", application was made by claimants's counsel for a rule nisi, calling on the Crown to show cause why a writ of procedendo should not issue, or, in a alternative, whether there should not be a trial at bar. The rule was granted and a few days later, on the case again coming before the Queen's Bench, Sir John Coleridge, as the law officer of tbe Crown, before all the judges, in which case the trial can go on interrupted to its close. That point being settled, the. period of commencement came up for consideration. As the trial in Hilary Term would cause great inconvenience in making the necessary arrangements for the spring circuit, the Court decided to postpone it until Easter term, on the fifth day of which the case could be begun, and proceeded with to the end without interfering with the summer circuit. Monday the 21st day of April next, is now, therefore the day on which the case may be expected to commence. '

The Russian Asiatic Policy. — The Australasian says : — lt is gratifying — it is quite.reviving — to read the telegrams from London announcing the result of the mission to London of the Russian envoy relative to the movements of Russia in the direction of Affghanistan. Reading these despatches with the construction that former intelligence leads us to place upon them, it would appear that Russian aggressiveness has received a diplomatic check, and that John Bull has "put his foot down" between the march of the Muscovite and the frontiers of India. iThe announcement is the more unexpected, inasmuch as we had been led to believe that the rulers of the empire had agreed to a policy of noninterference, and had preferred to wait for the onset of Russia upon India, if it must come to that, at a point nearer to the borders of our own dominion. But of late our foreign policy has sustained some serious "humiliations. John Bull, as shown in Punch's cartoon, is disgusted to find that he ( is called upon to eat "humble pie" two daya in succession, aod is by no means satisfied with the explanation of the waiter (Mr Gladstone). " Yes, sir, no, sir, that were Geneva humble pie * this is Berlin, sir." To what Mr Roebuck calls the " imperial, imperious Englishman" it seems to come very much to the same thing. The time when the nation was smarting under such feelings as these was rather an inopportune moment for the arrival of the envoy from St Petersburg with the proposal that England should look on and see the frontier of the Russian empire pushed forward some hundreds of miles nearer Affghanistan and the Punjaub. And so the calculating policy that had been previously half accepted was laid aside for one breatliing more the spirit of England of old days, and the envoy was forced" to retire with the message that if Russia occupied Khiva,. England would, put Affghanistan in a condition of security. In one way there is a consistency in this course with the conduct of the last few years. If England were to assume a warlike attitude it might be reasonably expected, even on ,the most thoroughgoing " Manchester" principles, that it should be in defence of her own great dominion of India, and there would be nothing more likely to raise the latent pugnacity of the nation than anything tbat threatened the' magnificent Asiatic empire with which some of the most splendid passages of its history is associated. No doubt, although recent events may have stiffened the position of England in this piece of diplomacy, the decision given is the result of years of deliberation oh this question, to which it was plainly seen we were always drawing nigber. In all parts of the Vide British empire intelligence will be awaited: of the further development of this matter with interest, but surely not with apprehension. . . .y- . .