INQUIRY ON THE LATE FIRE.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXI, Issue 4902, 7 December 1876, Page 3

INQUIRY ON THE LATE FIRE.

An inquiry wits held at the City Hotel yes-, terdayat 2 o’clock, as to the origin of the fire which occurred in the . house of Mr. Parker, Majoribank-street, before Dr. .lolinston, c loner, and a jury, of which 51 r. Whiteford was

elected foreman. .. . ' Mr. Brandoh appeared to watch tho proceedings on behalf of-the National Insurance' Company ; Mr. Allan apue:.'- 1 on behalf of the owner of the property M Pa ker. The jury, having been sw o„ retired with, the Coroner to ;view tho • "f tho late fire. On returning, the follow ; . valence was taken ;

. Eleanor Anna Barker sw-n-ii. deposed that she was the wife of Henry Parker; who had been the owner and oocnpi / of. tho house which was the subject of .this io-pu-1. Witness was not living hi the hou-e . : oj time the fire occurred.' She-hod not I, ’ ■ ■ iere for six . weeks before the day of the fin;. . he. hud been living on Lambton quay at oo -o. : .two. shops she. owned there. ; Witness en<. t d the insurance of the hou-e in the K>.t' v ah it was insured for £3OO. There' we- ■ ,> ,i ilicics—the first was-for. £IOO, from - .December 22, 1875. to. same date 1876 ; and the no it was for £2OO, from February 14, 1876, to, the same date in 1877. Toe mm ranee was , for . the house only?—the • *v« none on: the contents. The ■ bom'-; was- furnished sufficiently well to ace non vi ta ten boarders in addition to the foully. .Witness ■had not kept boarders in the house for three months before the occasion of tho fi.v, when there were no boarders in . the hous-.i, Had one boarder there till .within rbout six weeks ago. Discontinued ‘ keeping boarders' • during the segaibri'of Parliament, because she found that it paidher better to attend to her business in town. A married couple had occupied the two front rooms ' on 1 the ground floor till within a week before the fire occurred, paying 10s. per week for |them. They . left then to occupya house of their own in ;the 'neighborhood. The alarm' of the bell was the first in- . dication witness received of the fire. She had been to the theatre with her family, Alice, Ruth, Martha, Samuelj and the baby. They were taking supper when witness first heard the alarm. Mr. Parker had remained at home to look after, the shop. Witness, had nine children. The . remaining four were with their father in the shop." ’ When witness heard,the firebell she ran up the street, being accompanied Bypier daughter and husband. Her husband was on ahead. ’ On the way she ran down Harbor-street, and’exclaimed, “ there’s Tom’s house on fire.” ' That house also belonged to Mr. Parker, and was insured for £l5O. By “ Tom” she meant Mr. Harris, who occupied the house-" -Witness had five houses insured in the National Insurance Company. Witness lost ’some .umbrella silk and sticks by the fire. The house up to the.time of.-the fire was in charge of her second daughter Ruth, who was, seventeen' years of age, and- the pest of the children, excepting: Alice,' the . eldest daughter, who was living at the shop. When Ruth, who Imd been washing during the day, came down, . she said, , in . . answer to a question " from witness, that she had put a bucket of water on the', fire, and had left every thing'se'eure.: By Sergeant Monaghan ; I did stop near Evans’, saddler, .. Lambton-qnay,, and • my daughter said to me, “ Oh, mother, the fire is up our way.” I think I then said, “ I wonder if Ruth pat the fire all right before she left.” On the night of the fire my son had drawn his month’s wages, and treated us to the theatre. By Mr. BrandonWe have held possession ; of' ‘the house' for eighteen months. The terms'of 'sale were that the whole amount i should be paid by weekly: instalments. . About • a month before the fire occurred I called .at > the insurance, office to effect some fresh insurance* and while there made. inquiries about the policy on the small house in Majoribanks-: street. ... ,■ . . - By a Juror: Kennedy and Blood were lodg- j ing with me about three or four months ago.; It ■ is;not over nine months since. ' There were atleast twenty blankets burnt at the fire. They ■ were completely deatroyed.By Sergeant Monaghan ; Mr. Parker went to the house' while 1 was in the He went to see that the horse was all right, in the paddock; and'also to get a shawl for me, which; Ruth had forgotten to bring.. My husband did hot meet' us‘ at the theatre, as'the cloak; was intended for use on tho the children to Majoribank-street after snppav' Hfeniy : ,,P®^c®r' deposed 'that he was a. laborer, and-was owner of-the-house attacked, by fire'ori -Tuesday -night- When 1 he bought the house Mr. Port valued it at £IOO but; reduced it to £SO, in consequence of his (wit-; ness) purchasing several allotments of land ado joining.' Witness lived at the house in Majo-; riharik-streetlorlwo of three months previous: to the fire, with the. exception oftwoorthree. : nights when his wife, was ill He elept in the; house, .Oh Friday night .went to ,the house.; ■Firatsaw, that the horse waa secure in the pad-: . dock; aud'then went for his wife’s shawl. - He- , looked at the fireplace ; there'was no fire in it. It- was. covered .with water. Witness then described the furniture in the house,'saying "that'there was sufficient for the accommodation of, five boarders; there were, two dozen, blankets, and a:like quantity of counterpanes,; "some stretchers, an iron couch,-and washhand-; 'stands. When he entered. :the house, did not, go up stairs. He perceived no-smell of fire. j In ' the back room upstairs there' were some" goods that .witness, kept .for the purpose of -.hawking' during the summer , months, and therewas,aho some material used by his wife in her trade of umbrella making,: The two' allotments oh which; 1 the house was : built were siold r .as .per agreement, for-£240,; . Witness never had more than'five boarders in, . his house at one time,, All the blankets‘ and; other bed clothing were destroyed by the Areas well as the stretchers and a chest of drawers.' Could not remember when Kennedy left. , , : ' h By the Foreman,: ,1, did, not -say> “ The .house is insured for£3oo, , and :I> can make 'ai good thing out of it by replacing it with three cottages, at £IOO each.” . I have ho idea in what manner, the fire originated, . Ruth Parker,'daughter , of 'the last witness, ..was the next witness, examined. ; She said that she had been Jiving at the honseiri Majoribank-; Street with her 'brother' and .sisters,-and'her father had his foqd.m the house, and , generally sleptthere. Witness never sp6ketof>iypne about • the fire on Friday ■ night, and did not' say to one person that Bhe'wTOld'not, rive information, as she did not wish'to ho called as; a wit j ness on. an inquest., She, used a, bwc-irori for ■ ironing the clothes, and was so engaged on the ( day preceding the fire. --After having finished she 'emptied the contents of the iron fireplace., ' ‘ e ‘ | By the Coronerl' didnot say tq‘'anyone on the night, ofthe.firethat OsT/Was coming 1 home, when by tho Gasworks, I saw the fire; and went back to tell my father that the house wan on fire. , . . ; ' ,- Alice -Parker, the eldest daughter, was ex- ■ amined, bat her evidence was not material, excepting that it corroborated her mother’s . statement, ~ j A man named Bellars was then examined as to the amount of damage done. A . member of the Central Fire Brigade,

named Webb, stated that he lived on the hill above„Paa;ke.t’s v bouae,,,aud. r P9Aerod.the,house, before the'fiamea bad burst out; He broke open the door and went ujistof s;- tHe described the house - as'beihg'rimbst‘destitute 6f”fittniture, after making a careful!; examination ,of the. house, for the purpose of'discovering' the fire.' .The fire was in a back bedroom, and when .he entered there were no Barnes, but‘they shortly after burst out; and 4s he waf going down-.-’stairs he heard'a' noise such w would' be-' made. ,by an explosion, and the'window was shattered. In hisopinion, all the’ improvements externally would'' not :i amount' to ; 164’; * and' he 'could hot • observe any great improvement “in I 'the inside. . A man named Birch; -a painter; also' gave evidence. He said' he saw Mrs.' ! Parker and her two eldest daughters, who stopped for a .short time near his : house on ’ Lambton-quay, :and the younger one said she was sure it was itheir house.

The’ inquiry was, then adjourned till two o’clock to-day at’ the same''place,' -witnesses and jurors being warned to attend at that time.