THE LATE FIRE.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 5140, 13 September 1877, Page 2

THE LATE FIRE.

In reference to the late destructive fire on Lambton-quay, Mr. Alcorn has received the. following letter from the Governor’s Private Secretary : “Wellington, September 12, 1877.—Dear Sir, —His Excelleucy the Governor and Lady Normanby have desired me to enquire after Mrs. Alcorn, and at the same time to convey to you and Mrs. Alcorn their sincere sympathy in your sad bereavement.—l am, dear sir, yours faithfully, Irwin O. Maling, Captain 23rd Regiment, Private Secretary,—S. W. Alcorn, Esq.” The following letters have been forwarded to the captains of the Central and Wellington Fire Brigades : Wellington, September 12, 1877.—Gentlemen, —Having been present at the fire on Lambton-quay last night, I cannot refrain from expressing to you my admiration of the conduct of the fire brigades. I have frequently been present at fires in America and elsewhere, and I can safely say that I never saw firemen act with greater promptitude, coolness, order, and courage than the men under your command did last night. The arduous duties which you have voluntarily imposed upon yourselves are of vital importance to the inhabitants of any town, and especially so in a city like Wellington, which is chiefly constructed of wood; and I think it only just that I should avail myself of this opportunity of conveying to you, and through you to the men under your command, my appreciation of the efficiency to which you have attained, and of the great promptitude with which the brigades upon all occasions turn out on the first alarm of fire.—l have the honor to be gentlemen, your most obedient servant, Normandy. —To Superintendent A. Whiteford and members of the Wellington Volunteer Fire Brigade, Wellington.” “Wellington, September 12, 1877.—Sir, —1 have been requested by his Excellency the Governor to forward to you the enclosed letter, and to inform you that a duplicate of the same has been sent to Captain Lewis Moss of the Central Volunteer Fire Brigade. —I have the honor to be, sir, your most' obedient servant, Irwin C. Maling, Captain 23rd Regiment, Private Secretary.—To Superintendent Whiteford, Wellington Volunteer Fire Brigade, Wellington.”. INQUEST ON THE BODY OP THE CHILD. An inquest was held at the Central Fire Brigade Station yesterday on view of the body of Winifred Alcorn, the little girl who was burned at the fire which occurred on her father’s premises, Lambton-quay, the previous night. A jury, of whom Mr. Felix Jones wai foreman, was sworn. The Coroner, in addressing the jury said

the inquiry related solely to the cause of the death of the poor child who was burned in her bed the previous night. With the cause and origin of the fire that jury had nothing to do. He might tell them that the body of the child was so burned that it could not be identified, but if the jury desired to examine it there it was in the room for them; but it was not n pleasant sight. One of the jurors expressing a desire to see the body (which was lying in a chair in the room, covered with a sheet) it was uncovered. It appeared, as described by the Coroner so burned as to be beyond identification. ’ Archibald Whiteford deposed: I am captain of the Wellington Fire Brigade. Shortly after eight o’clock last night I was called to the fire at Mr. Alcorn’s. After the fire was put out I was told that there was a child missionand was directed to go upstairs to a room Si which I was told the children usually slept. On searching the room it was found that the floor had given way and fallen to the ground beneath. On making search below an iron bedstead was found standing on end near the wall. On looking underneath it I found the remains of a child. , The body was quite charred and burned black, so that identification was impossible. I did not see any remains of blankets or bedclothes. There was nothing but the burnt and charred body remaining. We put it into a sheet, and removed it to the room where this inquest is now being held. Samuel Wesley Alcorn deposed : I am a draper, living in Wellington, and the occupier of the premises. About half-past eight o’clock last night I carried ray child Winifred from the sitting-room to her bed in another room. She would have beeu four years old next month. The room was lighted by gas. There was no fireplace or fire in it. .The child was undressed and asleep when I put her to bed. The gas was burning low when I went in. 1 turned it on for a minute or two whilst I placed the child comfortably in her bed, and then turned it down low again. The gas was not near enough to the bed to ignite it. Between ten minutes and a quarter of an hour afterwards the; servantgirl ran into the dining-room, and said that the shop was on fire. I rushed to the dining-room door and into the passage, and immediately saw a body of fire coming up stairs from the direction of the shop. I ran to a front window up stairs and got out on to the verandah and down into the street in order to get to the water-hose at the back of the house. I did not enter the house. I applied the hose, and thex-e was full pressure of water on. (The Coroner said he was very glad to hear this, as it showed that there was no scarcity of water-supply as had beeu currently reported.) By this time the firemen were arriving and applying their hose ; but there was some delay in getting a flow of water. I do not know the cause of the delay. Ikf ter wards saw my wife being helped down from the verandah by a ladder-, and I learned afterwards that three of my children had been rescued in the same way. Two other children had been got out through the kitchen ; but I did not know this at the time, and thought they were missing ; but I was told by Mr. Thompson that they were safe, and that all the children but one had been saved. I then was sure that the missing child was Winifred, the deceased. After the first alarm, the flames gained ground upon us with such rapidity that my wife was hardly able to escape before they were upon her. She made an attempt to get to the children’s bedroom, hut was driven back by flames and smoke. Between 11 and 12 o’clock I was informed that the body of the missing , child had been found. To-day I have seen the iron bedstead upon which the body was found, and can identify it as the same bedstead upon which I had placed the child shortly before the fire. The Coroner said this was all the evidence that would be produced at this inquiry, and hp thought it weald be sufficient for them to arrive without difficulty at the cause of the poor child’s death. The jury returned a verdict, “ That the deceased was accidentally burned to death.”