THE RECENT FIRE IN WILLISSTEET.
An inquest was held yesterday afternoon at the le Aro Hotel, to make inquiry as to the origin of the fire on last Sunday morning which destroyed the boarding-house in Willis-street occupied by Mrs. Mason.
The Coroner stated that the inquest was held at the request of the insurance companies, and he understood there were no suspicious circumstances connected with the fire. Mr. Fitzherbert watched the proceedings on behalf of Mrs. Mason, and Mr. Wallace for the National Insurance Company. The jury having inspected the scene of the fire, the following evidence was taken Albert Zesoh, sworn, deposed : I am a printer, residing in Wellington. I have lodged with Mrs. Mason for three years, and I slept there on Saturday night last. It was about 1 o’clock on Sunday morning when I got home. Every one appeared to be in bed when I entered the house, and I went to bed in the dark, as I generally do when I come home late. .1 went straight to bed, and fell off to sleep. My first alarm was a sensation of ohoking, and when I awoke X found the - room full of smoke. ■ I jumped hurriedly from bed, and called to Jim Brooke, the occupant of another bed in my room. I then ran into an adjoiningroom and called out to another boarder, “ The place is on fire. Hereplied, “I’m notgoingtoany fire,” and I then proceeded to wake the others up. We broke a window, and opened a door communicating with the stairs. The floor of the room upon which we stood was getting quite heated, and we all had to escape by the windows, dropping on to a lean-to. One-man named Brennan was obliged to jump from the back window, which was high from the ground. After getting out, I went to a detached room, where I found Mrs. Mason. I cannot say how the fire originated. Cross-examined ; I got in by the side door, winch was always left open. Xhe house was a well-furuisbed one. I am not aware of any. one coming in after myself. The gas was generally turned out by Mrs. Mason’s instructions. Mary Mason deposed : I am a widow, and occupier of the house which was burned down in Willis-street on Sunday morning. I went to bed about five minutes after twelve on Saturday night, at which time my house was perfectly quiet. I have about twenty lodgers, and they all appeared to have retired when I had. Before going to bed I told the waiter, who sleeps in the dining-room, to put out the gas, and I afterwards tried it in my room, and found it had been turned off. I heard nothing to alarm me until I heard some one jumping about aud call “ Eire.” I was so nervous that I could not open my door, which was locked, and one of the boarders broke it open. On getting out I saw the sitting-room and staircase in flames. The Coroner : Where did the fire seem most concentrated ? Witness : I could not say, as I was in such a flurry. My three daughters, who slept in the same room with me, bad some difficulty in escaping, one of them being much burnt about the face. There had been no fire in any of the rooms, except the kitchen, for some weeks. Cress-examined : 1 leave the side door open for my lodgers to get in. The Coroner : Was the house insured ? Witness : I don’t know ; it belongs to Mrs. Scott. The Conner ; Was your furniture insured ? Witness : Yes. _ The Coroner : Eor what amount ? Witness : £I3OO, in two policies. The Coroner : What was the value of it ? Witness : I value my furniture at more than it was insured for. By Mr. Wallace : I fancy the man who slept in the dining rpom got out of the front door, and the man in the kitchen was nearly suffocated. William Dyer, deposed ; I am a waiter employed by Mrs. Mason at her house in Willisstreet. On Saturday night I got home about eleven o’clock, and went to bed about twelve o’clock. I turned off the gas, having first lit a candle from it. My first alarm was caused by boxes being thrown on to the zinc roof of the lean-to, and when I awoke the room I was sleeping in was on fire, leaving me barely time to escape, with nothing on but my trousers. The flames appeared to be coming from a corner under the stairs. The Coroner having remarked that he thought they had sufficient evidence, asked the foreman if he would like more witnesses to be examined. The Foreman said he thought it was unnecessary to call any others. A Juryman : I should like to know something about the fellow in the kitchen, because I know there is something, and he might throw light upon it. The waiter was not in attendance. John Brennan, a miner, said he lodged at the house iu question, and went home about one o’clock on Sunday morning. He struck a match on going in, and it did not go out until he got upstairs.- He was not smoking when he went in. The Coroner said that as far as he could see there was no occasion to get anv more evidence. It was one of those things which so often happen here, the house being of such a combustible material that there was no chance of tracing the origin of the fire. He supposed it was by misadventure in some way or other, such as a match falling. It had not been explained by the evidence. The jury returned a verdict to the effect that the fire originated accidentally, but there was no evidence to show how the accident occurred.
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New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5307, 29 March 1878, Page 4
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966THE RECENT FIRE IN WILLISSTEET. New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5307, 29 March 1878, Page 4
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