Fire Inquiry.

Te Aroha News, Volume XXVI, Issue 43107, 20 June 1907, Page 2

Fire Inquiry.

In opening the case for the State Insurance Department into the circumstances of the Belmont fire, Mr Mays briefly outlined the facts of the case, and called Lawrence Henry Gerdon, who said he was the tenant at Belmont House up to May 3rd. The fire occurred about 3 a.m. They were awakened by the baby choking and found the room full of smoke. He rushed into the next room where the servant girl was sleeping, and as he could not wake her he carried her out to the kitchen through his room, and then went to the boarder’s room and woke him up — pulled him on to the floor, told him the place was on fire, and then went back to see if his wife had got out safely. She had got out with the baby, and as he could not get out by the door, owing to the smoke, he had to get through the window of the bedroom. The fire brigade were just arriving and he went and gave them a hand with the first lead of hose. He remembered burning some papers in the grate in the afternoon previous to the fire, between 3 and 5 p.m. —just a few old letters.

To His Worship : He was cleaning out a box in room B (plan produced) and was burning some old letters. That was the only reason he could give for the fire. To Mr Mays : He thought -it might have started near the chimney. To His Worship : He burnt a handful of letters. He thought the girl was in the room at the time. He did not think the grate had been used since he had occupied the h< arse. The room was generally used for a smoking-rooms. He was shifting the furniture back into the rooms where they were before he took possession, and putting his own furniture into rooms A and B to be taken to the auction mart to be sold.

To Mr Mays : Mr Spooner was in looking at the furniture. The made-up list of the furnit ire he owned was made up a couple of months before the furniture was put into the rooms A and B. Mr Spooner had brought along a prospective buyer, and he had made out a list of what he was selling. The bulk of the furniture on the list was in the two room •. He had the list in his hand when Mr Spooner was looking at the furniture. The reason of the sale by auction was that he had got behind with his rent and owed £Bl odd at the end of April, and he had given Mr F. W. Wild. Mr Shaw’s agent, a bill of sale on part of the furniture. He had arranged to give up the house on the Ist of May. The furniture was to be sold by him to the best advantage. At this stage Mr Mays warned Gordon to be careful in his answers.

Tie had about £l4O worth of property besides that included in the bill of sale. The bill of sale and items on lists produced comprised practically all he possessed. He came to Te Aroha about twelve months ago Previous to that he had been employed by one mining company for about 17 years. He brought £2OO worth of fnrniture from the Thames, and had bought about £35 additional in Auckland and Te Aroha, and he had about £6O or £7O in cash when he came here. The rent under the lease was £2 per week. The boarding-house was never very successful from the start. Besides owing £Bl for rent he admitted three distress summonses being issued against him, He owed about £3O besides those summonses. He had £lO or £ls cash at the time of the fire. His Worship : If you had that cash why did you not wipe out one of these distress warrants P Witness : He had arranged with a party to have one warrant withdrawn on condition that he gave an order on the auctioneer. He hoped by the sale of the furniture to clear off all his debts.

To Mr Mays: He had an insurance of £l5B on his effects- He had paid the premium and had a receipt, but had not get the policy. The insurance was to take effect as from March 31st, 1907. He showed Holt, the agent, round. His furniture was side by side with that of Mr Shaw’s. He did not show the agent the list of Mr Shaw’s furniture, and he signed the proposal some weeks after. His Worship said the insurance agents would take any premiums, and then the company would dispute the amount when a fire occurred. In regard to the proof of loss lists, witness said his wife and the girl made out the lists, and Mr Salmon copied them for him, and he produced the original lists in his wife’s handwriting. He swore on oath that the proof of loss lists were correct, and ho possessed all on the lists articles enumerated on the lists, and that the values assigned were a fair market value. He claimed for 900 pieces of crockery. He had set down 53 or 56 at one sitting on New Year’s Day. Mr Mays said they could not find 100 pieces. Witness : The bulk of the crockery was stored in room B. In regard to 11 enamel candlesticks, of which only the remains of one were found, he swore that he had not got anyone to remove any articles in lists before the fire. Thoy had had plenty of crockery for their own use at the Thames, and they had a good deal of company. lie had also bought crockery while at To Aroha from Thames and local firms, to the extent of £lO or £ls.

In regard to the list of 127 pieces, of knives, forks and spoons, of which only 147 l i jcch could be found, leaving 280 missing, he could not account for them missing, as they were on the premises on the night of the fire. He swore that he put two metal cruets in the room, but could not account for them being missing. He had a leather trunk with an iron frame full of personal effects in room B, and he could not account for the non-appear-ance of the iron frame, which could not burn, also of the eight chairs in the room of which only traces of ono were found. Witness said lie expected to realise about £240 by the auction sale. To Mr Clendon: He had been married seven years and had always had a home of his own, and had collected various household effects. His house at the Thames was well furnished. He came to Te Aroha by train. He gave a list of local tradesmen ho had bought goods from for cash, also from Auckland and Thames firms, and from a traveller. No goods or effects had been removed before the fire. They saved nothing from tho fire except the perambulator and tho clothes they stood up in. They retired on tho night of the fire about 10.80, and there might have been a little fire in the kitchen. Ilis wife was up about twelve to get the baby a drink. Electric light only was used. The list Mr Spooner saw only comprised the goods he intended to sell. He was selling out for £l6O including tho goodwill. The piano cost £4O, before he was married, and the Singer’s sewing machine £l4 14s.

Witness said he did not believo in insurance generally, but they had had a couplo of narrow scpieaks here and it was Berghofer’s fire that induced him to insure. Ho did not show Holt anything that did not belong to him. He had no experience of values to make up his proof of loss sheets —it was really guesswork. He knew a clock was taken after the fire without the knowledge of those who were in charge. The insurance agent was not aware he was going to sell the furniture. His wife would have a much better idea of the value of the effects than he had.

In regard to the fire, witness said about three minutes elapsed before he got out in the street. Pie did not have an opportunity to give an alarm. Tho smoko was coming down the manhole when he struck theslight. He could not give any idea as to the cause of the. fire, and he was not guilty of any act which might have caused the firo. Cross-examined by Mr Mays: He could not account for the fire in threo different places. Mr May said the floor was burnt through ip three different corners in one room. To Mr Mays : Mr Wild did not hurry up the insuring of the furniture. His Worship : He was asleep when bis;

wife got up to get the baby a drink. Sarah Lavinia Gordon, wife of the previous witness, examined by Mr Mays, deposed : She retired on the night of the fire about 10.30, and about 12 o’clock she got up to go to the kitchen to get a bottle for the baby, and then went straight back to bed again ; she was up about five minutes. She was awakened by the baby choking and found the room was full of smoke Her husband got the girl out and assisted her and the baby, and then roused the boarder. She wheeled the pram out herself and then j umped off the verandah. She did not remember seeing the brigade until she was out in the street, and did not even hear the firebell. The whole of the front was on fire and the flames had burst out of their bedroom. She could not remember anything that happened that day that could possibly cause a fire. Practically all the furniture was in room B. A number of things were put in the room after the auctioneer had been there. The girl was shifted to the room adjoining because she was very hard to wake, and there was no other lady in the house. The list of the proof of loss was a correct one—she was quite certain of it being correct. In regard to the 900 pieces of crockery, she swore she had that number, and could not account for the, shortage. The stuff was put into the room —she had counted it. In regard to the 427 pieces (knives, spoons and forks) they were put into the room, and she could not explain how they came to be missing, or the chairs. She was positive she put eleven candlesticks in the room, but could not explain how they could only find trace of one.

She had put her personal effects into a large trunk, with iron fastenings, but could not account for them not finding any trace of the trunk or contents. She had over 500 pieces more than appeared in the bill of sale. At this stage the case with the remains of the crockery recovered from the fire were brought in. To Mr Clendon : She did not save anything from the fire. None of her things were removed by any person previous to the night of the fire. The proof of loss sheets contained what she honestly believed to be in their possession at the time of the fire. She awoke Gordon. There was no time to save anything. Goods might have been taken after the fire—she knew a clock had been taken. Ettie Hall, general servant at Belmont House at the time of the fire, deposed : The first she knew of the fire was when she found herself in the kitchen. She did not see Gordon until she got to Waverley House. She was cleaning the silver at the time the auctioneer was in. Furniture was being put in during the evening. She had counted five dozen each of knives, forks, and spoons, and most of them were put in room B, and some in the kitchen. She had not done anything in the room likely to cause a fire To Mr Clendon : Her bed had been under the window all the time she had been in the room—since Easter. She had no knowledge as to how she got into the kitchen. She could not dispute it if Gordon said he had carried her there. They had no opportunity to save anything—she escaped in her nightdress. The auctioneer came in between 5 and 6 o’clock, and a number of things were put into the room after he had gone. She saw Gordon burning some papers there about six o’clock. She used to wait on the table. Charles Frederick Spooner, auctioneer, Te Aroha, said he visited Gordon’s house on May 2nd to inspect some furniture which he was to sell by auction on the following Saturday. The furniture was put into rooms A and B for him to inspect. Gordon was there at the time, and pointed out the things he was to sell. Gordon showed him goods which he had since found out did not belong to him. He thought the effects would have brought about £9O or £IOO, but he would not have given him more than £6O if he had been buying them to sell again. He reckoned the highest price the piano would fetch was £ls, and the sewing machine (a Singer) £lO. He thought there would be about 375 (a guess) pieces of crockery in the room instead of 900. He did not see any cutlery, Mrs Gordon said it was being cleaned. To Mr Clendon : He had no knowledge of what was put in the room after he was there. He went to see what he had to sell. Everything looked clean and good. He would be surprised to hear the insurance agent had put the value of the piano down at £35. He had a purchaser, who was going to give Gordon £l5O for the goodwill and furniture. lie was certain there were three iron bedsteads for sale. To Mr Mays '• He did not know what the goodwill was worth. Thos. F. Holt, agent for the State Fire Insurance Office for Te Aroha, said he effected an insurance over Gordon’s furniture on the 23rd March of this year. He personally inspected the piano and sewing machine. Gordon accompanied him through the house and pointed out the furniture that belouged to Shaw. He made a few rough notes of the goods. The full value on furniture and effects was £l7O, on piano £35, and sewing machine £l2. He now thought the value should be at the outside £IOO, which would give an insurance of £75. Gordon said he could not account for the fire, and said he had burned some papers in the grate. To Mr Clendon : He could not swear that any of the goods pointed out by Gordon belonged to Shaw. Ho was satisfied at the time that the value of the goods was £l7O, but after seeing the lists he thought the full value should be £IOO. Frederick Wm. Wild, agent for Mr Shaw, said that he approached Gordon for a settlement of Shaw’s rent bill, and he decided to give Shaw a bill of sale over a portion of his furniture. Gordon spoke to him about insuring his furniture, and he told him that it would be a very advisable thing to do. He was certain it was the same piano he had

valued. To Mr Clendon : Gordon was quite willing to give him his own value of the furniture. He had not done any valuing for insurances. Ilis Worship: Shaw’s furniture was insured for £3OO. He did not see the furniture after it was put in the room. John Samuel Cricket, captain of the Te Avaha Volunteer Fire Brigade, said he went to the fire at Belmont House. When he got there the fire was coming out of rooms A and B. After lie came back from getting out the second lead of hose he saw Gordon. The fire was practically confided to rooms A and B. It was about a quarter of an hour before they got the fire in hand. The roof of room B fell down and covered everything in the room. Mr Bartley employed the brigade to watch tho place until he arrived. It was not possible for anyone to take anything from the place after the brigade got to the fire. They afterwards cleared the rooms, B particularly, and sorted out the debris carefully. He was quite satisfied that nothing of any size had oscaped them, as it had passed through throe hands, and Mr Bartley was watching all tho<time. They found nothing to indicate that a leather trunk had been there, or anyonamel candlesticks. The fire was not sufficiently strong to burn the beading on a wooden bedstead. Ho thought the fire started about four feet on the front side of room A, near a blind door. He was satisfied the fire started in the partition betwee the two rooms. He did not think the fire could have possibly occurred from the grate, as the woodwork was intact. There was nothing to show that the firo was accidentally caused, Witness at this stage explained about a clock which was taken from the premises after the fire. It appeared that the morning after the fire a Te Aroha lady of note appeared on tho scene and asked if she could take a certain clock away, but was refused permission. Later on she was seen to go into the premises by witness aud the next thing he saw was her handing the clock over the fence. .When he went and remonstrated with her she said the clock belonged to her and not to Gordons. To Mr Clendon: He was not aware that Gordon helped to take the hose off tho reel. The brigade were there from just after 3 a.m. to 5.45. Tbe fire was out at a quarter to foui-. In regard to the cause of the fire ho

did not think any other person would come to any other conclusion than he did. He had s -en nothing to lead him to behove that the fire was wilful. .... . j Edward Bartley, architect and adi ister for |the State Fire Insurance Department, said he came to Te Axon a the day after the fire and inspected the building at once. The roof of room B had fallen in, end he gave instructions that nothing was to be touched without his authority. They held a thorough investigation of the place on the luesday, and previous to that they had one man in the daytime und two at right watching it. They were unable to find any crockery or cutlery bnt that produced m Court. He was thoroughly satisfied that all the the crockery in rooms A and B w is in the bos in Court. - In regard to the cutlery, 427 pieces cl-iimed for, he had found 24 pi-'j-'®®' in “ eluding one knife, and Gordon had fbund. 18. and when his attention was dr&vra to the discrepancy he found in his bedroom, in two tins, 105 pieces of all soils—leaving a deficiency of 280 piecesfound the remains of one chair, though nine were claimed for. There was nO of the trunk, though carefully ex- - ainined for; no candlesticks or cruets.... There was absolutely nothing to account for the fire starting in those rooms and could not have arisen from the fusing of the electric wire. In the proof of loss list some of the values have been doubled, and even trebled, and he gave a number of instauces. In regard to the piano (a Chapel) his value of it was £lO at the outside. The insurable value of the effects, not including the pia.no and sewing machine, at the very outside was £65. He warned Gordon half-a-dozen limes about making up his proof of loss lists. To Mr Clendon: He was not in Gordon’s house before the fire.At this stage a little breeze took place between Mr Mays and Mr Clendon the latter telling Mr Mays to “ Shut-up! To Mr Clendon : The agent was entirely wrong in allowing £25 for the piano. , In regard to.tHe cause of tne tire, be had arrived at his conclusion after an inspection of the premises He would swear positively that the things were not there at the time of the fire. It was four days after the fire before they examined the debris. To Mr Mays: He was satisfied that £65 was the outside value, and he would unhesitatingly say that he did not think the property existed. This concluded the evidence. His Worship intimated that his report would be forwarded to the General Manager at Wellington.