THE WAINGAWA FIRE.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XV, Issue 4813, 31 August 1894, Page 2

THE WAINGAWA FIRE.

Coroner's'lissesW >|S

• ifj (Before Mr T. Hutohison,:Coi , onei')if. An inquiry into tho,cause.of-,the,E fire, by which a cottage at Waingawa,| to Messrs Williams aud| Beetham was destroyed, oii the l?|jbt| instant, was lield yesterday, before? the District Coroner, 7 Mr t. Hutchi-? sort, S Mi,' and a jury consisting of J Messrs J. Williams (foreman),; Wfe Bell; T. Donnelly,;j;Nicoi,'j;Hen>? :' ■ :■>■;s W. H. Williams, manager, ; deppsed that the cottage, or whare,'burnt:; down on the 19th instant, was ther property of Messrs William? .ajtf Beotlidra, and'wasTnWted' oii 'the-, south side of the He had visited the house on the 16th.~ It was then open and about fifteen men who iiaut-been'; camping there. Witness told then! ■ to clear out, They had no perrais- \, sion to occupy the house. The house '} had been used by swaggers for a con-; siderablc time, and this was the third time on which ho had ordered'■ them to leave the premises. .He; knew some of the men who had beef ; staying there, and somo of the men; showed a reluctance to leave., .This - would be about riiiio in tlie morning.; Before the men left witness had the straw, etc., cleared out of the build-" ing. A number of the men had been there a week and some a fortnight. He had no objection to its being used for a night's sholtoiv. On the 16t>' -ho waited tlil' all Uif mdipiiul 1 gone, but tho building. was not secured' against their re-occupying it. There.were two fires burningin the house that witness had put out, •He was satisfied that the building was wilfully set on fire,. The manner of one of the meii turned out,led to this suspicion, but. he had no proof. The men did not use threats. Jas, McCann, stated he was a ploughman in the employ, of Messrs Williams and Beetham, and'resided in a cottage several chains distant froni the house destroyed, He knew this house had been occupied by swaggers for over a month. night of tho 19th • was • raining and blowing. Some time after seyim o'clock witness turned his horses but, and that time he saw no sign of fire. About three quarters ef an hour afterwards, Morris, who was living in the same house with witness, called out that the building was on fire.: Witness jumped up and went towards tho fire but saw no ono about, ■ Some of the parties turned out by Mr Williams, had been there toramonth,diduotknowtheirnameß but knew them by sight, On tho Saturday evening, they were turned out k witness met one of the men going towards the Waingawa river, There was' .nothing to prevent the linen getting into tho building as the? doors and the windows were unfas : teued. Witness did not know the name of the man ho "saw an nrday,but cqul(} describo hiintq the Sergeant. On the Friday mqrning witness saw some hay in the building, whero it appeared sonjo qqe had slept tho previous night, Some swagger callod at tho house of witness on Monday morning, but could not : say where he came from, When witness noticed thefiro it had got a good hold in tho wall'near the chimney, Ho could not account how the fire got there. _ George Moms, who stated lie lived with the last witness'at the Waingawa, mid was there on the night of the 19th instant, corroborated the evidence of the last He saw no one near the building on the Saturday or Sunday. The firs had got a strong hold when ho went to tho building, and there was a strong S.E. wind blowing. no idea of thp'origin of tho firo other than that it'had 'been stau'tfid 'wjl'. fully. ';_ ■ •' Mr Williams re-called said tho insurance oil the building was £75 in the Liverpool, London and Globe Office. Tlie value of. the building was about L3OO, It cost L4OO to erect.

, Tho doroner addressed the Jury, who'after a short consideration veturned a verdict to'iho' oifect'tnifij there was no evidence to show how the Ore originated. .