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lost their lives to be rescued cannot be stated with certainty, but the Superintendent of the brigade himself said that had the Tilling-Stevens ladder been promptly despatched and properly used, notwithstanding its cumbersome nature and unwieldy and clumsy operation, there was at least the possibility that by it two of the girls in the millinery room could have been saved. Even when it did arrive and drove past the windows where those girls were in peril, and the attention of the driver was drawn by one of the firemen to the peril of those girls, because the officer in charge of the ladder gave no instructions to stop, the driver drove on without drawing this officer's attention to the need to stop. Although the driver failed in his duty, we accept the officer's explanation that he did not hear any message to the driver, and was unaware of the need to rescue any one in Goodman's building. Mr. Thomas, counsel for the accident underwriters, has severely criticized this action, and coming on top of the delay in sending the ladder it indicates lack of central control and co-ordinated action. 178. Though several witnesses not in the brigade have given evidence of drawing firemen's attention to the girls at the upper windows, the exact time at which they were noticed is difficult to ascertain. It seems the difficulty is accentuated by the fact that when first seen, and this must have been well before the actual outbreak of flame, the girls gave no indication of being in peril but adopted an attitude which indicated they were not in danger, and this can be readily understood because they could not at that period, which must have been at the time of or immediately after the arrival of the brigade, see that they could be cut off by an ascending volume of smoke. 179. The number of brigadesmen present was three officers and eleven firemen. Of these fourteen, Officer Stevenson and Firemen Thompson and Shaw were in the right-of-way. There must have been some one at the lead in the street, and another with the lifeline of Fireman Thompson. Officer Burrows, after being at the right-of-way, walked along under the veranda with Mr. Eoger Ballantyne into the building, so that leaves an officer (Oakman) and seven brigadesmen awaiting orders in the middle of the street. We find it hard to believe that, having the same opportunity of seeing the upper windows in Goodman's and Pratts, they did not see the girls as soon as members of the public saw them. 180. Mr. Falkingham said he noticed the girls at the second or third floors of Goodmans and drew the firemen's attention to them. Mr. Roger Ballantyne, after returning from the goods-lift with Officer Burrows, said he noticed the girls in the millinery room on the third floor of Goodman's, asked a fireman for the chief, and was told he was not there. He said he then told a fireman about the girls. There was then no flame, and he saw no reason why the girls could not have been rescued if the necessary equipment was available. 181. Sergeant Walsh, of the Police Force, said he first saw girls at the windows of Goodman's third floor shortly after the arrival of the fire brigade. At a later stage a bystander drew his attention to the girls in the building, and he told a fireman there were some girls on the upper floor. 182. We think it unnecessary to detail further evidence, but perhaps it is well to refer to the evidence of a Mr. Kelly, who is the manager of Messrs. Whitcombe and Tombs, Ltd. He said he heard the fire-engine and then went into a position directly opposite Goodmans. He noticed the girls at the top of Goodmans a few seconds after arrival. The girls were within the view of firemen at the engine at Beaths. He saw water played into Congreves in seven to ten minutes after he first saw the girls. When the water was played in, the girls were still at the window. He saw girls in Goodmans raise the window and call for help on three occasions. Other witnesses heard the girls scream and put handkerchiefs over their faces.

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