INQUEST ON THE LATE FIRE.

Cromwell Argus, Volume IV, Issue 160, 3 December 1872, Page 3

INQUEST ON THE LATE FIRE.

An official inquiry into tlio circumstances attending the destruction by fire of the dwellinghouse recently occupied by Mr Joseph Harding, took place yesterday afternoon, before the Coroner, James Corse, Esq., M.D., and a jury composed of the following gentlemen, viz. : —Mr James Taylor, foreman; Messrs Bastings, Beattic, Burres, Colclough, Dagg, Dawkins, Jolly, Kidd, M'Ewen, Pierce, and 0. W. Wright. The jury having been duly irapanneled, and having visited the scene of the fire, Sergeant Cassels proceeded to examine witnesses. William U. Goodall, hoteikeepe'r, Bendigo, stated as follows: —The house destroyed belonged to me. lb was built of iron and wood, lined with hessian and paper, and floored throughout with timber. I visited the place to-day, and saw the house had been burnt down. The house was let to Joseph Harding at £'. i 12s. a month. I have always been, and am still, on friendly terms with Mr Harding. I have no reason to believe the house was maliciously set on tire. It was not insured. 1 estimated my loss through the fire at £l5O.

To a Juror: Mr Harding became my tenant about the 10th or 12th November. To another Juror : I intended to insure the house whenever it was completed.

To another Juror: The house was built in a substantial manner! There was a recess fpr placing a stove. Joseph Harding (at present out of business): sworn, stated :—I rented a house from Mr Goodall's agent about the llth of last mouth, and was residing in it on the 2tjth—the day of the tire. I was in the house when the lire broke out. Went home about half-past ten p.m., after going down town for a few minutes. 1 knocked at the door as usual, and was admitted by Mrs Harding. My wife went into my bedroom to remove one of the children to another apartment where it usually slept. 1 then retired to bed. Before t fell asleep, I heard a strange crackling noise in the adjoining room, —the one in which the children slept. I exclaimed, "Good Heavens ! the house must be on lire," and at once jumped up and went into the children's bedroom, where 1 saw the ceiling on lire. Mrs Harming (who was also in bed when tlie fire broke out) removed the three children as quickly as possible, and I then called out "Fire!" When I, went to bed, 1 left a light burning in my room, as usual. I did all in my power to extinguish the flames, but there was no water at hand except a small quantity in a basin, which 1 used. I believe I could have put the lire out with two or three buckets of water had any been at hand. Mr It. Brown was the first to come to my assistance. That was after my family were out of the house. The night was very boisterous,—a strong gale blowing from the southward. The house contained four looms, and there was only one fire-place —a stove in the kitchen. It was possible for a person outside to raise the window of the room in which the lire broke out and set tire to the ceiling ; but 1 have no suspicion the tire originated ,iK that way. 1 think it must; have been caused from the inside. I have good reason to believe it was wholly accidental. 1 lost a quantity of furniture, three chests of drawers, bedsteads and bedding, linen, &c. The contents of the house, as described, were not insured. The loss 1 sustained was about £2OO worth. There were combustible materials in the house, such as coal, and a small quantity of patent French pistol cartridges ; but neither of these articles were in the room where the lire broke out, and nearly everything in the house was consumed before the cartridges exploded. To a Juror : Mrs Harding took the light (a caudle) from my room into the children's bedroom when she removed the child, and returned with it. The only articles saved were a table, table-cover, a pair of pants. Mrs Harding, sworn, stated : —[ Mas at lnme all day on the 2Gth, and went to bed about '.) o'clock, leaving a candle burning in my bedroom. [ left no light in the children's bedroom, and there was not any tire in the stove. About halfpast ten my husband knocked at the door, and I rose and let him in. 1 then took one of the children to its own bedroom. I don't remember carrying a light to the children's room. There was sutlieient light showing through the partiItion between it and my own room. A chess of drawers stood in front of the window, and i damask curtains were linns; on either side. Diircctly after 1 went to bed the second time, I heard the sound of tire in the children's loom, • and exclaimed to my husband, "The room is on tire !" Before I left my room, the ceiling of that ! was also on tire. 1 took all the children on'ride, I while Mr Harding endeavoured to extinguish the 'flames. I don't remember leaving candle or i matches in the children's room that night, nor ' was there any tiro lit about the premises on that day. The whole of the goods in the house belonged to fay httsband. To a -I uror : - I took a candle into the children's room when 1 pat them to bed, and set it on the | dressing-table at the foot of the bed, next to the ; chesr of drawers. It would be five or ten minutes ; after putting the child into its own room that 1 I saw the light through the partition. To another Juror :—I had been asleep before JMr Harding came home. Robert Brown, carpenter, sworn, staled : ->'>n the night of the 2Gth,.-v.O ,t half-past ten, I beard i an akin.) of fire, and discovered that Mr < Joodall's j house was in a blaze. I went there, and assisted to remove a table out of the front room. The back portion of the building was in lla nes when I. first arrived. 1 believe that had a g>od supply of water been at hand, the greater part of the building might have been saved. The town race ; was within two yards of the building. There was some water obtained from a hole in the ditch, | and some from a zinc-lined case stan : ; ;, • rume I distance away from the house. It was all used

in attcmptins to extinguish the fire 1 believe that if the full quantity of water had been running in the race that night, the bail ling would have been saved. T.» a Juror :—1 did not hear the fire-bell ring that nigh* - . Serjeant Cassels gave some formal evidence. The jury then retired, and shortly returned with a verdict to the effect that the lire was accidental, but that there was no evidence to show in what maimer it originate.!.