THE GISBORNE FIRE RAISING.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2616, 25 September 1909, Page 5

THE GISBORNE FIRE RAISING.

After a series of twenty-one outbreaks of fire in a period of seven weeks, residents of Gisborne will no doubt, be extremely gratified to learn that their cause for unrest is at ail end, as after five outbreaks last evening two youths were apprehended on suspicion of incendiarism, and after being questioned made a complete confession regarding at least the recent fires commencing' 'With ..the outbreak at the Drill Shed a week ago.

A FIRE IN LOWE STREET

The first alarm' last evening was sounded at 8.17 p.m The outbreak Avas in a small ' building situated in Low© Street off the right of way adjoining Messrs Rees Bros, and Bright s offices. The fire Avas discovered first bv Mr. H. Humphreys, employed by Mr. T. Adams, bookseller. He was in the vicinity, and, smelling smoke, created its origin, and proceeded to give the alarm. In tho meantime, Mr. o. Knowles, a local lighterman, who .was standing at the corner of LoAve Street with a friend, rushed down entering the passage way found a window open. He entered, and discovered the rear wall, which was covered with scrim and paper, and a portion of the roof ablaze. Fortunately the timbei had not caught, and with the aid of a batten with .a nail in it, he succeeded in tearing the burning material off the walls and roof, and the flames were extinguished by means of a few buckets of water. The Brigade weie quickly present, but tlieir services were [ not failed into requisition. . \, i '« g i ns recently been occupied by mess mAerslnthe employ of Messrs Adair Bros but in the last few days has been imtoiianted. Yesterday afternoon, about 4 p.m., the room was cleaned out, and the rubbish carted aAvay. The building was owned by Mr. Wm. Good, jeweller, and suffered little damage.

IN THE MASONIC HOTEL. At 8.26 p.m. the bell sounded again, this time for an outbreak m a practically disused lumber room on the second story of the Masonic Hotel building on the left of the gateway leading into the hotel yard. The fire was first discovered by Messrs A. doLautour and S Whitehead. They were coming from the lavatory in the hotel yard when the former noticed, through a broken window pane, the ceiling of the room smouldering and emitting a dull red glare. He at once informed Mr W. Samson, manager of the hotel, and Ml. Whitenead ran to the firebelL Mr. Samson, seizing a door mat, rushed up the stairs on the outside of the building. He found the door wide open, and entering in mounted on a chair, and succeeded in beating the fire out, making matters still more safe by the application of several dishes of water. Once again the Brigade arrived promptly but just too late. Mr. Samson stated to a “Times” reporter that the room is seldom, if ever, used.. He was in it about noon to-dav and a carter visited it about 2 p m. for tlm purpose of replacing some old books which had been in use at the Supreme Court. The room was then closed up, the door being securely fastened. No damage was done, but a signficant fact is that the. fire started on the only small part of the ceiling which is covered with paper, the remainder being* plain boards. FIRE IN ST. MARY’S SCHOOLROOM. No alarm was sounded for the next fire, as the flames were extinguished before such a course was necessary. The fire occurred in St. Mary’s Catholic School, and was first observed by a Miss Haughie. who, with her sister, was leaving Mrs. Parker’s residence opposite at about 8.50 p.m. She noticed a' flickering light through the windows, and at once informed Father Lane, who made investigations. Here incendiarism was obvious. The intruders had evidently entered through a window which had bebn left open for the purpose of airing the room. Underneath this window, on the eastern side of the building, there were three large maps rolled up and placed on the floor. One of these was taken across to the opposite side of the room, placed in some upturned! benches against the wall, and set fire to. Luckily the flames did not catch the wooden walls, which were varnished, and the fire really burned itself out, little damage being done except by charring.

OUTBREAK AT RAILWAY STABLES PREMISES. The cottage immediately adjoining the Railway Stables was the next on the list, and here fire was discovered at about 9.45 p.m. The outbreak was in a back room occupied by the groom in charge, and, again, incendiarism was absolutely certain. A small table was standing in the corner of the room against "the wall, and a candle had been lighted and placed leaning against the angle of the two walls. A number of young men occupy the front portion of the house, and attracted by the smell of burning, and by smoke coming through the boards, they investigated, and located the candle as stated. The. scrim'and wall-paper were burned, and had the discovery not been made when it was nothing could have averted a serious conflagration, as the building isi a very old one, and the flame was just, beginning to catch a good hold of the walls. As it was, a bucket or two of water saved the situation. The building iis owned by Mr. John Sheridan. GISBORNE ROWING SHEI) THREATENED. While people were still excitedly discussing the previous outbreaks, their conversation was, at 11.25 p.m., ogam, interrupted by the pealing of the firebell. “The rowing shed is on fire, was shouted, and a rush was made to the scene, the Brigade being there almost immediately. Once more the work of the incendiary was dear. At the front of the building a few hoards were missing, and into the space underneath the flooring had been thrust a> sheet of tin, on which was a quantity of straw saturated ivith kerosene, and blazing. Fortunately there was nothing inflammable to come into immediate contact ivith the flames, and they were easily extinguished before any damage was done. Mr. N. deLautour, who was cycling over the Wliatanpoko bridge, first noticed the glare, and some of the members of the Gisborne Rifles rang the bell. . A SUSPECT CAPTURED. When the fire was noticed, Mr. R. T. Seymour, who had just left the Cosmopolitan Club, was passing over the bridge on liie way home. He ran back over the bridge, but before reaching the shed he observed a boy standing in the

FIVE OUTBREAKS LAST NIGHT. TWO LADS ARRESTED FOR INCENDIARISM. FTJLL CONFESSION BY THE YOUTHFUL PERPETRATORS

vicinity of the stone crushing paint. 110 seized the boy by the arm and put some question to ham about the fire, and the lad replied, “What do I know about the fire?” The whole demeanor of the boy was so suspicious that Mr. Seymour decided to detain him. Ims he' did, and handed the lad over to the the police. . , , ~ It was ascertained at the station tii&fc the boy’s name was Patrick O’Sullivan, aged about 16 years, and residing m Peel Street. He stoutly denied his guilt on being questioned, oven when confronted by Constable fecobt, who identified him as a boy whom lie had seen loitering about Bright Street about 11 p.m., in a manner calculated to excite suspicion". On being questioned as to his whereabouts, he denied having been in the vicinity of any of the fires, but stated that he attended the picture shew iu the theatre. He made certain statements about the company ho had boon in, and as a result Sergeant I-tuttoii, Detective Rawle, and Constable Scott proceeded to a wliaro in Grc.v Street. , It is stated that he finally admitted his complicity in the fire-raising. A. SECOND ARREST.

Here a young man named Thomas Foster, aged 18 years, was disooveied to be alone in the whare, in bed reading. Ho was questioned, and at first denied all knowledge of the night’s occurrences, hut a few moments later.lie made a complete statement, confessing that he and the hoy O’Sullivan were responsible for not only last nights fires, hut also thoso of last Saturday night and Sunday morning and the previous outbreak in the old drill shed. There was only one fire for which, he said, they were not responsible, that being the outbreak in Mr, Snelgar’s house in Carnarvon Street. It is understood that the boys worked in company, one of them generally expressing the intention to the other that he would “like to see a fire tonight.” The other apparently concurred, and ias a result their nefarious schemes were carried out. Matches, caudles, straw, kerosene, and paper were called into requisition, and the clothes and hands of the lad Foster smelt strongly of kerosene last night, while O’Sullivan’s fingers and handkerchief were considerably blackened. The hoy O’Sullivan is rather small for his ago. He was before the Court in the light of a plaintiff some months ago, when he successfully sued his employer at Ormond for wages due. For some weeks he lias been in town doing no work. His parents are well known in Gisborne, and at present the mother, who owns land at Ormond, is residing in town, while his father is working up country on a station. , Of the other boy, Thomas Foster, little is known. He is a much bigger built lad than O’Sullivan, with rather a frank and open countenance. He hails from the Thames district, and has only been in Gisborne for six weeks. He is employed by Messrs F. Hall and Sons. The arrest of the youthful fireraisers will no doubt be received with satisfaction, as a feeling of alarm and uneasiness prevailed all over the town. Great credit is due to Mr. Sevmour for his prompt action, and to the police authorities for the smart and successful maimer in which they followed up the clue obtained from the first of the cub prits when being questioned. Both lads will be formally charged at the Police Court this morning.