ENQUIEY INTO THE LAST FIRE IN SHIELS-STREET.

Inangahua Times, Volume VII, Issue 1122, 28 August 1882, Page 2

ENQUIEY INTO THE LAST FIRE IN SHIELS-STREET.

« A magisterial et^uiry into the late fire in Shiels street, vjhen the cottage in the occupation of Mrs Wade, was destroyed by fire, was held on Friday last at tho Court House before Mr Kevell . .M. Inspector Emerson conducted the case on behalf of the police, Mr W. H. Jones appeared for the Imperial Insurance Company. Mr W. G. Collings was chosen foreman of the j ury . The Magistrate referred in his opening remarks to the necessity that there was for an enquiry, owing to the fact that a previous attempt had been made to burn down the same building, as found by the jury who enquired into the first fire. It was also necessary because a number of witnesses who were acquainted with the <focts refused to give any information to ttye police as they ought to do. The poKce^were placed in a difficulty in the enquiry as they had to summon a set of 'witnesses withowt^fenowing what evidence they would give. He spoke strongly of the wrong to society that such refusal to give information occasioned, but now that these persons had been summoned to that Court they would be compelled to speak out. The first witness called was. William Gardner, a mining surveyor , residing in Eeefton. He said that about 3 o'clock on the morning of the 19th of July last, he was awoke by his little son '' calling to him, and telling him that the chimney of the cottage occupied by Mrs • Wade was on fire, and that her children were crying. Tho cottage in question [ j w.is next to his. He at once got up, . | and raised the alarm of fire, especially I ! calling lower down Shiel-street, in the I direction of Mr Lynch 's house in order to ' rouse him, after which he went to the 1 burning cottage. He there found Mrs ■ Wade on the verandah in her night dress with one child in her arms and another . by her side, and some bedding and boxes . ' and other gear in the gateway and under | the verandah. Mr Lynch came up at the | time, and the Uevd Mr Parkin shortly after, and they carried the things into the [ road. Witness took the children from : Mrs Wade and took them over to' 7 his 1 house, and asked Mrs Gardner to put , them to bed. Mrs Wade in reply to a question said there was nothing more in . the front rooms, so they went round to , the back, forced open the door, and removed the crockery and other things in jt. They found Mrs Lynch's dog tied up in an out-house, and released it. Mrs " Wade remarked that somebody had cut her clothes line^o do ikwith. The front 1 rooms- : \^re noij^enterau and the front i .'l -vs, $&;* not -M&hedJf Wjfoe.ss asked f '-. ~^.&ue to go over t^hi^i- house, and T-' > -■ '■"; r!^" t ?L^^^&(^^ n^ if friendly ter^s wich^^jLJwadtt, : neither waa he with-&rgeant Sfrille *$?K> fijfned , the AMH^Jgfry ' v i coffin , ivV-rffclliliabliß' 1 inteiTiuwed nSftontliQlOth of Represent month and asked hini what .he fcnew about the fire, stating that Seigeant J\ eville had sent him^ but he declined to ' give any information as he considered 1 Sergeant Neville far too interested a > party. He did not instruct his servants [ or family to give no information to the police, for he was away from home, but , if he had been at home he would not have allowed them to do so. He declined to say whether between the, 3rd of June and 19th of July he had written anything to the newspapers, or got any one else to write anything against Sergeant Neville's character or against Mrs .> eville. He had published an advertisement caution- : ing Sergeant ft eville using my name. The cottage was completely consumed in about half an hour after he first observed the . fire. Tho whole floor of the front room . appeared to be on fire before the boards . at the side of the house were alight. On , the 2!Jth of June witness, on the infor--1 matioii of \ is V\ adc, waa bound uvcr lv

;eep the peace, on the ground that le had threatened to bum her house down, >ut he declared solemnly that he never nade such a threat. By Mr Jones— He went to bed that 1 ight at 12 o'clock. He believed Sergeant Neville owned the land on which Y\ ade's ;ottage stood. He never expressed any lesire to become possessed of that land, tt had been offered him on several occasions, but he would not take it as a lift. The house and land were offered liim a day or two before the fire for £90 by George Hisiop, but lie declined to purchase it. Since then Frank Smith had oifered-him the land for £50, >ot more than four or five minutes elapsed between the time lie saw the tire and his taking the children over to his house. He believed that at the time he saw the fire a few "buckets of water would have put it uut. He had a well and bucket at his house but it was not handy. There was no light excepting through the chimney for some time. The light came from the frpnt room, which he could liken to nothing but an oven. He himself saw n'^ftre through the chimney. ♦By Jhhe jury -.--The lront door was cj§|p§&l the time, and that was one ofthe 1 h^'cnrV not now account^ for front room. There was no -i^nt in the front room. He could see from the vurandah that the bulk of the- fire was on the floor. He was not aware of his own knowledge, but heard that the place was insured. By the Magistrate — Mrs Wade was by no means demented. She was not calm but was able to give them instructions as to moving the A Jungs. Theodore I cchner was caneu and asked if he had been employed by M r Gardner to write letters agaiust Sergeant N eville, or if A! r Gardner had asked him to do so. He denied that he had either written or been asked to write such letters. William Gardner junr, a little lad of about 8 years old was called and corroborated the evidence of his father, relative to seeing the fire, and calling him. He denied the fire had been a subject of conversation with his parents or servant. He denied having told Mrs V\ ade the day after the case at Court, that his father had not done with her and that other fagget. He had had no conversation with her at all. Mrs Gardner, wife of the first witness was examined, but her evidence in the main was merely corroborative of that of her husband. She said that when the elder little Wade was brought over to her house, she asked him who was in the place and he replied no one but his mother and the children. He told her also that he saw his mother put the hot ashes out before they went to bed. She admitted that they were not on friendly terms with the Wades. She tried to get Mrs Wade to come to her house, but she would not do so. In reply to a question, Mrs Wade told her that she did not know how the fire occurred, as she (Mrs Wade) was particular in putting the tire out before she went to bed. In reply to Mr Jones, witness said it was impossible that the fire could have originated from the outside. If there had been any fire on the weatherboards she would have seen it. She refused to give information to the police respecting the fire, but not owing to any instructions to that effect from her husband. Mr Lynch, solicitor, who was aroused by the alarm given by Mrs Gardner, was examined, but, beyond stating that he was at the fire and helped to save some of the things, his evidence added nothing to the facts previously given. In reply to the jury, witness said the bedding was not tied up, but just thrown down loosely on the verandah. A woman would have had no great difficulty in dragging the things out. The Kevd. J. Parkin, VVesleyan minister, gave similar testimony to that of Mr Lynch. Catherine Catigan, servant to Mrs Gardner, was called, but her evidence was brief and unimportant. John Tuckey, who was a patient in the hospital, at the time of the fire, proved that when he saw it, it was coming from the chimney, after which it caught the end of the house and ran along. Mary Ann r* icholls, who waa at Mrs Wade's on the evening .previous to the tire proved that when she left at half-past 8 o'clock there was very little fire in the grate, so little, indeed, that she complained of it. In reply to the jury, she said there was no kindling wood by the tire at the time. Kiohard Wills was called, and gave similar evidence to that previously tenj Mrs Wfigjjgu&id that at the time of the was away froin^hfyne. e|||p§*©!S<v oW by what she thought was acjWjy, and found that her bedroom was Jjrfvqy by a .light from the window; the jWffpfojnjD, ,jftf ;'q fire through^fr, • She. opened the door, and found the sitting room full of smoke. She then opened the front door, and heard Mr Gardner calling out "fire." She took her children out on to the verandah, and told her boy, Tommy, to scream fire, which he did. The right hand corner of the room near the ceiling, between the chimney and lean-to, was now on fire, and a piece of burnt scrim fell down on the clock. (. )n looking through the hole where it came from, she saw about two yards of the ridge board on tire, as well as the shingles of the roof. She then removed all shethings she could out of the bedroom to the verandah, but she could only get bedding and boxes, which wore saved. She estimated her loss at £40, including a sewing machine, a gold brooch, and a quantity of groceries. [Witness proceeded to give details of the squabbles that had taken place between the parties.] On the 3rd of June, Mr Gardner i threatened to " burn the b y place ;md thing down," and that very night the

irst fire took place. She then laid an infornation against him, and on the 29th he vas bound over by Mr Baker, R.M., to ceep the peace. On the night of the ire, the subject of that enquiry, she thought she heard footsteps around the house and the gate opened, and the little dug was barking a great deal. She looked out, but the night was dark, and she could see no one. \A hen she went to bed the dog was loose, but subsequently she found it tied up with a piece of her clothes line which had been cut. She threw no ashes outside that night. • y the jury : The chimney was not foul. She had some kindling wood in the room, but not near the fireplace. She could give no idea of how the fire originated. The first place blio saw it in was the roof. Mary Ann Rees proved that she heard Mr Gardner threaten Mrs Wade that he would burn the b y place O.own. Mrs Gardner was standing by him, and tapped him on the shoulder, saying " VVjlliam, that will quiet her." She was at the back of V\ ade's house. Constable Bamford, Sergeant Neville, Mr Wade, and his son, Mr ShepSJijpherd, and \ rs M illhouse, were also o.imriined, bjg^l^eic evidence threw no The MagSffSsfcrwrnnned up the evidence, pointing out to the jury the various verdicts they might find, and they- retired at about 9 p.m. for delibera tion. They were deliberating for a considerable time, and it was 10 o'clock before they came to a decision, when they returned the following verdict : " That the house occupied by Mrs v* ade and family was burnt down on the morning of the 19th of July, but from the evidence adduced the jury are unable to determine by what means the fire originated."