Image TileImage TileImage TileImage TileImage TileImage TileImage TileImage TileImage TileImage TileImage TileImage TileImage TileImage TileImage TileImage TileImage TileImage TileImage TileImage Tile
Image size: 6144x7680 Scale: 35% - PanoJS3
Page overview thumbnail

Article text

THE LATE FIRE AT DEVON-
PORT.
CORONIAL INQUIRY.
(BY ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH.)
(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)
DEVONPORT, SEPT. 15.
A coronial inquiry was held at Devon-
port to-day into the cause of the fire by
which the Royal Hotel was destroyed. Mr
P. C. Maxwell, J.P. presided. Mr A.
Archer represented the insurance com-
panies, and Mr M. J. Clarke watched
the case on behalf of Mr J. J. Roche, the
licensee of the hotel.
The evidence of Mr Roche was to the
effect that on the night in question he was
aroused at about one o'clock by a crackling
noise, and saw sparks in a corner of the
bedroom breaking through ; on going out-
side he saw the whole place in a blaze;
with the assistance of others he
extinguished the fire, or thought he had
done so,but subsequently the fire broke out
afresh in the top storey of the house, and he
was unable to cope with it; he succeeded
in removing two-thirds of the furniture,
but spirits, wine, and cigars to the value of
£50 or £60 were destroyed; witness kept
his books in a cheffonier; the latter was
saved, but the books were gone; the furni-
ture and stock-in-trade were insured for
£500 in the Liverpool and London and
Globe Insurance Company in the joint
names of witness and of Messrs Boag
and Son; the latter firm had a bill
of sale over the furniture for £250;
there had been a previous attempt
to burn the place from the outside; the
furniture, roughly speaking, cost about
£700; the first fire on the premises
occurred three days after a former in-
surance policy expired; witness's groom,
on being paid his wages on the night of
the fire, asked for "hush money," and when
witness swore at him he left, saying. "it
lies with you ;" another man named Wood
desired to speak to witness privately, and
then asked him for some portion of the
£500 insurance money; witness reported
the matter to the police ; witness was
perfectly solvent.
Elizabeth Roche corroborated her hus-
band's evidence.
Louisa Weasley, who was awakened at
the alarm of fire, deposed that there was a
strong smell of kerosene in the place at the
time, and further stated that the fire could
easily have been extinguished at first.
Thomas Wood, who was called to assist
in extinguishing the fire by the last
witness, deposed that on arrival at the
hotel Roche asked him to help get the
furniture out and never mind the fire;
the fire seemed to have started in Roche's
bed-room.
[The inquiry was still proceeding at 10
o'clock last night.]
$