Morning herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1837-1840, 1839-10-23

OcT!& .-BsniDniN. Legis - Ie LsNs,so. n
sts,ed The ~ 9, Mr. ChsrSes O'Cosnss briefly
on policy Of insurance ssctsL hstwssn tss lam
IN ana ae'enaan.s on stock Of dry goods jewery
RroLy articles which were destroyed BY ere At
rentema. th.n v.n o. January last The learned
preliminary proofs, as required BY the statute.
Cnarles Niepschutz examined. ~ "a clerk IN the
store - ne SIX months Previeus to tho fire. The
nrst no1r and basement Of q house, at the cor
her OF High street. Ca diagram Of the premises
wa, was mere shown to the witness and explained to
the Court and Jury) On the night Of the FIRE witness
was IN bed In the store, and the plaintiff in The hack
room About the middle Of the night was awoke Nv
great smeke and got up to what was the matter
Witness ran to the door to give the alarm which IL
did so soon as ne could get the door open Cried fire
ana then ran back TO get some clothes il was verv
coid, and to see how the fire originated. On ex.
animation, witness ascerained that the fire had
commenced near the stove where there was tran
door, winch afforded vent TO the fame Plaintiff
slept In the back room, and witness believes he got
OUT by the window. 1t was time before the as.
sstance came and the stock was nre,tv we'll ali as
troyed
The store contained dry goods glass ware brass and
TN cookery utensils, hardware, iewery, fancy ar
ucles furniture, gold and silver watches, fish hooks,
silver spoons, and household furnitnre. The day
alter the lire the plaintiff and witness made out a
list ef the articles lost 1t is the same now pro-
duced. Witness called over the articles, and
plaintiff put them down. The amonnt Of the loss
was between four and Eve thousand dollars. This
witness underneath very long and rigid cross exa-
mnation but he stuck to the ruth Of the schedule
as produced in court.
The District Attorney took a technical obiectio,
20 the preliminary proofs, which was reserved for
the epinion oil the court. The plaintiff having rested
ms case the District Attorney opened the part Of
the defendants, IN brief speech, in which he
alluded to the frequency Of fires, and hoped that
the jury would give the patient investigation
Eliza Combe and her three daughters, were then ex
amined at great length. These ladies resided over
the plaintiffs store and their account Of the fire did
not vary from that given by the plaintiffs clerk.
They had not been often in the PLAINTIFFS store and
could not give much account Of the stock il contain
ed Some had seen bed furnitnre one had bought
bureau another had seen gauze wells and another
pair OF stockings, but neither of them would have
considered it proper place to have sent her husband
to- tor the purpose of purchasing pair OF bree ches
Miss Mary Ann Burtis lived next door and was
milliner; she had been in plaintiff q store
ana saw that he kept all manner Of things" Went
to buy looking glass and bought three German
tea spoons Never bought any ribbon nor saw any
dry goods She was awoke by the fire and by find
ing her place full Of smoke
the store of the plaintiff. On the night before the
fire plaintiff came and bought candles for which he
paid two cents. Witness did not think this remark
able, though he usually lighted his. store with
splr,t gas. Witness had often been in the store
OF plaintiff and once priced a watch; saw great
many things of all kinds in the store household and
Kitchen furniture, dry goods in small quantities. and
other things such as glass and gold like Thew were
common looking things. One Sunday before the Gre
witness called on the plaintiff, and saw number of
boxes, which plaintiff said contained gold watches
which he was going to repack in large box.
A naniber of other witnesses, chiefly residents Of
Brooklyn, were then introduced TO prove that the
stock OF goods were Of very inferior quality, and
were worth no more than or $500 One witness test
fed that he saw a number OF beys plunderine the
store on the morning after the fire. Applsgate the
printer, swore that he had been frequently at the
PLAINTIFFS store TO collect debt Of 49, and that he
would have been willing TO take his debt out Of the
store II he could have found any thing worth his
having.
AT this point the Court adjourned to. Wednesday