The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1854-04-30

O. What the smount Of your stock when the store
was burneds A. should say 1t amounted 10 about
$l0s, 900 or SiOo o0O-something short of $4,000.
Y. Did you remove, or cause to be removed, any Of
your stock previous to the rey No. sir, we did not
nor had we any intention of doing
q How many men had you in your employS A. Be-
tween $50 and 500 This included all employed inside and
outside the building
Juror-Q How many persons we're employed in the
building at the time of the fire A. About twenty Ave.
Had you watchmanS A. We had private watch
Coroner-Q What was the amount of goods you had in
the store at the time Of the frep Between 405 900
and $ll0 900 worth. he stock reduced and that is
the reason why it was somewhat less than $ll0, ,000
Q What were you insured forf A. For S107 500. On
the first Of May we would not have been insured for SO
Juror-o; How many men had you employed 10 the
building when tito it took hres A. ! think we had from
sometimes less
Q. Had you any watchmAn in the premisesf A. We
had two men who used to sleep in the building who used
to go out evenings. understand they were out the
evening the fire took place.
that msh ae any o
was paying off one Of the men when he grumbled ut
something other threw book at head and said he
Juror-Q Did not Mr.. Hamilton the owner of the
American Hotel tell you that he had received an anony
burned, and cautiOning you to be your guards A.
He did.
Q. How long ago9 A. About four months; he told me
that he had learned through anonymous letter, the
building would be burned down, and said to me, You
had better be on your guard"
Mr Hamilton and were not ON very good terms aud he
said he the information for what it WORTH
and telling he would not look after my affairs but
would give me chance to attend to them without com
promising himself
building was unsafes A. 1t about eighteen months
ago; supposed at the time that every connected
with the Fire Department was acquainted with that
fact.
Coroner-Where did the furnace stand In the thirdl
storyp A. AT the head Of the stairs about five six
feet from the head Of the stairs presume that this
what taken by so many for the large iron safe.
Juror-h the building caught are accidentally would
A. should think so, If it caught ct all
Coroner-What kind of furnace was this A. One
Of Keyser's ranges.
stairs and examine your building periodically A.
have not examined the building very often. Sometimes
go up there for month at time; but previous to the
fire went there very Often the gas pipes out
of order and ! was inspecting the work.
Coroner-How large was the furnace how high was it
from the grounds A. Four feet
O. What did you burn in it A. Hard coal.
Q Do you know If there fire in it on the night of
the fref A. Since the fire took place have been Inform
ed by three Of cutters that there fire the fu
the day Of the fire. The porter also informed
Of that fact.
Foreman Of the Jury Mr.. Genin-Q. You said that
upon going up stairs you saw the flames coming from
aed from the stove in the third storys A. said the
flames appeared to be in the fourth story and the railing
OF third story staircase fire. 1t would be very
difficult matter for to say which story, the third
the fourth, was on fire at the time.
Mr. Genin-Q. With what knowledge you have of the
occurrence, where do you suppose the fire originated
A. could not state with any certainty.
O. How long has your lease to runs A. Twenty years.
Q. Had you sold out your lease at this time ? A. No,
sir, but were about doing
O. Did Cochrane tell you the night Of the fire that
the building unsafes A. No, he did not; he would
not go into the building himself.
JurorQ. Is your lease by this dre rendered null and
vody Are you obliged to pay for the rent of the building
until the lease expiresY A. think not; suppose we
viii have go paying the rent until the lease xpires
Here the examination of this witness closed and the
inquest adjourned until Monday, at one o'clock.
lin yesterdays paper by mistake stated that Mr.
Miller deposed that the building sufficiently SAT
for warehouse purposes" The word not' was
fortunately omitted altering the of the deposition
materially