The weekly democratic statesman. [volume] (Austin, Tex.) 1871-1883, 1881-11-17
THE TESTIMONY.

Judge Jos Lee sworn, IN substance,
said: About II m.syesterd; y, the board
OF capitol commissioners were in ses-
sion in the southeast corner of represen-
tative hall. The board col sists of'O. NJ.
RobeI Is, j. II. MeIIeary, Nin NJ, Brown,
w. q. Walsh and F. r. Lui.bn20. L. N.
Norton, Jos. Ice, commissioners, j. Il.
Dickinson, clerk.
A question arose in wEier il became
necessary TO get the detaiiC' ms from
the comptroIler's office. [" Norton
started to get them he passs Oh. of the
northwest door OF represents i've nall in
an instant he returned, eXclaiming that
the house was on fire. The board and
witness followed Col. Norton back, pass
ing out ut that door. In passing out,
witness found the corridor on north side
OF the senate chamber filled with
dense smoke, Witness laid his
hand ON first 6oor, the speakers
room, and remarked to those around, that
the fire was in that room. Some one
suggested that the door be broken open.
This, witness objected to, but the door
was, nevertheless, opened by some one.
When this wns-done, witness entered the
rOOm aHil through the dense smoke could
see firhburning the floor, about midway
in the room could not be accurate as to
distance. AS witness came out of the
room. choked with smoke, Gov. Roberts
called his attention to the fact that smoke
was coming up through the mating, aLf
that the fire must be below. Witness anu
others ran down stairs, and up to the
door of first room to the right of back en-
trance, and found it closed. Some one
said break open the door, but witness pre-
Ierred to get a key: which was done,
the door was opened, and therein
he discovered fire, which he
thought had been burning some time. 1t
was burning rather beyond the middle of
Al, H.. 5f
walls; not in the corner. Secretary of
State Bowman and Others were there.
Mr.. Bowman asked for the removal of a
set of books which he said were Texas
| reports. Witness insisted upon leaving
the room and closing the door, and keep
| ing il closed until water could be OBJ
| tained. He made an effort, in backing
out of the room, to close the door after
him. but failed. Somebody standing
near the witness, got down and crawled
| to the door and pulled il to. In a few
| minutes afterwads, the small h ose used
| to water the plnts, etc., was brought
there. Witness took hold of one end of
| the hose, with some one to him unknown;
| the door was opened, when they entered
| the room. They found that the hose would
not throw water on the fire; it was
| suggested that the nozzle of the hose
was out OF fbrder. This they took of, and
when the Water did come through the
hose, il fell just at their feet. They read
| jIistsd the nozzle, but they still failed to
get stream of water on the fire. Judge
Lee then dropped it, and went back up
| stairs to get his desk and private papers
out of the senate chamber.
| In answer to 4 question by a Juror,
! Judge Lee stated that the room wherein
he discovered the fire, was occupied and
| used for a storage room for the state de-
partment. He also stated that the plans
for the new capital were not in the old
capitol, but were in the comptroller's Of
| flee. Judge Lee also stated that he made
/ an effort to get into representative hall,
but failed to 90 so.
| Governor Roberts was next Sworn, and
| said 4" As Judge Lee has stated,
was present, as n member of the capitol
| board sin the representative hall,
| and Colonel Norton opened the door
| to 20 out, and found there was fire
| in the building. l, with others, imme-
diately went out Of representative hall
and saw the smoke in the passage, but
| the most dense smoke was in the little
/ corridor between the senate chamber and
the three little rooms north of the senate
| chamber. the little corridor passing by
the doors Of the three little rooms. The
| extreme western room of the three
named, as understand IL, was occupied
| by the veteran board in their business,
and the second or middle room. believe,
| was occupied Dy COLONEL NOrIOn, as MS
bed room, and where he kept his clothes,
| and the third room, or speakers room, of
which Judge Lee has spoken. 1t was a
room of which had the key, having done
writing there occasionally whenI wished
| to be by myself. It was the room occu-
pied by the judge from Dallas. Judge
| Watts suggested. Yes, Judge Watts.
There was nothing in the room except
some writing paper, pens and ink, and
the furniture that suppose Judge Watts
had. L know there had been nobody in
that room that day, at least nobody had
| unlocked that door at that time as 1 bad
| the key and always carried it. 1t was
| spring lock that locks itself and this was
| the KEY that unlocked il Showing q small
brass key). My first impulse upon going
out was to unlock that door because /
saw smoke coming out in that passage
niUse dense than anywhere else. Upon
\ arriving at the door and feeling for the
\ key somebody said don't open the door,
and while l was standing there and
| looking at the smoke coming from the
transom above the door, my attention
was called to the edges of the floor at the
/ door and L saw smoke coming up from
under the floor, not apparently from the
/ inside. L ought to have stated that i
didn't open the door; and 1 don't think
that unlocked it either. AT the time I
noticed the smoke coming up from the
floor, 1 stepped up the little corridor and
saw it coming to the east side of the room,
showing it was on the east and south eide
of the room from under the mating, from
the edges of the mating. / then went
back to the door and looked again at the
transom and saw fire coming up at the
top OF the room. / saw w4hFough the tran
som the ire flaming up 70 the top of the
room. 1 immediately became satisfied
that the house would burn up