Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1882-02-28
THE FIRE coMMIssIoH.
Tsssinesy Before IL Regardless n
Origiu or shs Fire N she $50
Instant.

Msssrs. Thorburn. Tate and Steven
son, sitting as . commission to inquire
into the origin Of the Ere which de-
s,royed Hills property on the morning
Of the 23d instant. met yesterday to hear
testimony. Colonel N. N. Stone repre-
ssp,s the interests OF the insurance
companies, and Hon. VIM. woodburn
IL present q 8 counsel. for Miss Katie
Hill and her father. Following will be
found the substance OF the evidence
given
Miss KATIE HILL
Was the hrst witness worn She testi-
fed: I IN the daughter OF John Hill.
whose house was burned on the 2Sd in.
slant; the only way I % account for
the ere is that I had . pain in my side.
and. IS my mother did before she went
to San Francisco. I rubbed turpentins
on my side before I went TO bed, and
whether I put the t~urpentine on the
stove or set 1t down by the side Of II. l
do not know. made . very heavy fire
before I went to bed. I did not wake
up until almost smothered BY smoke;
then I arose and woke the boy (John
Mulligsnl. That's all / know about the
FIRE.
Cross. eIamined-I got up about !
o'clock to get the %turpentine; occupied
the middle bedroom. north side Of the
house; was shown diagram OF the house
and pointed out her room ]; had retired
for the night; poured the turpentins
from q bottle into q bowl; got the bottle
Of turpentine out OF the storeroom. which
was In the back OF the house; first
took the t~urpentine into my bedroom,
then put it into the other room where
the boy was sleeping; there was NO
stove 10 my room, but there was ~ In
the sitiing-room; that stove had Q large
are In 1t; I built Il when / took the bowl
Of turpentine in; made the ire because
the boy had q bad cold. and. as the night
was cold. I thought IL would be warmer
IL I had to get up again; the boy went
to bed about 10 or 1890 o'clock; be
slept Son o bed.lounge in the sitting
room; lounge was close TO the stove;
the ~turpentins is the only cause / know
for the fire; was in the habit OF using
the t~urpeptine warm: woke tho boy
when I saw tho smoke; don't know how
long after / used the turpentine before
the FIRE occurred; removed my clothing
when I went 10 bed. but always slept In
q wrapper; had one on when fire oc-
don't remember whether the
ball. way was fall OF smoke or not, saw
Ore coming from south side Of the
house; the boy did not tell me he saw
any are until he got outside. he was be-
wiidersd; do not remember whether he
I opened the door when / woke him;
can't remember whether ! saw IRE in
the room hs was sleeping in or not; only
saw smoke coming from that side; wss
crazy; the boy undressed on 60
ing 10 bed; don't know II he dressed be-
fore going out; be did not 60 out With
me; don't know which OF as got out
FIRST; there was no one else in our house;
. man slept next door and q colored man
lived In the basement Of the house in
the rear; the upper portion Of the rear
house was not occupied; think 1t was
! haven't been In there since
came back from San Francisco; my
father was up there recently. mailing up
went out through Q side door.
north side; I was too bewildered to stay
and see about tho boy; there was no
stove In the parlor or bedroom opposite;
there Was Q lamp In the parlor. which i
down low; think 1t was lii all
night; / don't remember IL the parlor
on Ere when / went 10 warn the
/ don't think there was q IRE In
any stove in the building except the one
built; used coal oil for lights; got q
can OF Folsom about the 18th
Or lIth Of January and have been using
d since; kept the can In the cellar DO.
meath the house; did not take any oil out
Of the can that night; used some out oil
a small can, used in filling lamps, to light
tho fire that night; I sleep heavily and
do not wake easily; when awoke found
almost suffocating; don't know II
there was anything to indicate that 1t
was set on frs by outside parties; all
the doors were fastened before / went to
bed, and were fastened when the fire
occurred; considerable oil remained In
the ean; I don't know how much; there
was no coal oil in the north bedroom
that I know Of; did not keep any there;
bad q lamp in nv room and cleaned the
lamps in the back room; there might
have been some coal oil on one OF the
because the lamps overlooked
ON il when I was filing them; that &C.
two Saturdays ago; don't remem.
Der how much was spilled-a small
quantity: no oil on any other mattress ut
time OF frs that / know Of; the mattress
Of was not saturated; only had
two or three spots on 1t.
Stone-If the firs had occurred from
The ~turpentine. don't you think. isn't II
your opinion that 1t would have burned
The carpet and the lounge?
witness-Yes. sir; I think SO.
woodburn-Are you examining her IS
an expert2
Stone-No, sir. She gave II a. her
opinion that the iro occurred from the
and ! wanted to know her
opinion a. to what 1t would burn.
Witness resumed: Heard some noises;
know whether Q lamp exploded or
dot; never heard an explosion; I turned
lhs lamp In the parlor down low; don't
know whether IL was liz or not; usually
put IL out; my father had charge Of the
upper story Of the rear house; don't
know when that building caught fire;
Know 1t was burned; at the time Of the
are it had nothing in Il but q stove and
! table; never kept coal oil up there; was
bot In the building the night Of the FIRE;
vas in the building occupied BY me the
forenoon after the ere for . few mo-
meats; don't know whether anything In
he cellar was burned; didn't 60 down
there; didn't fll lamps in cellar; brought
,il up In small can; am positive the can
vas In the cellar at the time OF the FIRE;
had there been oil on the mattresses
would have known II, a. I made the beds;
here we're four rooms and an attic up
in the house I occupied; no lamps
we're used up there; no clothing or