Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1897-06-18

by natural gas, but the burners were
taken out. There was no means of
heating the upper floors, except by the
heat rising through the building. There
was no pipe to the old stove up TO the
time OF the fire. Witness was at his
home out Of town, at the time Of the
fire. and did not know at what time it
occurred. Witness came in on the
seven o'clock motor, and went TO the
building and locked in, but did not go
| in. The building was drenched with
water. The tin trimmings were value
less in this market, because they were
obsolete and out of the market. Wit
/, ness described the trimmings with
some detail, and said he saw no COM
plete tin ware. Later in the
morning after the fire, witness went
to the building and to the head of the
first flight Of stairs. In his judgment
the fire started near one corner OF the
skylight The floor was Uttered a foot
deep with fly paper, etc, some being
partially destroyed by fire. The morn
ing after the fire Eaton came to wit
ness store and said: Il understand |
have had a fire" Witness said yes,
and suggested he and Eaton go down..
The two went TO the building and to
the head of the stairs, and Eaton looked
around and said: My insurance don I
cover my loss" Witness then left
Eaton and went away. This ended the
direct examination.
Col. Arnett conducted the cross-eX-
animation. Witness said the written
agreement shown was the only one, and
then Col. Arnett moved that anything
not in the agreement, about the agree
ment. go cut, and it was promptly
oyerruled. In the original paper Eaton
brought there was provision contlnu-
ing the lease to any successor Eaton
might have. This witness objected TO-
and hence the preparation of the sec
ond paper which was signed. There
was some conversation about DEFEND
ant only wanting TO occupy a part OF
the building. but witness could not re-
call it. The first party, Smith, only
wanted TO lease for a few months, and
Mr.. Eaton carried out the agreement
Witness had never had key to the
back door. and knew Of none.
On redirect witness made further
statement about his seeing the goods
before the fire. and explained this by
saving the lock of the front door was
ont of order. and Mr.. Eaton came to
witness once or twice, and witness sent
one Of his own workmen TO make the
repairs.
Juror Bauer asked witness about the
light well. and it was described. The
Court asked about the size of the light
onening in the floor, and witness said
he could only approximate the SIZE as
he had never measured them.
J. V. L. Rodgers was next called
Mr.. Nesbitt conducted the examination
Witness named the insurance compa-
MES he represented: he had represent
ed the Fire Association of Philadelphia
about fifteen years. Witness met de-
PENDANT about the nth of last Febru-
arv. at No. 1902 Main street. Eaton
had called at Eaton's Office and left
word with the clerk that he wanted
insurance. Witness went down, but
Eaton was absent. The porter, Albert
Grandson. said Eatof would be back
soon In a few minutes Eaton came
hack and said he wanted $4,000 of in
surance. and that he would have $4,000
worth of goods in the course Of the
dav. Witness saw considerable num-
her of boxes, and Eaton gave him a
Daner which he said would give the
data to write the policies from. Wit
ness pfOQuC6u thS FoFOA'
forth the character Of goods as hereto
fore indicated, and closed with the
words. "other insurance permitted. -
Witness had a short general converse
ton with defendant, during which de-
PENDANT said he would have more goods
in and would need more insurance
Eaton fixed the amount of $4,000 in
surance. and the statement by Eaton
that there was $4,000 of goods in the
store. or would be before o'clock,
was in reply TO a question by witness
nc 70 what the value of the goods was,
Witness was at the store about IL a.
m Asked to describe the goods he
saw. witness said there was pile OF
small crates, probably ten feet square
and FIVE or six feet high, and prob
ably ffty or sixty store boxes and half
2 dozen barrels. All these was scat
tered promiscuously on the floor. as
though lust unloadcd. The boxes APP
reared to be secondhand, but witness
noticed no directions on the boxes at
that time: after the fire witness no
ticed Huntington, w. Va, addressed on
the boxes.
Witness next saw Eaton the FRIDAY