Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1897-02-19
THE RAPONDA FIRE.
Testimony Taken at the Will
mingtOn Inquest.

Facts Brought out About the owner
ship of the Property, Its Value, the
Insurance, WhoeIer's visit to the Ho-
tel the Afternoon Before the Fire,
Suspicious Tracks seen; Etc.
The testimony taken at the inquest on
the burning of Raponda hotel in Whining
ton, held before Hon. Edward Titus, jus
tice of the peace, Jan. II and 10, has been
filed in the county clerks office. The in
quest was held in due form of law upon an
application made by the selectmen of Will
mington The selectmen stated in their
application that the hotel had been burned
"under circumstances indicating that the
same had been wifuly and maliciously set
on fire." The inquest was held in order
to gather up all the facts and have them
placed on record while the matter was fresh
in mind. The testimony was taken by
Judge f. l.. Waterman acting as attorney
for the selectmen. 1t is of great length
filling some 200 type written pages, enough
to make good-sized printed book. Twenty
seven witnesses in all were examined. The
most important evidence given appears to
have been that of G. ID. Spencer and E. +.
Wheeler, the owners of the hotel, by Hosea
Mann, jr., by G. NJ. RUSSELL insurance
agent, and by b. b. Fitch, who was one of
the first men to reach the scene of the fire.
Mr.. Spencer testified in regard to the
ownership of the property and its value.
II came into the hands of himself and Mr.
Wheeler under a quit claim representing a
value or mortgage Indebtedness of $4,000.
Spencer and Wheeler were both mem
bers of the original Raponda association
Wheeler had sold his stock in the concern
but both he and Spencer were held for its
Indebtedness on account OF having signed,
with others, the associations notes. Mr.
Spencer understood that there had been,
besides this $4,000, an expenditure on the
property of some $1,000. This was for
an extension which he personally dsap-
proved of and for furnishings. This in
debtedness was contracted by Hosea Mann,
jr. and Moses Newton. At the time Wheel
er and Spencer took the property, it was
in the hands Of Elmer +. Allen. who was
managing il at a loss and was not meeting
his obligations. Mr.. Spencer thought the
property had never been managed at a
profit unless it was the second season by
the Colius brothers. During the season
of 1896, when it was managed by II. A.
Kilburn under Mr.. Mann, it had probably
come out about even, or at q possible
margin Of 500 loss, as stated or estimated
by MIR Mann
Spencer and Wheeler were anxious to
dispose of the property. An effort had
been made to sell it through two or three
individuals, among them d. l.. Stone Of
New York, who had brought New York
man there to look at the property. and
who thought he could get $4,000 for it,
one proposition to Stone had been that he
- . :
to the owners and have whatever he could
make above this sum. The property had
also been in the hands of Hosea Mann, ir.,
during the fall for sale. 1t appeared in
course of the testimony that, as the matter
hung along, an agreement or understand
ing was reached with Mr.. Mann that if he
could sell the property so as TO net the own
ers 5000 the offer would be accepted.
This was not definitely stated but Spencer
said he should have been willing to sell his
individual half interest for $1,000, and it
appeared that Wheeler had once "stumped"
him to pay him $1,000 for his half Spen-
Ger said, however, that this was done in a
"bantering' mood, and Wheeler testified
that he had never made any such offer ac-
cording TO his best remembrance. If he
had ever made any such suggestion it was
some day when he was feeling blue, and
particularly dissatisfied with the Mann
management Wheeler did not have so
much faith in Stone being able to make a
sale as Spencer did. 1t appeared that the
relations between Wheeler and Mann and
Spencer and Mann were not over cordial,
although they We're friendly enough for all
business purposes. Spencer testified that
Wheeler was in favor of making a large
cut on the insurance when they took the
property, but Spencer objected to this, and
it was finally agreed that $1,000 should be
carried. There was difficulty in placing
the insurance on account of the character
of the property At the time of the fire
Spencer had secured a policy of $1,000
which Wheeler knew nothing about until
after the fire, Spencer having been very
busy with his Christmas trade and not hav-
ing time to tell Wheeler about it.
c. NJ. Russell, the insurance agent, tes-
tilted that there were $500 insurance on
the ho;el building at the time of the fire
and $500 on the barn. The furniture in
the house was owned by Moses Newton
and was insured for $500.
Ii was stated in course of the evidence
that during the negotiations for the sale of
the property Mr.. Newton had agreed that
the sale might be made on a basis that
hOulu ltl nun P-DbO lOI lilt luTnlluIt,
But it was explained that Mr.. Newton
made the proviso that the sale should be to
some person who would bring good class
of city boarders to the house, thus bene-
fitting the town and the Newlons' rail
road.
The fire, which occurred on the evening
of Dec n, WAS first noticed in the village
about half past eight. Wheeler was then
at home and Spencer was on his way home
from church. The general opinion in the
village was that the fire was not at the ho-
tel, but probably at Leslie Fuller's house
Spencer first knew that il was the hotel
after he had gone to bed. Russell came
and informed him.
Mr.. Wheeler's testimony was to the eff
feet that he was at the hotel Sunday after
noon. His purpose in driving over into
the neighbOrhood was to see one of the
neighborng farmers on a matter of bust
ness. He htohed his horse to one of the
piazza posts aud went into the hotel as he
often did His purpose was TO see if
everything was all right and especially if
any of the windows were open or unfast-
ened. He did not go through all of the
house, but left when he discovered that it
was growing dusk" He was smoking a
cigar at the time. He said that when he
first knew of the fire he felt "terribly anx-
ious," supposing the fire had taken from
his cigar. He had thought the matter
over great deal and could not remember
that he laid down his cigar while in the
building, and felt sure he did not light a
new cigar while there. He remembered
throwing away his cigar stub over into the
snow as he drove away from the house af-
ter liOhtinp a new piOar from tho strh