Los Angeles herald., 1905-12-29

chief while for twelve hours, with short
intervals for hurried meals at noon and
in the evening, the fire commission lis
tened to the charges preferred by Miss
Mathewson i'm connection with the fire
that destroyed the Hotel Coronado early
on the morning of December T. When
the commission adjourned about 10
o'clock last evening, Miss Mathewson's s
witnesses had not all been placed on the
stand and the case VIII be resumed at Q
o'clock this morning.
With Attorney Herbert Cutler Brown
representing Miss Mathewson and At
torney Rogers defending Chief Lips the
tediousness OF the investigation was re-
leved by bright sallies of wit between
the two attorneys, but these little
breaks in the monotony of the long day
did not prevent the members of the
commission casting ominous looks at
Mayor McAleer with expressions on
their faces that plainly denoted they
would like to know what had ever in
duced them to accept the payless,
thankless job of a fire commissioner.
Clarence Miller was at the session for
the first time in several months, having
Just returned from a trip abroad, and
he looked as If he wished he had stayed
away for another week or two.
While Attorney Rogers was given no
opportunity yesterday to put on any
in bringing out statements from the
other side that disproved four of Miss
Mathewson's charges and the others
are based on these four.
Disproves Charges
Miss Mathewson's charges are direct
ed against Chief Lips and Engine Co.
No. If. chiefly. and are as follows:
Failure of engine company to respond
t,rOp,utINy n tho fro alarm.
Failure to have steam up and ready
for work when it did come:
Inattention to duty at time when the
fire was most dangerous;
Ignorance of location of fire plugs;
Incompetency In handling the fire;
Failure to have sufficient hose;
Failure to use hose to the best adj
vantage
Failure to take proper care of hose
after fire was out and permitting it
to lie in streets several days after
being used.
The failure of the engine company
to respond promptly was the theme on
which most of the witnesses dwelt yes
terday, but nearly every one who was
examined declared he had taken no
account of the time and when ques-
toned as to the length of time before
the first engine company responded to
the alarm such answers as 1T seemed
an eternity" Ages" and "An inter-
minable length of time were given. A
few had had the foresight to consult
their watches at various times during
the fire and the estimates of time from
these witnesses varied from five to
twenty minutes. None of them, how
ever, was certain as to the time when
the first alarm was given, even Miss
Mathewson, who gave the alarm, de-
claring she did not know what time
it was.
1t was Miss Mathewson who had
preferred the charges of failure to
promptly respond to the alarm and
who declared it was "ages" before the
first engine came. She could get no
closer than this to the actual time and
sorely tried the patience of Attorney
Earl Rogers.
Witnesses Confused on Time
In previous statements to the press,
Immediately following the disastrous
fire, Miss Mathewson and others had
declared it was forty minutes from the
time the first alarm was turned in
until the first engine company was on
the ground. None of those who made
this statement was willing to reiterate
1t under oath yesterday. The records
of the fire department show the first
alarm was turned in at 2:1O o'clock
in the morning and fire department
officials testified the first engine was
on the ground at 2:16. This was taken
as disclaimer of the first charge.
The second charge, that of engine
company No. II failing to have steam
up when the fire was reached, was
admitted by the defense and the
blame laid on the fire commission for
falling to provide engine company No.
II with proper apparatus for keeping
the engine in steam as is done at some
of the other engine houses. This i'm
peachment was admitted by the COM
mission, which declared it had no
money for the purpose.
The charge of inattention to duty
was based on the fact that firemen
failed to play water on the burning
building.
The testimony showed the building
was a mass of flames when the first
engine arrived and was beyond re-
demption. For this reason the fire
fighters turned their attention to saw
ing the annex to the building and sew
eral structures in the immediate vicin-
ity.
No testimony on the ignorance or
knowledge of fire plugs was called out
by either side yesterday.
Incompetency in handling the fire
and failure to use hose to the best
advantage were based on other charges
in the same list.
Failure to take proper care of fire
hose was shown in the cross -examina-
ton to be due to the fact that the
hose left in the street was broken and
had been discarded
Attorney Uneasy
Just once during the entire day was
Attorney Rogers a little uneasy and
that was when the prosecution intro
duced an unexpected witness, who
gave unexpected testimony. 1t seemed
for minute as though the attorney
had overlooked "his hand" little, but
whisper from the chief set his mind
at rest and he wore a sarcastic smile
during the examination of the witness.
This was Allan Eager, S19 Coronado
street, who made the startling state
ment that Chief Lips did not arrive at
the fire until $40 o'clock in the morn
ing. The chief had previously testified,
under oath, that he had reached the
scene of the fire about 1926 O'Clock.
did you see the chief drive up to
the fire?" he was asked.
Yes. 1t was $40 o'clock by my
fathers watch, who was standing be-
eida mo at tha time The obiAf drOva