TUESDAY last an inquest was held at Smithtown before Mr Jas Johnston and a jury, to enquire into the cause of the recent fire at Matthew Flack’s premises.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Constable Donnelly stated that on Monday the 13th he visited the premises that had been burnt; he made an examination and found on the top of the oven the remains of two separate fires.
Two bricks were gone from the centre of the oven, either having been removed or had fallen in. Witness picked up portions of the bark and wood on the top of the oven that were partly burnt.
He asked Flack, who was present at the time, if he kept his wood or bark there. Flack said he did not, he could not account for it getting up there.
In the afternoon Donnelly had another conversation with Flack and asked him if he could not account for it at all. He replied “The only way I can account for it is that it must have blown up through the hole in the oven.”
The jury brought in the following verdict : “We find that the premises in Smithtown occupied by Matthew Flack, the owner, was damaged by fire on the night of January 11th, 1896, and we find that the premises used as a bakehouse were feloniously and wilfully set on fire by some person or persons unknown.”
The Macleay Argus January 22, 1896
