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The Chicago Tribune
Tuesday, February 6, 1883

               THE NEWHALL HOUSE
               -----------------
           
           It's Owners Censured by the
            Coroner's Jury - The New
                  Grand Jury.
                  
        MILWAUKEE, Wis., Feb 5 - [Special] -
        As was shown in these dispatches it was
      likely to be the case, the Coroner's jury in
      the case of the Newhall House fire reached a
      decision and rendered a verdict today. The
      jury finds that the fire began at or near the
      base of the elevator-shaft, and rose rapidly
      to the upper stories, spreading to the corri-
      dors, etc.; that the said Newhall House was
      set on fire and burned on the morning of
      Jan. 10, at 3:30, by persons unknown to
      the jury; that the night-clerk and night-
      watchman, by obeying previous instruc-
      tions of the proprietors, lost valuable time
      by useless efforts to extinguish the fire and
      neglecting to arouse the inmates, and when
      the attempt was made they found the upper
      corridors filled with black, hot, stifling
      smoke that obliged them to retreat and seek
      their own safety; that the proprietors were
      guilty of culpable negligence in not having
      employed a sufficient number of watchmen
      to guard the house against fire and to waken
      the inmates in time to save all the lives pos-
      sible; that the Newhall House was easy of
      egress and devoid of intricate passages,
      with two outside escapes, ladders, etc. (the
      report then enumerates the fire escapes,
      bridges, etc.), nevertheless that the owners
      of the Newhall House, knowing that many fires
      had taken place at various times in the hotel,
      are guilty of culpable negligence in not
      having provided more outside escapes in case
      of fire; that many lives sacrificed in said
      fire could have been saved had the Chief of
      the Fire Department not been absent at
      another fire two miles away, at which he
      had nearly half the force, but that he re-
      sponded as soon as possible; that the mis-
      fortune was further enhanced by the absence
      of the Assistant Chief, etc. The jury also
      finds a great deal of fault with the net-
      work of telegraph wires surrounding the
      hotel.
      
                 THE NEW GRAND JURY.
        The grand jury called in the case of the
      Newhall House fire was ordered to meet in
      Judge Mallory's court-room at 11 o'clock this
      morning. At that hour only a portion of those
      called were present. A new call was issued,
      and the jury was ordered to be present at
      2:00 o'clock p.m. All were present at that
      time, and were sworn. Judge Mallory gave very
      full instructions as to the duties of the
      jury. So long a time has elapsed since a
      grand jury has been called, that the Judge
      took unusual care and pains to furnish a 
      clear and specific idea of the full nature
      of the duties to be performed. The following
      is a list of the jurymen: John A. Dutchar,
      foreman; Horace Enos, Amos Thomas, I. G.
      Barndt, John Ruan, Thomas Rawson, Thomas H.
      Wood, H. G. Storey, W. J. Quinn, Dennis
      Traynor, George Geiler, H. Bond, J. B. Merrill,
      A. K. Shepard, Chauncey Simonds, William
      Langston, John Joys, and John R. Drake.
      The Judge specially called the attention
      of the jury to the importance to be attached
      to any recommendations it might see fit
      to make, or any suggestions it might offer
      bearing on subjects outside the matter of
      finding or not finding an indictment, but
      directly connected with the subject matter
      in hand. After the jury retired Judge Mal-
      lory, who has been connected with the court
      for nearly thirty years, first as District
      Attorney and then as Judge, in conversation
      with THE TRIBUNE correspondent, said the
      jury was made up of the finest and strongest
      list of men ever drawn on any jury in the
      court.



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