32. Chu Sham So. 33. Lau So.
34, A Chrum. 35. Visitor. 66. A Shap 37. A. Kum. 38. Cheung Nui, 39. Chan Kau,
40. Chan Yit,
41. Wong Chiu.
( 5 )
Kept woman.
Stall holder, Central Market.
Married woman.
Unknown.
Widow, Needle woman. Spinster, Nil.
...Ship's cook.
No. 34. Cochrane Street. 1st floor.
No. 34. Cochrane Street, 2nd floor.
No. 34. Cochrane Street. 3rd floor.
(NOTE.—Only 41 persons have been traced by the Police as missing from Nos. 32 and 34, Cochrane Street, The extra 2 bodies sent to the mortuary were probably passers by or people sleeping on the pavement of the two houses.)
3. Where found and when and under what circumstances? Found under the débris of houses Nos. 32
€
and 34. Cochrane Street. which collapsed on the 14th August. 1901.
4. Date of death. 14th August, 1901.
5. Cause of death.-Burns, Suffocation, or Injuries.
NOTE.-The following are the names, residence and callings of the witnesses examined :---
(a.) Liu Mui, married woman, 32, Cochrane Street.
(6.) David Douglas Cuthbert, Inspector of Police.
(e) George Watt, Police Sergeant No. 11.
(d) Ho Heng Chi, draughtsman to Messrs. Palmer and Turner. Architects.
(e.) Percy Thomas Crisp, Inspector of Buildings.
(f) John Bell, Medical Officer in charge of the Mortuary,
(9.) Hugh Pollock Tooker, Acting Assistant Director of Public Works. (4.) Ernest Manning Hazeland, Civil Engineer and Architect.
F. A. HAZELAND,
Police Magistrate.
ADDITIONAL DEPOSITIONS of witnesses taken by the above-named Magistrate in the re-opened enquiry into the above-mentioned deaths on the 20th, 21st and 23rd September, 1901, and addi- tional Finding of the said Magistrate.
2014 September, 1901.
Present, Mr. F. BOWLEY, Crown Solicitor.
Mr. Bowley, Crown Solicitor, who appeared to conduct the examination of witnesses, said his Worship, on 30th August last, held an enquiry into the Cochrane Street disaster, and, as he understood from the certificate attached to the depositions, his Worship found that the causes of the deaths of the 43 people were burns, suffocation or injuries. It had been considered desirable that further evidence should be taken in connection with this inquiry, and he submitted that his Worship was there as Coroner and Coroner's Jury, and his Worship had all the powers and duties of the Coroner, and it was in his Worship's discretion to sit there with or without a jury. Consequently, he (Mr. Bowley) took it that his Worship was now sitting as Coroner and Coroner's Jury. The object was now to find out not the immediate cause of death, but what was the actual cause that led to the accident. The duties of a Coroner in England were laid down in Jervis' Office of Coroner as follows:-
"The coroner should therefore inquire as to the circumstances of the death; where and when the "deceased died or was found dead; by whom he was last seen alive; who was present, or who first saw the body after death; whether any known illness existed; whether any negligence or blame is alleged against anyone."
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7:
It was perfectly clear, Mr. Bowley continued, from the evidence that had already been taken that the cause of death was the falling of certain houses, and he submitted that the question now to be inquired into was what was the cause of the fall of these houses and whether it was caused by the negligence of any persons. He proposed to call certain witnesses, who had been heard before, in order to add to their evidence, and to call several new witnesses. He thought they might take the evidence already taken as part of the evidence of the inquiry.
CHAN CHUN CHEUNG declared and examined by Mr. BOWLEY :-
I am dealer in matches in Hung Hom. I manufacture matches. I live at 42 and 44, Stanley Street. I own 32 and 34, Cochrane Street. On the 25th or 26th October, 1900, I agreed to buy 32, Cochrane Street. I completed the purchase on the 22nd December, 1900. I agreed to buy 34,