BURNED TO DEATH .

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 780, 1 April 1910, Page 6

BURNED TO DEATH .

THE NORMANBY FIRE. HOW MOTHER AND DAUGHTER PERISHED. (By Telegraph—PreßS Association.) Hawera, March 31. An inquest concerning the burning fatality at. Normanby was held to-day. There was no evidence to show how the fire originated. When it was first noticed by a neighbour at 3 a.m. the house was nearly a mass of blazing ruins. Mrs. Coutts was crippled by rheumatism, and from the position of her body ed that she had only been able to struggle off the bed. Her daughter's remains were fonnd near' the back door, the girl apparently having almost succeeded in mating her escape. The victims were the only occupants of tie house at the time. , A violent gale was raging at the time of the fire, which, while deadening the sound from the burning building, caused it to burn furiously, and the nextdoor neighbour was unaware of the fire until the place was in ashes. FURTHEfI PARTICULARS. The following additional particulars of the fatality are taken from the "Hawera and Normanby Star" :— A few months ago the township ,of Normanby was shocked by the news that a man had been burnt to death in the destruction of the Commercial Hotel, but early on Wednesday morning an even more dreadful burning fatality occurred at Normanby, by which an elderly invalid woman and her daughter lost their lives. The victims were Mrs. William Coutts and Isabella Coutts (aged fourteen). The house was a four-roomed one, situated just past Winks's crossing, ■on the east side of the railway line. There is not the slightest clue to the origin of the fire, and the nearest neighbours were quite unaware of the tragedy that had occurred until the place was a pile of .ashes. '

The alarn) was given by Mr. Cyril Gane, who lives some 400 or 500 yards away, and who, having occasion to rise to attend to a sick room-mate, first noticed the dare of tho fire. This was about 3 o'clock, and the place was then prictically in ruins. Mr. Gane, after calling in vain for assistance, apprised Constable Clouston of the fire. A. raging gale was in progress. Apparently the fire was in full blast at 2 a:m. It was about 3 o'clock when Mr. Gane first noticed it, and shortly before 4 o'clock Constable Clouston was o.i the scene. There was nothing then but a furnace of wreckage, and, in addition to the incessant rain, water was thrown on the ruins from a tank at the back of the house. The shed adjoining had been demolished. .- Soon after operations began Constable Clouston saw amongst the ruins two human . skulls. Assisted by Mr. John Holmes, water .was poured on the still furiously-burning ashes, - and the corrugated iron, red-hot sheets of which were .blown about with smashing force, had to be cooled down before they could bo removed and secured under weights. Be-.' tween 6 and 7 o'clock the remains were secured and conveyed to tho Normanby Hotel. . ■ • There is nothing left to tell how the distressing fatality occurred. A son, Joseph, lived with the mother and daughter at Normanby, but just now he is away on a visit- to the father, who is un,der medical treatment. Mrs.- Coutts has for a long time bee,i ■an invalid, crippled with. rheumatism or paralysis. She could only get about the hou6o with difficulty, and in such a crisis would bo at 'a terrible disadvantage. It would ap;pear from the position of tho bodies that one of the two victims (probably the .daughter) had almost succeeded in escaping, haying got through the passage and dolose to the kitchen door. .The other body was in the bedroom, and it.is supposed that Mrs. Coutts had only been able to struggle off the. bed. Much, sympathy will be felt for. the family, in their tragic bereavement. Besides Joseph (already mentioned), there' ]are two other sons, Andrew and Peter, both of 'whom are working iri the district. The night was one for close windows and drawn blinds, and the noise of the gale' would effectually deaden all sounds from the burning building. With "such a wind the fire, once exposed to its force, no doubt burnt with terrible fury. The blaze must have been great when the firo was at its height—about 2 o'clock, at which'hour the men's ward at the Hawera Hospital was lit np by tho reflection and nurses on duty, looking out, were distant witnesses of one of the most distressing of the fatalities that have occurred in this district.