A WHOLE FAMILY SUFFOCATED.

Evening Star, Issue 2969, 24 August 1872, Page 3

A WHOLE FAMILY SUFFOCATED.

(From the Goulbnrn Herald, August 10.)

About 10 o’clock on Thursday night intelligence reached town of the deaths of Mr John Warn, his wife, and two young children, at Janies Valley, near Crookwell; and as it became known, quite a gloom was spread over the entire town. From the information that has reached us, it seems that Mr Warn’s bouse contains six rooms, having two separate entrances from outside. The front rooms are occupied by Mr Warn’s brother Henry and his wife, and the back rooms by the deceased family. On Wednesday night two young men, relations of Mrs H. Warn, who wore sleeping in a room directly opposite Mr Warn’s bedroom, are said to have heard groans and some o'her unusual noise in Mr Warn’s bedroom ; but as the sounds immediately ceased, they took no notice, All these people left the house in the morning without seeing Mr or Mrs John Warn About dinner-time a man named Hill, a freeselector living near Mr Warn, and who was engaged digging potatoes on Mr Warn’s farm, not being called to bis dinner as usual, went to the house, but could sec no one. He then went homo, informed his wife, and they wont and knocked at the bedroom door, but received no answer. He and his wife then opened the door, when to their horror and surprise they found the whole family lying dead. Mrs Warn and the children were in bed, and Mr Warn lay on the floor, having bis trousers on. The countenances of both Mr and Mrs Worn were somewhat convulsed, A tin or pan of charcoal was in the room ; and it appears that as there is no fireplace they were in the habit of burning this during the recent very cold weather. Generally the bedroomdoor was left open at night, but on this occasion it was shut. These are all the details of this most melancho.y event that bave reached us at present, and so far they appear to point to suffocation by the fumes of burning charcoal as the cause of death. T he police and several friends of the family left Goulburu - for the scene of the tragedy the

same night, Mr Warn was a very fine young man about 28 years of age, and one of the sons of the late Mr John. Warn. s< n., a very wealthy and old resident of the district.