A SHOCKING DEATH.

Evening Star, Issue 3408, 23 January 1874, Page 3

A SHOCKING DEATH.

By a fire at Onehunga on the 6fch inst., an’ old pensioner named Kerr lost his life. In the house that was destroyed lived Kerr, (a man well advanced in years), his wife,'and twj} grand-children,;; .All- the.inmates .were asleep when the fire was W deceased’s stepson, who lived in a house’oh an adjacent allotment, ; He at once gave the alarm of fire, and awoke the inmates. Several times he endeavored without success to 9P.?h the doors; ’ ' The flames (gained on the terror stricken persons in the dwelling ihe deceased and his wife went to tho passage together, -and MrsjKorr. turned the key' in the front door, but could not open it. Bhe then went into her room, threw open the window, and was dragged, out. A person named ilonaghey went in by the window,’ and passed out the other child, and after-: wards he and another -broke the window of a second room, and saved the remaining grand-children. The moans of tho doomed man were hp^rdj-distinctly* ; hut it was un- 1 certain m which part of the house he was.! A piece of timber was obtained, and the back door was broken in, but the flames raged so k M-r a t it was impossible to enter tho building, and the searchers were compelled : to retreat hastily. Ffteen minutes afterwards the building had fallen in. The scene was one of utter consternation. The widow* of deceased was frantic with despair, and the ‘ spectators struck dumb with terror at the consciousness of their utter helplessness. In the burning debris the remains of deceased were discovered. They were simply a charred i mass. The head was severed from the trunk : the limbs consumed, and the body presented a most horrible spectacle. The deceased was * a very respectable old settler, and had been a total abstainer for years. The origin of the fire is unkqown. '