FATAL FIRE.

Globe, Volume XXIV, Issue 2459, 22 February 1882, Page 3

FATAL FIRE.

FOUR CHILDREN BURNT TO DEATH. Ipbess association teleqbam.J DUNEDIN, February 21. The following is Mr Bischefaki’s statement: —He and hia wife retired to rest about eleven o’clock on the previous night. They were awakened some time after by their eldest son calling out, “ Oh, Mamma, smoke, smoker* There was * o smoke in Bischefelii’s bedroom at the time, bnt he immediately jumped out of bed and crossed the small passage between his own room and that in which the children were sleeping. On opening tho door of the latter he was met by a strong tongue of flame, unaccompanied so far as ho conld perceive by smoke. He tried to reach the children, bnt his night dress caught fire, and he was forced to go hack. Rushing to his own room, he wrapped himself in a blanket, entirely covering his head and face, and returned to force his way through tho flames. In the endeavour to make the rescue the blanket was burned about him. Again and again he renewed the attempt. At length the room in which his wife was at the time caught Are through the open doorway, and the flames were making fast headway. Seeing that nothing could be done for the children, his attention was turned to the safety of his wife and the yonnger child (a hoy two and a half years of age. Mrs Bischefski hod at that moment made a desperate effort to enter the hack bedroom herself through the midst of the fire, but her husband dragged her buck with the flames upon them, and dashing his fist through the window overlooking tho street, seized the little hoy under his left arm and swung himself out over the ledge. Hanging on to the inner side of the window-framing by his right hand he then extended his left arm holding in it the child, and thus dropped it gently on the pavement. Drawing himself up again, he prepared in the same way to break the fall of his wife in her descent of a height of ten feet, hut the flames were so close that he was unable to endure the heat any longer. She threw herself unexpectedly into his arm before he was quite prepared to receive her, and the sudden weight forced him to relax his hold, both dropped, and the poor woman fell npon her child, which is considerably injured in consequence. Nor did she herself escape unhurt, for in the fall she came down heavily on her face on the asphalte pavement, and besides sustaining severe contusions on the forehead, she was much ent about the month, and had a number of her teeth so crushed in by the force of the blow that it is probable she will lose most of them. On realising the position of things she became qnite frantic in her cries for her children, and, hut that her husband kept her hack, would in her frenzy have dashed into the burning building.