THE WEST EYRETON TRAGEDY.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 2766, 3 February 1882, Page 2

THE WEST EYRETON TRAGEDY.

'(Christchurch “Telegraph.”) . : The heartrending, accident at West Byreton, by . which seven human beings lost their lives, and the husband and father was bereaved of wife and children at a stroke, is one which appeals very powerfully to everybody's sympathies. If, in the. midst of such a loss, it is any consolation to Mr Simpson to know that he is an object of heartfelt pity to the , whole of the community, he may take that consola tion to the full. ..But this terrible catastrophe'appeals strongly to our curiosity. How did it happen ? is a question that every person reading the evidence taken at the inquest cannot fail to ask. The several facts, when taken: taken together, seem to be so inexplicable. Had Mrs Simpson, as has been supposed, gone to bed again and fallen asleep, the most reasonable supposition then would be that the mother and children were suffocated in their sleep and so perished. But the assumption on which this supposition rests is far from probable. It is not probable that, a young and healthy woman in good spirits, who had been out of bed preparing her Husband’s breakfast and walk!' ing some distance with her brother on his way.home, and who had, moreover, cows to milk, and a numerous family to dress, would lie down again to sleep. This supposition, therefore may be dismissed. ; There is not, a hint that the catastrophe is due to foul play. It is true the house was isolated, yet such a theory as the one hinted at is, with our, present inadmissible, all circumstances taken into consideration. There remains then a third theory—that, the unfortunate: woman was busied about household affairs when the fire origin ated. Hence the somewhat mysterious character of the facts. That a whole family should perish while an active person was moving about, without leaving a trace of the fact, seems incredible. Yet we think the following supposition covers all the known facts : —The bedroom, used by Mr Simpson aud his wife was separated from the kitchen by a passage ; this must be borneiin.mind. While Mrs Simpson was engaged in her bedroom with her baby the fire in the kitchen sets fire to the woodwork of the fireplace. Those who have had experience of fires in a squill wooden cottage know' how rapidly the flames spread, and accomplish their fell work. In such weather as wo have been experiencing lately, when everything is us dry as tinder and highly combustible, a few minutes will make an end of such a cottage as that of West Eyreton. When the mother became aware of the fire in the other room site would naturally think of her baby first. But her buby was comparatively safe ; the flames were in the other room and in a moment she could find her way with her charge into the open air. Tho

children upstairs were in immediate and pressing danger. Therefore, she would rescue them first. They slept immediately over the mother’s own room. Laying the baby down, or, it may be, carrying in with her, the mother rushes upstairs, from the passage, to find her children’s room already tilled with smoke from the burning kitchen. The fatal sleep had already fallen-upon the five little ones, by which they were mercifully shielded from suffering ; and, unless the distracted mother preserved her presence of mind, and immediately threw open the up-stairs window (if there were one in the children’s room) she would soon experience their fate. Breathing the suffocating atmosphere which filled the room, she would be unconscious in a minute, and would, unless help from without came, be unable either to help herself, or those whom she had sacrificed herself to save. This solution is only offered as a pro bable explanation. But we think the theory highly plausible, as it covers and explains all the known facts of the terrible case. In such cases, it is a great consolation to all to know that the amount of physical pain experienced by the sufferers is slight. If our sup position be correct, the ; whole family perished without being conscious of the calamity that had befallen them.