SCENE OF CHAOS

Evening Post, Volume CXX, Issue 12, 13 July 1935, Page 11

SCENE OF CHAOS

GELIGNITE EXPLOSION

MIRACULOUS ESCAPES

(Special to the "Evening Post.") PALMERSTON N., This Day. How members ol the Cowdrey family escaped death when their home at Halcombe came tumbling about their heads as they sat at breakfast yesterday morning, can only be described as miraculous. The story of the occurrence requires very little telling, for the shattered dwelling and the debris of roof iron, window sashes, doors, and splintered timber lying about the grounds speaks eloquently of the terrific force of the explosion. Every window and every door, including sashes and frames, in the rooms affected were blown clean away from the wall, while the roof immediately above the kitchen, was blown off and the wall which enclosed the kitchen was blown out. : ■ . . "A TERRIBLE BLAST." ■"There was a terrible blast, and my chair went from under me, iwhile the floor gave way, too," said Edwin Robinson, nephew of Mrs. Cowdrey, when describing what happened. "I was hit on the forehead and fell under the debris. I must have been temporarily stunned but the next thing I thought of was escape. I ran outside and then remembered the others. I went back and commenced to get Mr. Cowdrey out. Mrs. Cowdrey, although injured, was able to walk. I next turned my attention to the children, who were buried in the wreckage. The scene was one of chaos." Robinson further states that on going in for breakfast at 7.30 a.m. he noticed Mr. Cowdrey placing the gelignite in the oven and' remarked that it might prove dangerous. ' Cowdrey said that it was all right, to which he (Robinson) had replied: "Yes, all right if not left there too long." Mr. Cowdrey, who was stumping, had secured additional supplies of the explosive the day previously, and with the knowledge that it does its work more effectively if »warmed, had followed a practice common among those who have cause to use it. OVEN THROUGH WALL. Mrs. Cowdrey had nearly every stitch of her clothing blown from her, and her injuries were added to when what remained of her clothing caught fire. She was able to put the fire out and struggle through the debris. Her husband was shot from his chair across the floor among the falling timbers, while the oven was hurled through the partition dividing the kitchenette from a front bedroom to the bedroom wall, which caught alight. The children were blown off their seats and were found amid the ruins all more or less injured. The chimney was completely demolished, and the side wall of the house blown out. Every piece of furniture was smashed as well as crockery and everything else that came in the way of the devastating force 'from the small ovcn.~ Flying fragments of the stove rained on the occupants of the room like shrapnel, and it was these pieces of iron that caused most of the injuries. Mr. Cowdrey has met in his time with considerable misfortune. Just on six years ago the original home was burned down, and Mr. Cowdrey was severely burned. He was then alone in the house and was found unconscious outside a window. A month or so ago his eldest son Maurice suffered a fractured arm and had only recently j recovered. It is this little chap who ] Suffered severely in the explosion. CONDITION OF VICTIMS. The hospital reports that tile victims suffered as follows:— Frank Cowdrey, aged 32, fractured right arm, deep abrasions on right leg, fractured skull, scalp wounds, burns on. the face, and shock. His condition is very serious. . ' Mrs. Cowdrey, aged 28, burns on the face, arms, and right leg, shock. Condition serious. : > ...' , v ... , Maurice Cowdrey; aged 9,' burns, severe wound right elbow, abrasions, and shock: Condition fair. ■ - Nita Cowdrey, aged 3, burns on the abdomen, injury to right knee, various abrasions, shock. Condition fair. Beverley Cowdrey, aged 6, small burns on back and right shoulder. Condition satisfactory... ■ Raymond Dayies, aged 9, shock and small abrasions. Condition satisfactory. E. A. Robinson; aged 18, wounds on forehead, left arm.and left leg. . Condition satisfactory. ...