OVER A CLIFF.

Auckland Star, Volume L, Issue 71, 24 March 1919, Page 5

OVER A CLIFF.

TWO HUNDRED FEET FAIX. MOTHER AND CHILDREN KILLED. SYDNEY, Uarch 12. The Gap, that historic spot near South Head, at which, at various times, have occurred sonic of the grimmest tragedies on record, was shortly before dusk on Tuesday, the scene of another shocking occurrence. Several hours after leaving her home, " Kai," Macpherson street, Neutral Bay, Mrs. Eda Kate Hart (29), Nancy Tassmore Hart (4). and Alan l-'rajicis Hart (8 months), disappeared.

The bodies of the mother and baby are now at the morgue. That of the little girl has n,ot yet been recovered.

When Mr. Hart, a member of the firm of K. Hart and Sons. Mosman. left home on Tuesday there was nothing to indicate what was in store for him on nis •return. Mrs. Hart went about her household duties as usual, and after lunch set out, in company with her children, on a visit to her sister, Mrs. Eraser, Roseville. Instead of going thence, however, she caught a. boat to Watson's Bay, reaching there at about 4 o'clock. She then walked along tbe part skirting the park, and climbed to the rocks half way to the crest of the hill. Here she rested in a summer house. 200 yards past the Gap. It is not known what she did then, or how long she rested, but it could not have been more than half an hour. She must have fed the baby, as an empty jar and feeder testify. Soon after this she and the children disappeared over the cliffs. The discovery of anything untoward was made by Mr. Albert Roger Killeen. n soldier. He was going home from the camp when he >aiv a lady's hat, the small hat of a girl, a purse containing 12.'. and a pair of baby's booties, two handkerchiefs — one with the word ''Hart on tlic corner—and a pair of ladie-' write silk gloves. The=e were on a sea:'seven feet from the edge of the cliffs. The baby's body was found early the following afternoon near the Middle Head. Later the body of the mother was found, and taken to the morgue. The body showed no signs of violence. The spot where the fall occurred has a clear drop of 200 feet to the water. At this spot there are no rocks, co the falling body would not be mutilated, as lower down, at the rcai "gap." Mrs. Hart had for some time suffered from ill-health.