THE POLICE EXCAVATIONE.

Press, Volume XLIX, Issue 8156, 26 April 1892, Page 5

THE POLICE EXCAVATIONE.

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.bastables set to work with pickaxes Before they bad been at work a quarter o! ♦an hoar a sickening smell emanated from the hole they bad made in the floor, and 'those present were at onco convinced that .they were about to come upon eokjo buried remains. It wa3 evident that a *jeep hate had been dug iv the kitchen floor, and that several barrels of csasent had been used. This had formed into a mass solid and hard like concrete, and the work of excavating it was gainfully slow. As the men proceeded the sickening graveyard smell became horribly intensified. After half an hour's dip<jio*», when the earth and cement had been" es.cavatcd to a depth of about a foot, o congnoatcry discovery -was made. The coraer of a white damask tablecloth, and what to be a woman's apron or shawl were disclosed to view. Tho stench had .glow become so overpowering that tho constables were compelled to cease work for a itams and go to the door for fresh air, .When the worse -was recommenced not ■ many minutes had elapsed before tho wolico .were able to take out the bodies of two -.♦bildren.' Both were lying face down--wards, with their iittls bodies simply covered-with nightshirts, their legs bein<r perfectly bare. The first body taken out ■was that of a boy about five years ; of age. The deceased wore a striped print s ßhirt, and his head was wrapped ja what appeared to be a piece of old linen. When the body was taken .Upthe stench which had previously been afcioet intolerable became infinitely worse. Every window ia the house had to be .thrown open. The body of the first child discovered was immediately taken upstairs Into one of the bedrooms. When the head- . wrap -W»s removed, it was discovered that not only was there a fearful wound on the head, bat that the throat had been cut and tho head almost severed from the body. The remains were fearfully decomposed at the extremities of the arms and legs. The body ,©f a fair-haired little girl about seven years .of age was next brought out, her tiiroat .alsoheksg terribly cut. After these two bodies had been removed, the police began to excavate to get out the body of a woman, which, it was apparent, was deeply em- - bedded in cement. Slowly the work proceeded. Ultimately one foot was uneovsredj it was encased ia a soft house shoe. Great difficulty was found ia extricating the body, it being so firmly fixed iv ihe cement, it was seen that the woman bad a rope round her neck, and , that- the ends had been cut sharply off as if she had been hanged and cut down. A policeman tugged at the rope but it gave way, and the digging operations commenced Again, tho body being ultimately removed. While the men were at work digging round " this body they made the unexpected disj coyery of the body of a baby girl lying near the woman's feet, and soon afterwards a fourth child—a girl of about ten—was . found lying besido tho woman. The woman's body was wrapped in an eider down quilt, and tied tightly round with rope. She waa folly dressed, with tho exception of a boot " and stocking missing from one foot. Her clothes were of fine quality. She had on .a print morning dress, iler throat, like those of the children, was cut. She was of j very dark complexion and had short black ""hair, suggestive of her. being a half-caste. .' On her left hand wore a wedding ring and la keeper. AH the bodies were in an ad"vanced stage of decomposition, and the , work of removing them was completed only j j after very great ""difficulty. The burial of ."'the bodies nad evidently been carried out ,'ia a very systematic and complete manner. i A deep hole had bean dug. and the bodies '.of the woman and two children placed ia -to, and cement poured upon them. The I elder children were then placed m the hole 'and cemented over in a similar manner. ' Flags were then laid upon the top of the hole, and over all a. layer of 6in of cement had been spreud extending over the entire "area of the kitchen floor. On the removal of the last of the bodies they were all laid oat in an upper room, and work was discon- , tihued for the day. The police, However, entertain the belief that no more bodies were taterred in the kitchen.