CHILDREN DROWNED.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19217, 5 January 1926, Page 11

CHILDREN DROWNED.

THREE LITTLE VICTIMS. DEVOTION OF TWO BROTHERS. TRAGIC END TO A HOLIDAY. Further details appear in at Sydney paper regarding tho recent tragedy at Nattai Creek, near Windsor, when two little brothers and their young sister were drowned. The victims were Ernest Ball, aged ten, Robert Ball, aged seven, and Hazel Ball, aged five. There were no eye-witnesses of tho occurrence. The three children, with their parents, were spending their holiday in a tent on the banks of Nattai Creek, below Windsor. After having a meal they went to a little bay in the river to wash themselves. An hour afterwards, tho three bodies were recovered from a gravel bank, Bft. below the surface of the river. It is believed that the little girl, Hazel, while washing herself, fell in, and that in an endeavour to save her, her brother, Ernest, plunged in after her. He could not swim, and it is believed that yonng Robert, who was only seven years of age, dashed into the water to the assistance of his brother and sister. The positions in which the bodies were found led those who assisted in their recovery to believe that the theory exf two rescue attempts is correct. There was every evidence of a terrible struggle for life. The little girl was clutched by her elder brother in a manner which clearly indicated that he had tried to save her. Little Robert was lying in an attitude which showed that just before he died he was struggling to reach hi 3 brother and sister. When the father missed the children he went to where he knew thoy intended to have a wash, and on seeing portions of their clothing lying on the bank he called out their names and then began a search of tho locality. Failing to find them, he communicated with the Windsor police. Officers hurried to the spot and located the bodies. They were recovered with the aid of grappling irons and removed to the Windsor morgue.