CAT GIVES ALARM

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22777, 10 July 1937, Page 2 (Supplement)

CAT GIVES ALARM

HOME IN FLAMES OUTBREAK AFTER PARTY MOTHER AND TWO SONS DIE When fire recently destroyed their home in Burnt Oak, Middlesex, a woman and her two sons of 14 and 17 lost their lives. The father, Alexander Ouseley, aged 50, who was severely burned in rescuing his two daughters, aged 10 and 12, unharmed, was taken to hospital. ' The fire broke out a few hours after a party at which the two sons were entertaining their friends. All the guests were gone and the family -were in bed. A cat mewing awakened Mr. Ouseley, and he found flames and smoke coming from the floor of "hi- room. He dashed to where his two daughters, Hilda and Betty, were sleeping, calling at the same time to rouse his wife and sons. Collapsed in Hall Seizing the two girls, he carried them down the blazing staircase, but collapsed in the hall. There the three were found by two men who, passing, noticed the blaze and broke down the front door. Neighbours thre~ coats over their nightclothes. raised the alarm, and dashed to aid the it -me work. Led by a police sergeant and two constables, they raised ladder- to the \ipper windows of the house. The sergeant broke his way through •the window of the room where the boys were sleeping and passed them out to helpers. Ono, William, the younger, was already dead. Harry died on the lawn, despite the efforts of a doctor and ambulance workers, who had arrived with oxygen apparatus. Neighbour's Bravery Mrs. Ouseley was rescued," but died soon after she was taken to T?cdhill Hospital. The three policemen, P.S. Jones. P.C. Kelly, and P.C. Sutherland, were badly affected by gas and fumes. A gallant attempt at rescue was made by "William Shepherd, who lives opposite. Wearing only nightclothes, he climbed a ladder to a bedroom window, smashed the glass, and was about to enter the room, which was full of flames and smoke, when he was stopped by Sergeant Jones. While helping to carry one of the victims. Mr. Shepherd fell from the ladder. Telling of the-tragedy, Mr. Shepherd described how he was awakened by the girls screaming. _ , "I dashed out," he said, "but it was impossible to get into the house. The heat was unbearable, and flames shot high from every window. "Sergeant Jones climbed through the broken window and handed me the elder boy, who was still breathing, but he died almost immediately. Dead When Brought Out "Mrs. Ouseley was next brought out. She was placed on the top of a shed, given oxygen, and artificial respiration was applied. William was dead when brought out." "Hilda and Betty were taken in by Mr. Stovey, another neighbour, pending the arrival of an aunt, who will care for them. "They were only slightly burnt, but dazed, and they ask repeatedly for their parents. We have not yet told them what has happened to their mother and brothers." Mr. L. W. Littlewood, who lives next door to the Ouseleys, said that the boys' nightclothes were burned off, and on the back of Harry were the burn marks of the bed springs.