OVER KATOOMBA FALLS.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXXIV, Issue 11129, 31 July 1907, Page 2 (Supplement)

OVER KATOOMBA FALLS.

TWO SIGHTSEERS DASHED TO PIECES.

Telegrams from Katoomba to the Sydney Telegraph give the following particulars of the terrible fatalities at Katoomba, which were briefly reported by cable. A first message, dated Monday, Bth inst, says : — A fatal accident occurred yesterday afternoon at the Katoomba Falls, to a lad, William T. J. Lannen, aged 13, residing ' with is parents in Denison street. New- 1 town, \oung Lannen, together with two sisters, a brother, and a friend named Jewett, went U) the falls, which were frozen, the. water hanging from the top in immense icicles. He was crossing a piece of ice, about 20ft square, when he slipped and fell shrieking over the edge into the chasm, over 200ft below. | Help was speedily forthcoming, and the body brought to the top of the falls ' as quietly as possible. Life was, of, course, extinct. The^iinfortunate lad's body was terribly, mutilated, there being ' hardly one sound bone, and one arm alone having four compound fractures, i The scene of the accident is a danger- ' ous place even when the' falls, are not frozen. . The trustees have always taken precautions to prevent accidents, and. have railed in the most dangerous parts. ; Though there have been some narrow escapes in the past, this is the first fatal accident either at. the Katoomba or, Leura falls. . »- - A magisterial enquiry was held this' morning, when a finding of accidental' death was entered. I A later telegram on the same day ran : I News has just been received there another | accident has occurred in almost the same locality as the one of yesterday, and that it: also resulted fatally. It appears that a young woman, Henrietta M'Aviney, aged 22 years, daughter of an ""old and respected .resident of the Bathurst district, who has been staying i on a holiday visit with a relative, Mrs "Regan, decided this morning, with her I sister, to go out and see the beautiful : sight presented by the Katoomba falls! and. cascades in a frozen state. While; there Miss M'Aviney, curious to see thei {ilace, went over to the spot where Wil- • iam Lannen was' killed yesterday after- j noon. She succeeded in reaching there j all right, and was returning when she] began to slip on the same body of ice | that caused yesterday's terrible accident. jEvery effort to recover her footing was unavailing. One of the ladies near her clutched at the unfortunate girl's clohtes, and made a brave attempt to save her, but was forced to relax her hold to save -herself. The poor gift "then slid along the ice andfover the. edge into. the deep, thickly wooded valley beneath j where her body^ dreadfully crushed, was shortly after recovered. .-..-. The unusual circumstances of two fatal accidents following So quickly upon one another has cast quite a gloom oyer the town and district. The lady who attempted to rescue .deceased when she realised what had Happened collapsed and became insensible, temporarily losing her reason. The trustees of the reserve have since fenced the track leading to this dangerous spot," so that no one can* get on. to it without climbing the fence. It is also suggested to put an iron railing across the top of. the fall to., make the spot doubly safe against accident. The Katoomba falls and surroundings are among the chief attractions, of the Blue Mountains.: All around the head of the falls the scenery is of theimostpic-*---turesque and charming, character. T ; The, depth of the waterfall is a little. oyer" 200ft; the water widens' to to about 10 or , 12 feet, formings beautiful veil, behind which the visitor may get if he so desires. After the first fall the waters roll over; uneven rocky prominences, forming a sparkling 'cascade; then they collect and rush over a precipice, hundreds of feet down into the valley below. There are other falls and v beauty spots in the neighborhood, which combine to make Kotoomba, which is only sixty-six miles west of Sydney, a favorite pleasure resort for the people of the, capital.