GELIGNITE IN OVEN

Taranaki Daily News, 13 July 1935, Page 6

GELIGNITE IN OVEN

FARM HOUSE WRECKED ALL OCCUPANTS INJURED RESCUE BY AN EMPLOYEE WHOLE ROOF BLOWN OFF By Telegraph—Press Association. Feilding, Last Night. Through the explosion of gelignite a whole family of seven people have been sent to hospital a house being completely wrecked on the HalcombeStanway Road at 7.45 a.m. to-day. Frank Cowdrey, aged 32, a farmer, in preparation for stumping operations this morning, placed 50 plugs of gelignite in the kitchen oven to warm. Edward Robinson, aged 18, an employee, warned Mr. Cowdrey of the dangerou- risk, but Mr. Cowdrey said it would not go off. Three minutes later, while the family were at breakfast round the kitchen table, there was- a terrific explosion. Mr. Cowdrey was sitting at the end of the table nearest the stove. The whole family was peppered- with small pieces of iron like shrapnel. . \ Mr. Robinson told the police afterwards that his chair and the floor were blown from under him. He staggered outside dazed and then returned and found all the children, Maurice, aged 9, Beverley, aged 6,' and Nita, aged 3, and Raymond Davies, aged 9 (brother of Mrs. Cowdrey), with Mr. and Mrs. Cowdrey lying on the floor. He took out the children. The mother was able to walk out but the father was too injured to help himself. • The house caujht fire and Mr. Robinson went back and extinguished this. Mr. Robinson, who is a relative of C wdrey, only joined the family yesterday. , The roof was blown off, the side ot the house was blown o.ut, and the inner walls were smashed to pieces. The chimney was completely wrecked, the kitchen stove was blown to pieces, the kitchen floor was shattered, and the table was blown to splinters. Mr. Cowdrey was the most severely injured, and one of his legs is broken. All the occupants received burns, scratches, bruises and shock. Mrs. Cowdrey had nearly all her clothes torn off by the force of the explosion. The son Maurice is also seriously, injured. All the sufferers are in hospital, and their condition is not yet satisfactory. A hospital report is:— Frank Cowdrey, fractured right . arm, fractured skull, bums on the face, shock, condition very serious. Mrs. Cowdrey, burns on the face, arms and right leg, shock, condition serious. v . ' Nita Cowdrey, burns on the abdomen, “ abrasions, shock, condition serious. Beverley Cowdrey, burns on. the back and shoulder, shock, condition fair. Ray Davies, shock, abrasions, condition fair. Edward Robinson, wounds on the forehead, left wrist and left leg, condition fair. It was Cowdrey’s custom to warm which he used frequently for stumping purposes. Apparently the explosion was caused through closing the open door with the gelignite made.