Killed by Foul Air.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 6695, 7 November 1889, Page 2

Killed by Foul Air.

An extraordinary story is published of how four brave and daring men suddenly lost their lives at Billimora. Close to the Towers of Silene there is a well which four days before the awful occurrence was cleaned of a masa of dibris that had accumulated at the bottom. The cleaning operations being completed, the drawing of water was resumed, and a mallee in lowering a bucket let the vesßel drop. As he had descended into the well before, he, without hesitation, leaped into the water to recover his bucket. . But what was the surprise and horror of the onlookers to see the mallee fall back without a cry, evidently unconscious. Then a Farsee youth plunged in to try and rescue the man who was thought to be drowning. But no sooner had he seized hold of the mallee than he, too, was seen to fall limp and lifeless across the body of the other. This strange occurrence might have been sufficient to retard any others from entering the well. But, nothing daunted, a brother of the latter and another man of the | Doobla caste leaped in simultaneously, when they, too, dropped lifeless aeros B their fellows. The scare was now complete and the excitement reached its height! Nobody would venture to descend the well and it was several days ere all the bodies were recovered. Foul air wrb discovered ** on examination to be the invisible and i LBllengS^Mi^-iaief the four l^SW^ '■:. • , ! l~ .•■••■- : ■ -„. ■ . „:-, ■ .