BORNED TO DEATH

Waikato Times, Volume 103, Issue 17411, 25 May 1928, Page 7

BORNED TO DEATH

FATHER AND CHILDREN. J * SEVEN VICTIMS. FARMHOUSE FIRE. (By Telegraph.—Press Association.) HAWERA, Friday. A shocking fire tragedy occurred at midnight at Ararata, a farming district not far from Hawera. A settler and six children were burned to death. The names of the deceased are:— Alfred Woller (40). Ruby Woller (13). Ellen Woller (11). Alfred Woller (8). Ray Woller (10). Daphne Woller (6). Charles Parnell (13). The mother and two children spent the night at Hawera. LATER. A RAGING FURNACE. The scene of Lhc tragedy was a fourroomed cottage, three of Lhc rooms being used as bedrooms. Woller had a family of eight. His wife and the two youngest children were living at Hawera. The parents of the boy Parnell also reside here. Peter Woller, brother of deceased, lived in a tent a couple of chains from the cottage. He was awakened about midnight by the sound of crackling timber. lie saw the coltage ablaze. The back portion had already been destroyed. The flames were so fierce and the smoke so dense that he was unable Lo .get inside. He tried the front-door handle hut it was too hot to touch, lie saw no sign of life. A high southerly wind was blowing and the cottage, which stood on the edge of a hill, became a veritable furnace as coon as it caught fire. A neighbour who visited the family last night saw the house at 11 o'clock. No light was then visible nor was there any sign of fire. Three Bodies Found. Among the smouldering embers this morning the remains of three bodies could be seen. The others were apparently buried under lhc debris. The dead father was in the habit of getting up in the middle of the night and making himself a cup of tea as lie did nol enjoy good health. Further investigation does not throw much new light on the tragedy. There is nothing to indicate how the fire occurred. The father usually slept in the front room with the girl Daphne, two other girls occupying the hack bedroom. In the other front room were two beds occupied by two boys, while the third room was shared by Parnell and the oilier hoy. Mr Woodhead, the neighbour, who visited the family in the evening, said that when lie left the cottage after seven o'clock, a good lire was going in the range. The only light in tiie kitchen was a kerosene lamp on the table. Woller was a small farmer and sometimes did odd jobs in tiie neighbourhood. The remains of the children have been found. Had They Wakened? Judging by the position of the bodies, one of Lhc girls and the boy Parnell had moved, lhc bodies being found just off their beds, but the rest were lying as they slept. The remains of the father’s clothes were found at his bedside and his body at the.front of the range.