The Waterbury Democrat., 1946-08-08
Gas Kills Woman: Blast Fires Home
Mrs. Hill Died Before Exp xpIosion
 Mother of Three
 Took Own Life,
 Examiner Finds

A VttQlCU Ol ouIClQt was SlVSli o- day in the Illuminating gas death yesterday afternoon of Mrs. William H. Hill, 55, of 75 Coniston Avenue.
 Mrs Hill was found dead On the kitchen floor, six feet from the stove, after an explosion aroused the Bunker Hill section shortly after P. M. and shattered rear windows and doors of the house.
 Assistant Medical Examiner Dr. Harold F. Merrill, who pronounced the death suicide, said the woman was victim of Illuminating gas asphyxiation. He said death came prior to the explosion.
 William E. Vosburgh, III, and El- mer E. DoWnes, neighbors first to arrive on the scene, carried the woman to the porch, after entering the house by climbing through window
 Apply Respiration
 Fire and police officials applied artificial respiration, but Mrs. Hill was pronounced dead by Dr. Rob- ert Audet, an interne at the Water bury Hospital.
 Fire Marshal Eugene Legge said the explosion was caused by spark from a refrigerator motor. He said the motor was located at the top of the unit and the explo- sion was delayed because the gas had to rise before igniting. He ex- pressed the opinion that in spite of the motor spark, an explosion would have occurred anyway from the gas stove pilot light.
 Friends and neighbors reported that the woman had been i'll for a year and had become Respondent.
 A check of the quarters by. fire, police and Connecticut Light and Power Company officials disclosed that four jets on the stove had been opened
 DOuses Small Fires
 After helping Downes carry the body to the porch, Vosburgh looked for phone in the house, but stated 1t was impossible to stay inside be- cause of the stif1ing gas fumes. Mis- cellaneous articles about the kitchen had been set On fire by the explo- sion. VoSburgh used pots thrown about the kitchen floor by the blast to throw water on these fires.
 Mrs. Robert w. Harvey of 05 Con- iston Avenue arrived at the scene shortly after Downes and Vosburgh. She stated that she had tried Mrs. Hills pulse and felt none
 The terrific explosion" rocked her house, she stated. Tt made you shudder.' Everyone on the street ran to the front door to see what had happened.
 The force of the blast shattered the dining room windows in the ad- joining house Glass particles were scattered throughout the room and had even cut paper on the opposite wall. A small vase kept on mantel in the living room was thrown to the floor and smashed The res idents of the house are MT. and Mrs Benjamin LaValle.
 Glass from the shattered kitchen and porch windows in the Hill house flew almost 50 feet into LaValles back yard. Pieces were also found along the separating driveway al most to the sidewalk, a distance of about 30 feet.
 Woodwork Scorched
 In the house, the paint was burned of the woodwork around the kitchen windows A cellar door next to the stove also was scorched.
 Mrs Hill, the former Ruth Nich- olS, was born March 8, 1891 in Wa terbury the daughter of Mrs. An nie (McBridge) Nichols and the late Friend M. Nichols. She was a mem- Der of the Bunker Hill Congrega- tional Church, the Kings Daugh- ters and Naomi Chapter, Order of the Eastern Star.
 Besides her mother, she is sur vived by her husband, William Henry Hill, Scovill Manufacturing Company salesman, two sons, Will liam H. Hill, Jr., and Wallace An drew Hill, both of Waterbury; a daughter, Miss R. Elizabeth Hill of New York City, two brothers, sim con w. Nichols of Waterbury, and Rufus B. Nichols of East Orange, N. J.; two sisters, Mrs. L. A. T. Petersen of Oakland Park, Fla, and Mrs. William H. Liner of Hartford and a grandson, William H, Hill, 3d.
 Funeral services will be held at 2 P. M. tomorrow from the Alder son Funeral Home, at 10 Central Avenue with burial in Riverside cemetery, at the convenience of the family, the Rev. Henry Lisbeck, as- sistant pastor at the Second Con- greational Church, officiating. Friends may call at the funeral home this evening from 2 to g P. M.