Jasper County Democrat, Volume 10, Number 14, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 July 1907 — SEVEN ESCAPE DEATH [ARTICLE]

SEVEN ESCAPE DEATH

' • /, ' r> All of Them Have Close Calls as the Result of a Casoline Explosion. SOME ARE SEVERELY BURNED Wild Doga Gin the Farmer* Trouble —Sort of ltetributton l'or Doda* ina Taxee—ltems.

Lafayette, Ind., July 2. Eight persons narrowly escaped death at 7 a. in. in a fire which swept through the building at 212-214-210 Main street, caused by the explosion of a gasoline stove on the third floor. Three of the tenants were badly burned and two of them are In a serious condition. The damage to the building Is $5,000. Bev- - eral families are left homeless. The Are started in the apartments of Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Doolittle, in the east front room. Doolittle was sitting at the breakfast table and his wife was preparing food on the gasoline stove. Always Happens •‘Suddenly.” Suddenly there was an explosion, and a mass of flame shot up from the stove, which stood beside a part tion at the head of'a narrow stairway, the s only means of egress from the third floor. Mrs. Doolittle ran out, but her husband was cut off by the flames. He picked up a bucket of water and dashed it against the fire and turned the , flames in the opposite direction and escaped. Wasted Very Valuable Time. In an adjoining room, on the east side of the building, Joseph Osborne, n spiritualist medium, aged 85 years, who lives at Remington, was sleeping. With his son, Charles Osborne. They were awakened by the noise and con Id have escaped easily; but the eld - or Osborne tried to save a set of bo ’k< and a snobel containing money and securities. Both men, in their night robes, made their way down the stairway. They were badly burned.

Hart to Klip Through Flames. In a rear room Theodore Polen, n peanut vender, was sleeping. He s a cripple, but managed to slip through the flames, receiving only a few injuries, although his hair was nearly all burned off. Kthel Ando'sot. a young girl, Was saved by her hr ther, Clifton Anderson, wlm worked heroically. They were both asleep when the Are broke ont. The girl was a ra 1 to enter the hallway, which was in flames. Saved Her Idfe l>y Force. Her brother forced her to throw a skirt around her and run to th>’ stairway. There he shoved her down th° Stairs, and she landed at the bottom with only a few bruises. Young Anderson was the last person to leav' the third floor, and he stooped beneath the flame and was uninjured. WAU ON THE WILD DOGS Canines Driven from Their Homes to Escape the Tax Levy, a Tax of Their Own. Jnsonville, Ind.. July 2. —Lad fall when the assessor of Cass townsh'p was listing property for taxation.purposes, several people along the foothills on White river drove their dogs from home that they might escape taxation. The dogs took to the hit's and soon became wild. They made dens under Craig's, where they ie mained during the day, prowling at night in the lowlands for food.. The dogs multiplied very fast, and in a short time there were two dozen and more. Their raids became more freque t and from killing geese,ducks and [tigs, they began feeding Qh larger-dze 1 hogs and sheep, and In several instances calves were pulled down and eaten. Then the farmers began a ie lentless war on the dogs, and after several “round-ups” all of them are believed to have been shot. Has Its Spur on Its Heart. El wood, Ind.. July 2. One of the most peculiar chicken freaks that has come to the notice of chicken raisers In this vicinity is a bantam rooster, owned by Charles Wright, living two miles south of F-lwood, on the P’eas ant HHI pike. Tim bantam has a spur on its head where the comb ought to be, which in larger than the horny points on its logs. Indiana's Contented Man. Muncie. Ind., July 2. Because h > already has as much money as his needs require, Patrick Hazzard, a retired business man. who is not wealthy, but who possesses an estate wo-th perhaps $25,000 to s.s>,ooo. will go to Ireland, this week, accompanied bv Mrs. Huzzard, for the purpose of giving to relatives there his 400-acre farm.

Tree Is Still Yielding Cherries. Danville, Ind., July 2. Arthur Brewer, of Belleville, has what he believes the beat yielding cherry tree In Hendricks county. Friday morning he flicked fifteen gallons from the tree and bfflleves there are still at least fifteen gallons remaining.