Rensselaer Republican, Volume 22, Number 6, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 October 1889 — ROASTED BY NATURAL GAS. [ARTICLE]

ROASTED BY NATURAL GAS.

Mother and Three Sons Meet Death in a Horrible Form—Father Badly Burned. At Dave’s Switch, Pa., Friday night,the dwelling of Patrick Daily was burned and his wife and three sons, aged thirteen, eleven and nine, respectively,were roasted in the flames. While the Daily family were at supper, the father stepped to the cook stove to turn off part of the. gas. He unintentionally shut the throttle tight and on turning it on again the bouse was filled with gas. A,n explosion followed, and in an instant the entire house was in flames. The three boys and the mother fell prostrate on the floor, overcome by the heat and flames. Mr. Daily rushed out of the house to call assistance, but all his efforts to save the unfortunate inmates were futile. The house was consumed in a few moments. The charred and blackened bodies of the four victims presented a sickening sight, Mrs. Daily’s limbs were burned from her body, and her flesh vyas cooked to the bone. The three sons were not as horribly burned as the mother, but their blackened bodies could not be identified until placed side by side. The gas pressure was very strong,the pipe running direct from a neighboring well to the stove. Mr. Daily is severely but not fatally burned about the head and face, and is almost crazed with grief.