Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 41, Number 25, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 December 1908 — Five Near Death in Jail. [ARTICLE]

Five Near Death in Jail.

Valparaiso Vidette. Five prisoners arrested for larceny nearly lost their lives early yesterday morning in the jail at HobarL Before he locked them up for the night Marshal Rose built a fire in the stove, and, as the chimney was stopped up, the cells were filled with smoke. The fire kept burning, however, when the marshal left, and the smoke almost suffocated the helpless prisoners, who tried to rouse the neighborhood with their screams. A belated pedestrain passing the jail early in the morning saw smoke issuing from the windows and gave the alarm. Deputy Sheriff James Gill was summoned and found the five men more dead than alive. Two were unconscious but will recover.