Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1867-02-22
FrIshtfnI Death of a Drunl1aH+d.-
Alleged & Case of alSPOntssaeOus
Combustion. - ~.T.,---3-r571-+9i of 4.,,-g.

FCOmblISfiOn. ~ ..il}--7s..iIgs4 ot 4.lgae
The Indianapolis Journal of Saturday
fsays:yy ~ Bf,y--lr,r. 4,sa,
We are indebted to DR.. M. L. Whiteside,
dentist. of this city, for the particulars Of a
most singular and appalling catastrophe
that occurred yesterday morning in the
town of Columbus, about forty miles south
of this city, on the Madison railroad. About
8 o'clock the attention of some citizens on
the street was attracted to the liquor shop
of German by the name of Andrew. Nolte,.
by a liSilt smoke issuing from it,. He had
long been known to be very intemperate
man, and recently, itwas supposed in con-
sequence of his wife leaving him, and ap-
plying Tor a divorce on account OF his con-
ifirmed Drunkenness, more constantly and
beastly drunk than usual ION entering,
they found him lying dead behind his
counter, upon a board which was
used esl to keep his feet of the wet floor,
clothes were still burning. His lips had
BEEN entirely burned 81 away, leaving a,
ghastly hole, in which his tongue was seen
burned to crisp, as was the inside of his
mouth and his throat. His nose also was
burned, as if by fire coming out of the ness1
ltrils. The remainder of the body was
IscOrched where the burning clothes had
touched, but showed neother indication of
fire. The hands were drawn up TO the
lmOuths as If to close it. or, shut off some
dreaded thing from it. There was no fire in
the room, that Dr. zWhiteside could see, and
certainly none near the horrible corpse. A
revolver was found beside it, but all the
,chargeswere in it, and no marks of inju-
ries, except from! the fire, were discovered,
so that the death could not have been caused
by suicide. But if it had been, the lips
bdrned entirely off, and the crisped tongue,
threat and nose, would have been still more
inexplicable, as the fire was mani
ncfl of
the clothes still burning-and it
could not have. been applied after death by
some other. person without detection, or
some mark. or. other that would indicate
where the fire came from, and hOweit was
used. But if it could have been thus ap-
piled, it is impossible to believe that it was,
for there could be no motive to burn adead
man, especially about the. mouth and nose.
The same TACT of the singular character and
locality OF the burning, involving only the
air passages, precludes all idea of a death
by yViolences llNomurderer or robber would
try to kill a man by setting him on fire, or
if he should, he would not, and could not,
put fire to his mouth and nose only. No
hypothesis of murder seems to be tenable,
and that of suicide is even more absurd.
We must therefore conclude that the death
was caused by spontaneous combustion, or by
the burning of inffammable gaSseS, gener-
ated in the whisll y-rotted carcass. and es-
OoPluS Wy VIC IuuSS anu all pibSSdSCS. 4 his
might have been caused by an attempt to
light cigar with a match or other flame.
There are several authenticated cases of
spontaneous combustion on record, as our
ply ysiciansi know. Dickens has cited a
few in Justification OF the incident which
forms So frightful scene of his g Bleak
House but we question if more clearly
marked case than this at Columbus has
ever occurred, We may. note that he had
on soldiers blouse. a flannel undershirt
and a cotton over-shirt and that his hair
was not burned ,-IEH .-te