Daily Los Angeles herald., 1879-10-10
SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION.
A Young Woman Burned 10 Ashes after 9
Debauch.



A few weeks since the following
appeared in one of the Santa Cruz
papers: "Died-Near Lorenzo,
Santa Cruz county, on the 10th
inst, Miss Carrie G. Noyle, aged 10
years. There was no other refer.
ence to the fact and the public re-
garded the fact as an ordinary case
of death from natural causes. Yes
terday our reporter ran across a
resident of Lorenzo District, and
from him obtained the particulars
of one of the most peculiar cases CT
death we have ever been called
upon to record. 1t seems that the
family consisted of Mr.. Noyle and
his two daughters. Lucy and
Carrie, both very bright and
refined young ladies, but unfor-
tunately the latter had inherited
from her father fatal passion for
ardent spirits. Old man Noyle has
been regarded with suspicion by
the residents of Lorenzo District,
who were unable to discover exact
ly how he obtained the money
that was always abundant in his
purse The Investigations of an in
quisitive sheepherder, who follow ed
him into the mountains one night,
threw some light on the subject,
and it has been whispered among
the settlers that he is "moon-
sinner" At any rate whisky has
always been plenty in the
house, and Carries consuming
appetite for the fiery liquid was al
ways kept inflamed by the facility
with which it could be gratified.
Strange stories have been told of
the midnight orgies INDUCED in by
father and daughter. The old man
is said to have been kind father
when in his right mind, and he al
ways spoke of his two daughters
as the light of his declining years.
When excited by drink, however,
his whole nature seemed to under
go change. and it was dangerous
to approach him. 1t appears that
the daughtrr was formerly en-
ployed at the canning factory at
San Jose, and, while there, became
acquainted with an oily-tongued
young fellow named Cole, who won
her affections, which greatly an
noyed old Noyle, who used to cay
tina. there wasn't a girl in Califor-
mia that could hold candle to his
daughters, and that the hest man
in the country wasn't too good a
match for either of them. Yielding
to the old mans entreaties, who
urged her to give up the young
man if she had spark of affection
for him, Carrie separated from
Cole, and for a time her father be-
lieved the love affair to be entirely
extinguished. A little while since
the young man made his appear
ance at Lorenzo and called upon
the Noyle family. The old man
was sitting in the chimney corner
when Cole came in, and, noticing
by his daughters actions that
there was still glimmeriug of
the old passion remaining, he
arose and, with a wicked look in
his eye, fired the intruder out. The
result was an explosion of wrath
generally in that family, and there
was 10 peace in the house for that
night. In the morning Carrie, who
had been drinking for months past
in manner that even alarmed her
father, took a jug of the poison and
went out, vowing she would never
return. The day was exceedingly
sultry, and she sat down on rock
in the burning sun. The sister, be-
coming alarmed at her absence, in
stituted a search, and below the
rock found heap of ashes and the
fragment of q dress, together with
the jug, which had been emptied of
its contents. Noyle had remained
in the honse in a state of maudlin
inconsistencies. The sister, real
izing the dreadful truth, fled to a
neighbours house for assistance.
Then it was that the fact was dis
closed that the neighpor had seen a
fire in the vicinity of the rock the
day before, but thought nothing of
it, believing that it was a common
wood fire. The remains were care
fully gathered up and inferred. An
effort was made for some time af.
forwards to keep the fact secret,
but the father at last "gave it
away" while on one of his pro-
tracted sprees. 1t is presumed that
it was case of spontaneous COM
bustion.