Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1883-11-15
sTHE coRoNER's INQUEST.

yesterday afternoon the county cOroper
empaneled a jury and took evidence Ie-
spscting the death of Joseph Walsh, who
was found dead in tank at the house of
Mrs. Ankeny, which was partially burned
on the night of the 18th.
Geo. Goodan, being sworn testified:
Live at 513 Fourth avenue southeast; re-
| cognize the remains as those of Joseph
Walsh; his occupation was that of a la
borer.
Mrs. Elmira Ankeny, testified: Live at
Ninth street and Second avenue south;
Joseph Walsh was in my employ; I got
! him on Saturday, the 18th, the night of
the fire, was the first night that Walsh
| slep in the attic; there were two ways to
reach it---a front and a back way;
and he had been by both; in the night I
heard noise up stairs, which awoke me;
L lighted the gas and discovered smoke;
| called the girl and told her to CRY fire; she
was in room on the same floor with
Walsh's room; she came right down and
said she could hardly get down; she was
| almost suffocated; she said she didn't be-
lisvs the man was in his room; she raped
loudly on the door and received no re-
spouse; I found the house 80 filed with
| smoke that could not enter the rooms;
| observed no flames; my son called the fire
| department; ran outside and screamed
| fire; at that time the house was so full of
| smoke that no one could enter it; the fire
| originated in the sawdust packing around
| the cistern.
Dr.. Chas. Fl. Smith testified: On the
night of the 18th [ was awakened by my
! night bell and was requested to telephone
the fire department. 1 called
the central Office, and was
told the department had already been tel
ephoned; saw the steamer come up to
Mrs. Ankeny's house; the fireman en-
deavored 40 eztinguish the fire in rear Of
the house; fireman went into the house
and got some money for Mrs. Ankeny
from five TO ten minutes after | went out.
l was informed that there was a man in
tina house in bed in the attic; spoke to q
fireman who seemed to be an officer about
it; as well as I could pointed out the To-
cation Of the room as it was given me;
few minrtes after he ordered ladder
which was placed at the rear corner Of the
building on the Second avenue side; then
this officer mounted the ladder to the
caves; he knocked hole through the roof;
flame and smoke were coming over the
roof from the opposite side; when the man
came down I asked him about the
man in the room; he replied
that the man had not been found, and he
didn't know whether there was a man in
the house or not; he then gave his atten-
ton to number of lines of hose which
had been laid; then he ordered hoss up
the ladder and turned a stream through
the hole; after taking Mrs. Ankeny to my
house l returned and spoke again of the
man in the house, l think to the chief or
one of his assistants; he again asked
where the room was, but paid no particu-
lar heed; the room in which
Walsh slept was burned little; bedstead
was charred, and the bed clothing was
scorched; three-quarters of an hour or an
hour after ladder was raised to Walsh's
window, and the glass knocked in; the fire
man on the ladder said he could see no one
in the room; the fire was then nearly sub
dued. In company with DR.. Hall, made
post norton examination of the body of
the deceased; found neck and face charred
and blackened beyond rec
ognition; found less deep
burns on chest and abdomen;
death was occasioned in my opinion from
suffocation from smoke, and yet the idea
cannot be excluded that death resulted
from burning; the burning must have oc-
CURED after the man had fallen into the
tank, suffocation was probably the chief
| cause of death; probably life was extinct
before the fire reached him.
Carrie johnson testified: 81 lived at
Mrs. Ankeny's on Monday night; Jos.
Walsh's room was next to mine; Mrs.
| Ankeny called me and told me the house
was on fire; went down stairs without
dressing; called Walsh; 1 called Joe
| loud; there was no answer"
Henry Williams, foreman at the house
| on Third street between Nicollet avenue
| and First avenue south; man came in
| Monday night and told me house was on
| ire corner Ninth street and Second avenue
south; when we reached the house the
! alarm sounded; the fire had spread all over
the building from attic to basement; l did
not receive any notification of a man be-
ing IN the house until the chief called on
| me twenty minutes after our arrival TO as
sist him with @ torch to look in the house;
he crawled on his hands
hands and knees up stairs; l followed with
the torch; there WAS much smoke; saw the
body after the fire was extinguished; 1
was alone; saw it as 1 was passing the
tank; reported it to the chief; the tank
was one and half or two feet deep; made
of plank; there was one entrance to it;
the smoke was so dense that it was impos-
sible to get into the house sooner.
Chief Stetson testified to substantially
this same as Mr.. Williams.
DR.. HILL corroborqted the testimony of
DR.. Hunter respecting the autopsy.
Chief Stetson being recalled testified
that he went up three times to ind the
man, but could not see him; it was impos-
sible for man to enter the house when /
first arrived at the fire.
The jury found verdict that Walsh
came to his death from suffocation, for
which no one was to blame but himself.
T,co Dirorce Cases.
Robert B. Hunter was granted divorce
from Sarah f. Hunter, yesterday, on the