Omaha daily bee., 1884-05-23
Twice Setting Fire to the Building
and Jaok-Knife in Hand
Defying the Institutions
Officers,
he Attempts to Burn One Patient
Alive and Cuts the Throat
of Another From Ear
to Ear.
Finally Shot Through the Heart by
the Physician in Charge.
Kansas City Times.

morning the city hospital, located on an
elevation overlooking the city, at Twen-
ty-third and Cherry streets, was the
scene of one of the most shocking TRACE
dies ever known in this city, resulting in
the fatal shooting of Darius Weaver, a
colored patient, and in dangerous inju-
ries being inflicted upon DIR. Napoleon
B. Winfrey, the physician in charge, and
John Hughes, a patient in tho institu-
ton. The component parts of the affair
were incendiarism, a death struggle in
the sutfocating smoke with a mailman
possessed of the strength of a giant, and
the viciousness of a demon, eliminating
in bloodshed and death.
The city hospital is composed of two
buildings, the mule ward, occupying a
long narrow one-story structure extend
ing east and west, with the physicians
Office in front and the patients room i'm
mediately in the rear. At the extreme
west end of the building, in the basement,
is a room divided into three apartments,
intended for the confinement of insane
patients, but owing to the present pres
sure, devoted to the accommodation of
such as there is not room for up stairs.
In the front part of this s'crazy ward"
Monday night Charles Beaver, a colored
man dying with consumption, slept on a
cot. In the south room were Darius
Weaver, colored. and Joseph Sykes, a
paralytic, formerly connected with the
Coliseum as a stage carpenter. In
the third cell, on the north, was
Thomas White, afflicted so terribly with
disease that he could scarcely put one
foot before the other. South of this
building is located a second structure,
atfording accommodations for the female
ward and the kitchen and diuing-room of
the institution. At the usual hour yes
terday morning Louis Faigle, the hospi-
tai nurse, went to the crazy ward to give
the inmates their breakfast He found
the door of Weaver's cell, which was as
chain. Inside Weaver was mumbling to
himself, but when spoken to ventured no
coherent answer. Charles Beaver said
he had been previously praying and talk
ing of religion. After vain attempts to
! persuade Weaver t, undo the chain,
which he had securely fastened inside,
Faigle went outside and obtained from
the masons at work on the addi-
ton to the hospital a hammer, witt,
which he succeeded in effecting an
entrance to the cell. He found Weaver,
armed with a large pocket knife, in the
act of setting fire to the straw which he
had taken from the bedding. Weaver
struck at Faigle with a hickory adj
handle which he had picked up, and made
a sufficient show of dangerous strength to
prevent the nurse from advancing CT
him. He set fire to the straw and at.
tempted to burn the helpless, paralytic
Sykes, who clenched in the vice-like grip
of the mailman, appealed wildly for help.
Faigle ran to get handouts and brought
them down, but it was folly to attempt
to put them on Weaver, who besides be
ing armed, was as strong as a lion and
promised TO kill any one who interfered
with him. By this time the smoke from
the burning straw was simply unendura-
BILE, and the fire appeared to be in a fair
way to spread and destroy the building
with great loss of life, for many
of the patients are disabled
and could not have dragged themselves
from their cots without assistance. DR..
Winfrcy and other attaches of the hospi.
tai, alarmed by the smoke which issued
from the basement window, rushed in
i. with buckets of water with which they
sought to extinguish the spreading lames
and then learned for the first time that
their lives were endangered by the mad
mans fury. Hesitating between the feal
of a fatal and DISASTROUS ~coniagration and
mischief from the colored maniac, DIR.
Winfrey and his assistants devoted ONT
moment to fighting fire and the next tt
saving the patients from the devilisi
work of Weaver, who with matches ant
club and jack knife defied them all. DIR
Winfrey rescu ed Sykes and then assisted
Thomas White in reaching the yard out
side. Then the windows wer
opened 80 that the smoke might escape
At this %juncture, to add to the confu
sion, Weaver again fired the straw, an
Mrs. Schriver, the cook, who rushed il
with a bucket of water to pour on tn
flames, perceived that John Hughes, al
aged patient, was in the clutches o
Weaver. The mailman was in the &C
of cutting Hughes throat and DR.. Win
frey went to the door of the cell with tn
intention of stopping the bloody work
it lay in his power to do 80. He say
Hughes in a sitting posture, the bloc
squirting from a horrible wound whic
extended around the curve of the throa
from ear to ear. The straw in the ce
was still burning, and the apartment
was densely filled with smoke. Weave
stood over Hughes, knife in hand. d.
Winfrey took hold of Hughes to pu
him out into the air, and was a~ssaulte
by Weaver, who tried to sta
him. Hughes was removed to the outsid
where he received all the attentio
that could be bestowed upon him in &
exciting a moment. Then DIR. Winfre!
realizing that no deed was too terrible fC
the demoniacial rage of the insane negr'
went to his room and got his pistol, il
tending to use it only if it became abs
lutely necessary for the defense OF lif
Weaver was still in the basement, an
fearing tha' he might set fire to the bull
ing, DIR. Winfrey ordered the window
closed to the end that he might be force