The Cecil Whig., 1885-11-28
GAS KILLS TWO MEN.
Dead i'll a Room at Their Hotel
in Baltimore.

Dead i'll a Room at Their Hote
in Baltimore.
Two young men-C. A. Thorp, o
Frenchtown, and j. White, of Perry
vile. Cecil cOunty-were suffocated by
Illuminating gas some time on Sunday
morning last at the Rose House, on Gay
street, above Fayette, Baltimore, where
they had engaged room for the night.
The discovery was not made until shortly
after O'Clock Monday morning, when
the door was burst open, and the room
was found filled with gas, and it was
still escaping from the burner. The two
men went to Baltimore on Saturday, and
about half-past / o'clock on that night
went to the Rose House with Mr.. VIM.
McManus, of 45 South street, and en-
gagged a room. They were assigned to
room No. A, on the third floor, in the
rear portion of the house, and were
shown to their room by Samuel Smith.
one of the walters. Smith states that
he showed them how to turn off the gas,
and also how to turn it on. He also
said that he cautioned them particularly
about the gas, and warned them not to
blow it out, but to turn the stop cock.
MIR. Thorp replied that they understood
the operation. Smith then asked the
men at what time they desired to be
called in the morning, and Mr.. Thorp
replied:
"We are early risers; you need not
call u.s."
The waiter then left the room. On
Sunday morning the chambermaid went
to the room, and she raped twice. Re-
ceiving no response, she placed her ear
to the key hole, and could hear the oc-
cupants breathing. One was breathing
heavily and the other appeared to be
snoring. Having no orders to wake the
men, she left. They did not make their
appearance all day Sunday. Yesterday
morning the chambermaid went to the
room, and thought she detected the
odor of gas in the hallway. She raped
at the door. There was no answer, and
thinking that something might be wrong,
she notified one of the employees of the
house, who forced open the door, and
found the two men dead Thorp was
lying stretched across the bed, and
White was lying ON the floor, appar-
emily having fallen out of the bed. The
positions of the men would indicate that |
they had been restless during the night, |
and probably rolled about the bed after
they had inhaled a sufficient quantity of
the gas to lose control over themselves.
When the door was opened, the room
was filled with gas, the windows being
closed, and the gas was flowing rapidly
from the burner. The men were in |
night dress. Their upper garments were
thrown across the foot of the bed. DR.. |
Alexander Hill, the coroner, was mott
fed, and summoned jury of inquest.
A number of witnesses were examined,
including j. T. Leach, son of the pro-
prietor of the shouse; Mr.. McManus,
who brought them to the Rose House;
Hattie, the chambermaid; Sam Smith,
the waiter who had taken them to the
room. Mr.. Leach testified that the
young men came to the house on Satur-
day night, and that, after taking a
couple of drinks, registered as dodgers
for the night. Neither of them, he said,
appeared to have been drinking much.
The other testified in accordance with
the facts given above. Thorp and White
were both respectable-looking men.
Thorp was muscular, well-built and
athletic-looking man, and was the son of
Mr.. Isaac Thorp, who keeps the hotel at
Frenchtown. He had return trip ex-
cursion ticket from Perryville, good
until Monday. White was smaller than
his companion, and of slender build.
The testimony indicated that the men
were perfectly sober upon going to the
room, and they must have either blown
out the gas, or after turning it off,
1ui Heu IL ou again. MT. McllanuS was
to have gone riding with the men on
Sunday, but when he sent for them re-
ceived message that they had gone
out. The bodies were taken in charge
by Mr.. H. W. Mears, undertaken, who
telegraphed to the relatives of the young
men. In the morning two friends of
the families called upon Mr.. Mears and
requested him to dress the bodies and to
send them to Cecil county on the $40
A. NJ. train Tuesday. They stated that
Thorp was twenty-five years of age, and
White eighteen years. The men ap-
peared to be older. Since the death of
his father, Mr.. Thorp has assisted his
mother in running the hotel. White
was engaged in the ducking business,
and was thol roughly acquainted with
the ducking shores