The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1885-12-24
FOOD FOR FLAMES.
A Detroit Family Of Four Persons
Perish in Their Burning
House.
An Oregon Crazy Woman's Insane,
Act-0ther Fatalities by
Fire.
A DETROIT FAMILY CREMATED.
Frank Knoch, His Wife, and Two Children
Perish In Their Burning building.

Frank knOch, HIS VIE, ana Two thildren
Perish In Their Burning building.
Detroit special.
The house of Frank Knoch, a market
gardener living in the suburbs of Detroit,
was destroyed by fire at an early hour this
morning. In the flames persisted Frank
Knoch, aged 26; Susan Whitman Knoch,
his wife, aged %; George Knoch, their eld-
est child. aged years; Frank Albert
Knoch, babe.
The origin Of the fire, the hour of its be-
ginning, or any of the circumstances
attending its outbreak, or the efforts
of the family to escape, are alike
unknown. The fact of the sad fate
of the entire family is apparent in the
three charred and blackened bodies, out of
which every semblance of humanity has
disappeared. These are the bodies of the
father, mother, and one of the children
which one it would be impossible to say,
for the shriveled little form has nothing
distinctive. A few bones of the back and
a twisted limb are about all that remain.
Nothing could be moro horrible than the
sight of these remains as they were laid
together in n heap beside the smoldering
ruins in which the search for the other
child was being prosecuted.
1t is learned that b. Joseph Kama, George
Laurain, and James Whipple were return
ing from their lodge meeting about 100
o'clock. The house of Knoch was burning
and they raised the alarm, but il was too.
late. The entire structure was in flames,
and by the time they reached it the roof
had fallen in and the walls had begun to
fall. There was nothing to'be done in the
way of suppressing the flames. The water
supply was limited to the well, which was
inclosed in n kitchen. The creek below
was full quarter of a mile distant and
covered with ice, and the men were help
less. They gathered snow and ice and at
tempted TO beat out the flames, but their
efforts were futile. For a moment the
floor of the house withstood the flames, and
in that instant they saw the remains of the
family, which almost Immediately sank
into the cellar. Willing hands cast aside
the charred rafters and beams, and in a.
few minutes the bodies of Knoch and
his wife, apparently clasped in each
others embrace, were exposed. The
effort to lift them out was attended
with difficulty, as they crumbled away on
being touched. But by slipping beneath
them some planks they were taken up
and brought into the snow. Then it was
seen that the body of child was between
buly OuOIdN IS1
o'clock the searchers came to what they
supposed to be the remains of the other
child. There was scarcely anything left;
certainly nothing by which it could be dis
tinguished as being the younger or older
one. What remained was taken out and
placed with the rest. The Knoch family
were sober, industrious German Lutheran
people.
Frank Knoch was known to have money
in the house, which he had been saving to
make some payments. The searchers in
the ruins found revolver, and it is said
Knoch never owned one. These two facts
led to the suspicion that murder was COM
mitted for the sake of robbery, and the
building then fired to cover up the crime.
The position in which the ashes of the fam
lily were lying would seem to oppose this
opinion. However, nothing is definitely
known, everything about the house having
beep completely consumed. One body was
notIat first found, and it was thought the
flames had entirely devoured it. Later the
searchers found the crumbling ashes of
what had once been the youngest child.
The Coroner's jury met and adjourned
till later in the week.