Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1886-02-26
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Unknown Fiends Pour Kerosene Down o..
Chimney of a Building Occupied by sis
Men-Thc Inmates Severely Burned -
the Explosion which Follows.
ST. LOUIS, Feb. Ga terrible attemnt
upon human life was perpetrated in East
St. Louis Thursday night. Shortly af,a,
ten O'Clock a burst OF flames envelopina f.,
shanty neal the railroad tracks was die
covered. After the flames were Discovers,
those who ran to the spot heard the most
heartrending screams and cries, and it was
known that human beings were prisoncrsin
a cage OF fire. There was arush to the don, /
and it was forced in, when two men stao. +
gcred out, their arms beating and their 4
clothes ablaze. Other men were dragged |
out unconscious. The victims as thcv /
came out were seized by rough but friendlv |
hands, and rolled about on the ground in
the snow. Their faces were biackened and !
long strips OF flesh peeled of, presenting a |
horrid sight such as only burned flesh can |
The un%fortunates were taken to the Relay
Depot, where they were attended to. There
were six men taken out OF the building. I
During the briefintervals that they forgot /
their burns and pains, they told how the
fire originated. They had strolled in, oue
by one, to the shanty in order to warm up
and were sitting around the stove talking,
when suddenly the stove seemed to burst
open and the flames went all about the
room, enveloping the men before they
.o,Jl %,,, ur,,r nj tho door Thav a,,,1
only beat about with their hands, and
struggle with each other in an endeavor to
get to the exit. They grappled with each
other, and this impeded their escape, and|
it seemed an eternity before they heard
the cries OF those who came to the rescue]
They remembered very distinctly that they
smelled coal oil as the flames burst around
them.
The strange manner i'll which the frs
started can only be accounted for on thu
ground that some wretch poured oil dow
The chimney to the stove. 1t is said
the man who did the deed is known
as he had a grudge against one of thd
men, and declared but recently that Nd
would get even if it took years to id
it. Near the back OF the shanty, on thd
ground, was found a tin can that evidentlH
had contained coal oil. Some OF the rail
road men who ran to the rescue OF the im}
prisoned victims said that the light of thd
blazing shanty disclosed to them the fgl
ure OF a man beating a hasty retreat FROM
the vicinity, but they did not know at th(
time of the horrible circumstances ad
tending the co~ntlagration. The names 0
the unfortunate men are: Morris Md
Glynn, James Donohue, William Gilkie, PA
Boyle, Scott Sanderson, Joseph MCGEE and
Fred Erickson. They are all ~fearfull
burned, but whether or not any OF then
are necessarily fatally injured can not b
known as yet.
Scott Sardcrson, one OF the injured men
was seen and stated that early in the ever
ing, when his men went into the shanty fol
supper, they expected trouble, for an oH
posing and unfriendly gang of men hal
been there before them and had fastena
the windows and door OF the buildin2
Sanderson and his friends, howeve
soon gained a%dmittance. AS O
they entered the door OF the shanty wa
closed by some one from without, and 81
:urely fastened, and almost immediatel
afterward powder began to be throw
down the chimney. This, however, did nd
result seriously, and the men within file
the stove with oily waste, in order to max
the chimney "a common stove-pipe) SO ho
that those above could not approach i
Those without then resorted to pourinl
oil in the chimney, and Immediately til
room was file | with flames.