The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-05-24
DEATH In THE FLAMES.
A COLORED WOMAN CRBMATED
IN A BURNING HOUSE.

Grace Blake stified by the Smoke and
Burned Up With Monsee's Grocery
and Dwelling at Burroughs and
Waldburg Streets - The Fire tho
Work OF an 1ncandiary-The Coro-
ner's Investigation.
Shortly before o'cl 'cl, yesterday morn
ing an al lrn of fire was turned in from
box No. 10 at the corner Of Boltoc and Bur
roughs streets, Tho fire was located in
two story frame house, occupied by j. D.
Monsees as residence AMI store, and col
ored woman met her death in the flames.
When the alarm was given two engines re-
sponded, and after a long aud fatiguing
fight, extinguished the fire without any loss
to adjacent houses. The Monsees building
was totally destroyed Mr.. Monsees wa'in
Charleston visiting relatives. His wife tel
egraphed him, and he was expected to re-
turn last nigh The f,e is supposed to
have been the work Of an incendiary, as it
originated on the outside near the front
door to the store.
AWAKENED BY THE FIRE.
Mrs. Monsees retired at about IL O'Clock
years of age. slept in the same room, dur
ing the absence of Mr.. Monsees. Mrs.
Monsees was awakened by noise of some
thing falling down stairs She called
Grace and tried to arouse Ter, but the
woman could not be awakened Mrs.
Monsees then took her Two children, one
an infant and the other aged
years, in her arms and ran do IN stairs
and out into the street, screaming fire
mn
doors from Mrs Monsees, jumped out of
bed, and awaking her husband, ran down
TO the burning building. Mrs. Monsees told
her to get help and save Grace Blake,
who was in the room that was
then Just taking fire. Segee burst
in the front door, and rushing into the build
ing, tried to find his way TO Mrs. MonseeS'
ROOM but the fire burned rapidly, and the
smoke was so suffocating that he had to
get out of the house as quickly as possible.
By this time key was found and the alarm
was turned in.
FIGHTING THE FIRE.
When the engines arrived everything
was in such a state of confusion that
they were not apprised Of the fact that
woman was in the building, and when
they were told of it, the flames were burst
ing through the side of the room in which
she was, and there was then no hope of res
cuing her. Fireman Connolly turned the
hose on the burning room and
quenched the fame sufficiently to
allow him to enter, Chief Fernandez
following. When they were well in the
room the Chief found the body lying in the
debris and burned to a crisp. The remains
were removed to the st Get, covered with
sheet, and the Coroner was shortly after sum-
monsd. A report was circulating around
that child had been burned and Fireman
Connolly again entered the room, and seeing
what he thought was the body Of an infant,
conveyed it to the street, but it proved to be
the de i'd body of the house dog. There was
no foundation for the iumor that child
had been left behind ia the doomed building
The remains of the burned woman wore
taken to her daughters residence, from
whence they were taken for burial at 3
o'clock yesterday afternoon. The deceased
leaves three grown children.
THE CORONER'S INQUEST.
In the absence of Coroner Dixon, Justice
VI. F. Molina impaneled jury and held an
inquest over the remains. Mrs Annie
Monsees testified that she tried to awaken
the sleeping woman by calling her, shaking
her and finally by a slap on the face, but as
her own life and the lives of her two infants
were in DANCE, she grasped the children in
her arms and fed down stairs She es aged
again to gothe woman's rescue aud her lair
was burned from her head, and missing
one of her children, she desisted from
further effort
The testimony of Chief Fireman
Fernandez was to the effect that 1t
was impossible to have rescued the
woman alive. From thu testi-
mony deduced by tire examination of
Mr.. Fernandez, the fire was of in
cendiary origin. On this point Mr.. Fernan-
dez said: From what could see, after
close investigation of the origin of the fire,
it was case of incendiarsm, being done
from the outside. There was hole on the
Waldburg street side of the building, which
was the spot where the fire start d, and
which accounts for its running up so rap
idly. 1t appeared as if some packing had
been placedin this hole and the fire started
for the purpose of cutting off the people up
stairs. | make this statement as the origin
of the fire from my experience as a fireman,
and am satisfied it was deliberately set on
fire.
The verdict of the jury was that Grace
Blake came to her death from suffocatlon,
and the closing sentence OF the verdict is:
"The origin of the fire, we, the jury, find
from the evidence to be the act of an in