The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1888-10-25
AMIDNIGHT HORROR.
The Greenville County Jail Burned With
Fatal Resrlts-Sit on Fire by
Negro Lunatic Who Perishes
by His Own Work.

cell!
That was the tale that was told a
quarter after twelve O'Clock last night
by the wild, clear sounding, far reach
ing call of the fire alarm bell, sounding
seemingly louder and shriller because
its tones had been peacefully latent for
many, many days.
''The fire is at the jail, and man is
being burned TO deathr' was the eX-
cited cry that met the constantly gath
ering throng that hurried in Main
street to locate the source Of the mid
night alarm, and catching up the terri
ble cry, rushed on to Broad street
and the county prison. Smoke was
boiling from the caves Of the tin roof
of the eastern end of the old stone
building and an olninous glare was be-
ginning to show above the edge of the
roof, made distinct by the bright
moonlight that Lit the scene, and
brought the gloomy stone structure
into vivid silhouette.
When a policeman and a News re-
porter battered at the front door of the
burning Jail aad celed Jailer Powell
that official gave no response and the
only answer. was the horror stricken
cries of the prisoners inside who were
shrieking with terror. In few mo
ments the jailer admitted the foremost
:, of the crowd that had gathered.
The story was quickly learned. In
the upper dungeon cell at the rear of
the second floor of the jail, and in the
southeast corner Of the building,
Fletcher McDavid. a negro lunatic, was
confined. BE was brought to the city
Wednesday by his father and brother
to be examined for incarceration in the
asylum. sMcDavid was about Is years
of age, and came from about Is miles
below the city. He had not developed
violent insanity since being brought
here, arc his examination, which had
been begun by. Doctors T. T. Earle and
J. r. Wilkinson, constituting COM
mission inQuirendo de lataatico, had not
been completed. In his cell, the jailor
had observed that he was most Of the
time quiet and when he became de
monstrative it was to break out into a
religious. chant or loud curses. His loss
of mind appeared to have been caused
bythe death Of his people, his insane
talkings frequently taking that line.
The first day McDavid spent in thejail,
he was confined in one of the front
cells upstairs but his habit of loudly
cursing everybody he detected passing
below caused Jailer Powell to remove
him to the back dungeon, where he
met last night, the death that matches
to the imagination, the supremity of
human agony-burning alive.
The crazy prisoner was last seen by
his keeper shortly before seven o'clock
yesterday evening, when Mr.. Powell
gave him water and locked him in for
the night. About eleven o'clock, the
jailer, who was lying on the bed in the
back room OF the lower floor, heard
McDavid singing and cursing alter
nately and talking aloud as he had
often heard him during the otherwise
silent watches inside the prison pre-
cincts.
A few minutes after midnight, he
was reused by the footsteps of man
running rapidly along the sidewalk in
the direction of thejail. The footsteps
stopped at the door, and at the same
moment the man called londly and ex-
citedly to him to open, that the jail
was on fire! Mr.. Powell sprang from
the bed but did not at once open the
door. He saw the bright glare coming
from up stairs and fastened up the
stair case. Just then, Joe Harris, the
negro horse thief and Air Line freight
robber, who was alone in the other
upper dungeon across from the crazy
negroes cell began shouting to him for
Gods sake to let him out, crying that
the house was on fire. A glance through
the wooden bars forming the stairway
enclosure told the jailor the story be-
fore he entered the upper hallway.
Fire was already roaring and cracking
Oh the floor of the cell in which the
wretched iunatic was and heavy smoke
was boiling from the small opening in
the batten door. Keys in hand, the
jailer, thoroughly alarmed for the safe
ty of his helpless charge, rushed to the
door. The outside wooden shutter was
: closed and that he threw quickly open.
But relief had come too late. The iron
brass of the dungeon door were un-
bearably hot The great lock on the
door could not be touched by living
hand, and the door did not open;
stayed grimly shut, while inside the
fire was involving and eating up with
remorseless torture the doomed prison
er. It was already too late, even
though the door had opened at the
bidding for the room was clogged with
aheavy drift Of smoke and the flames,
started apparently in the back Of the
cell, had eaten their way on the dry
tinder Of the floor almost up to the
door.
With the first discovery Of the fire,
panic spread among the prisoners in
the other cells, but they were soon
quieted by the assurance from the
jailer that they would all be let out be-
fore there was any danger for them.
Fortunately, there were fewer inmates
than has been the case in long time,