St. Paul daily globe., 1889-04-24
A Young Married Couple
From Eden Valley Who
Blew Out the Gas.
Found on the Verge Of the
Great Hereafter in a
Minneapolis Hotel.
How They Lived Twenty-Fouri
Hours in Escaping Gas Is
Something Of a Mystery.
1t Was Their First Day of
Welded Life, Having Been z
Married on Monday. !.

There is at least one young couple in
Minneapolis at present who must be of
the opinion that married life, or at least
their married life, is a decided failure,
as far as they have gone; and, more
over, a decidedly risky piece of bust.
ness on the whole. This couple is Mr..
and Mrs. Henry Hukrude, of Eden Val
ley, this state, who had very narrow
escape from death by being suffocated
by escaping gas at the Nicollet house
yesterday. Mr.. and Mrs. Hukrude ar
rlved at the Nicollet house Monday
morning, and were assigned to room
226. on the third floor. They
were evidently on their wedding
tour, and when they entered the
dining room were the center of all eyes,
on account of their size, both being over
six feet in height. They were both at
supper Monday evening, and that was
the last seen of them until they were
found almost dead in their room at $50
last evening. At that hour lady occu-
pying the next room smelled gas, and
on making an investigation found that
it proceeded from the room occupied by
MI. and Mrs. Hukrude. She knocked,
and called one of the porters. He en-
tered the room and saw what made him
jump four or five feet in the air. On the
floor, near the window, lay Nh. Hukrude,
in his night clothes, frothing at the
mouth, purple in the face, and breathing
heavily. Mrs. Hukrude was in bed, her
eyes wide open, and breathing so
lightly that it could scarcely be de-
tected. The room was full of gas, and
the stopcock was found turned on al
most full head. This was turned off,
the windows and the door opened, and
Drs. Linn and Towers called. They
found the patients at the point of death
in fact, half an hour more, and neither
would have been allve-and at once
went to work on them. Mr.. Hukrudc
room, and all the windows and
doors of the two rooms opened wide, in
order that all the flesh air possible
might come in. Whisky was forced
down the throat of each. and finally,
after an hour or so of vigorous rubbing
and shaking, they were brought back
from the edge of the grave. 1t was
nearly three hours before the patients
opened their eyes, and when they
did open them it was with a vacant,
dull stare, which told how near death
they had been. The man was finally
aroused enough to speak one or two
words, but it was midnight. before
he could talk so that any one
could understand him. The woman
opened her eyes when shaken, but
could not be induced to say single
word. At midnight they were pro
nOunced out of danger. 1t was learned
then that they had been married at
Eden Valley Monday; that the girls
maiden name was Mary KaZarde; that
they had come down here on their we'd
ding night, and that Mr.. Hukrude had
blown out the gas on retiring. Just
how they lived for almost twenty-four
hours in close room into which the
deadly gas was pouring, is mystery
which the physicians cannot. solve.
Yet this is just what they did. .fof it was
evident that the gas was blown out
when they retired Monday night. Had
they not been discovered when they
were, the chances are that the first per
son to enter the room would have found
two dead bodies there. Another singu,
lar feature of the case is that they did
not notice the sign hanging from the
gas jet, warning everyone to turn
out the gas, and not blow it out. This
warning is on big red card, hanging
just under the light, and can be read
half across the room.