Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1890-02-06
BURNED IN THEIR BEDS
The Wife, Daughter and Servant 30
Secretary Tracy theyietims
The Secretary Himself Has Very
Narrow Escape.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 3.-A terrible calsr,
ity visited the household of Sec'y Trac, tI;.
morning, whereby three persons lost tbeir
lives and three others were badly iniure5
It's impossible now to state the exact do.
tails. The house Is a three-story and basa-
ment brick, situated on | street. betvrsa,
Connecticutavenue and l7th,street .,and bas
recently undergone extensive improve.
ments. Persons passing by the house at7
o'clock this morning, saw smoke is,oip,,
from the front windows. and at once raised
an alarm Of FIRE The FIRE and police 10.
partments responded promptly. The prem.
ises were almost completely concealed h.
the dense smoke, which was thickened bve
heavy fog, which was just lifting. II Was
soon discovered that the house was nm
abaze inside and taat the main stairway
was burned, thus cutting off communicl.
ton with the sleeping apartments on the
second and third floors. Several streams
OF water were thrown on the flames. and
every effort was made to check the fire
A scene of the widest confusion ensuel
when It was known that all the members
of the family were in the house. The
iremen behaved like heroes in the emer-
gency, and went through fire and smoke
searching for those in the different
apartments. Ms. Wilmerding. the see.
rotary daughter, and Miss Wilmerding
forced their way through the binding
smoke and jumped from a second story
front window. Ladders were
raised for them. but in their
excitement they failed to see them
Mrs. Wilmerding broke her wrist and was
severely jnjsred. Her daughter was bad.
ly injured about the lower limbs, but
broke 10 bones Both suffered severely
from the shock They were at once taken
to the residence of DR.. Baxter, near by.
and restoratiyes applied.
While this scene was being enacted in
front Of the house, fremen were engaged
in removing the other members of the
family from the rear Chief Engineer
Parish found his way into Mrs. Tracy bed
room where he found her lying on the bed
overcome by smoke. With the assistance
Of others he carried her almost lifeless
body down a ladder and to the house of
Mrs. Rhiem. She was then entirely nm
conscious, and although every effort known
was used, it was impossible to save her
life. She died in a few minutes after her
rescue. Her body was not burned, death
resulting from sutfoc5tion
Almost at the same time two more
bodies We're taken from the burning build
ing. One was that of the secretary's
daughter Miss Marie aged about IA, and
the other was one of the servants. Both
bodies were burned to a crisp, and were
mrecognizable Miss Tlacys body was
distinguished from the other only by the
superior texture of what remained of her
stockings. The charred remains were
taken to an undertaking establishment in
the vicinity, where they were joined soon
after by the remains of Mrs. Tracy.
Secretary Tracy himself had a most won
derful escape, and Is now lying In some
what precarious condition at the residence
of Judge Davis. Like the other. he was
overcome in his sleep by the smoke which
filled the house. and rendered him I'm
conscious. He was discovered in this con-
ditlon. and with considerable difficulty was
removed to one of the windows Cries for
q ladder were quickly answered. and many
willing hands were raised to assist him to
the ground He was at once removed 10 "a
neighbor'~ house. and was soon surrounded
by physicians. The doctors applied
artificial means to induce respira-
ton and succeeded after an
ar hour work in restoring him to semi
1t was then thought safe
to remove him 10 Judge Davis house He
improved slowly from this time on, and
soon regained Consciousness, recognizing
friends who called to inquire in regardto
his condition. Among the first of these
were the president, yice-president and
several members of the cabinet The full
extent Of his terrible affection is withheld
from him for the present His first inquiry
upon recovering consciousness was in
regard to the safety Of his family.
He is gradually gaining his strength, and
his friends are sanguine Of his complete
recovery. The walls of the house are
standing but the interior presents a picture
of ruin and desolation The residence Of
Judge Cox, of the district supreme court,
on the left. was badly damaged bY water.