St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1892-12-15
A HORRIBLE TRAGEDY.
Mrs. Jennie Eacims and Her Two
Children lnciner-
ated.
The Terrible Death Scene to Which
Mothers Love
Led.

Last night there was shocking acct
dent by fire at Union Park, woman
and her two children being burned 10 a
char.
At IL o'clock last evening the board
ing house of }. G. Ellard, corner of
University and Cleveland avenues,
caught fire by the explosion of gasoline
stove. 1t was two-story pine struct-
ure, which has stood so many years that
the wood is very dry. The flames
spread so rapidly that it was with great
difficulty the boarders in the second
story were aroused from their slumbers !;
but the man on watch succeeded in
awakening every body. Seven of the
boarders were found hemmed in by the
flames and compelled to jump from the
second story windows.
On the second floor. IN room some
distance from the stairway, down mar
row hall, was sleeping Mrs. Jennie
Eacims and her two children, one girl
of seven and the other boy of four.
Some Of the boarders who escaped
from the second floor say that they saw
Mrs. Eacims emerge from her room in
her night dress with her little
boy in her arms. Then she ran
back into her room. The theory
is that she discovered that the little girl
had not arisen and started back to arouse
and save her. At any rate, that was
the last seen of her alive. The interior
of the structure was pretty thoroughly
Quilted in few minutes, and as soon as
it was possible to reach Mrs. Eacilns'
room the firemen rushed in. There lay
upon the burned timberS three charred
bodies. Mrs. EaclmS' head lay on the
sill of outside window of her room. In
her arm was the body of the little boy,
and foot or two back of her lay on the
fragments of the floor the little girls
body. The bodies were so disngured
that theycould only be identified by the
difference in size, and the fact that she
was seen in the hall with the little boy
in her arms.
1t is evident that when she was
awakened, finding the house all in
flames, she became excited, seized the
boy and started out with him, forget
ting the girl; then. as she reached
the hall, the thought of her other
darling flashed into her mind, and
she ran back to awaken and save her.
The probabilities are that when she had
the girl up, her escape by the hall was
cut off by the flames; in fact, the board
ers say that when they saw her the
flames were so close that she could only
have escaped at that time with great
difficulty. 1t was mothers love which
drove her back into what she must have
seen was almost certain death.
Coroner Quinn was at once notified,
and he took charge of the charred re-
mains, placing them in the city mOrgue
1t is not likely that he will hold an in
quest.
Mrs. Eacims did not live with her hus-
band, and was the housekeeper of Ell
lard. She had lived there some time
with her two children.
The boarders, most of them, escaped
in their night clothes. All their other
clothing was destroyed, and they are
left with nothing to wear. This loss to
many of them is very heavy, as they are
lsborers and dependent on moderate
salaries.
The structure was not probably worth
over $4,000, and it is a total loss. The
loss on contents belonging to Ellard
probably footS up $500. The ins urance
OH building and contents is about 81, 500.