The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-05-14
NET DEATH IN THE FLAMES.
]. c. HaTtielder Almost Cremated in
His Sons Mill.

But Skeleton OF Charr6d Bones
Found-The Dead Man Talking Of
the Small Chances of Escape From
the Mill in Case of Fire Fifteen
Minutes Before He Met His Tragic
Fate-A Fierce Fire Which Origin
ated in Shavings in the Engine
Room.
John c. Hartfelder met a horrible death
yesterday afternoon at 30 o'clock in the
fire which wiped out the planning mill of
his son, Christian c. Hartfelder, at the
foot of Duffy street. He was burned to a
crisp, little remaining except the bare
bones of what had been a living man
few minutes before
The fire started in the engine room of
the mill among a lot of shavings and
spread with remarkable rapidity. MIR.
Hartfelder was in his work room, directly
over the place where the fire originated,
working at a lathe, and his first impulse
no doubt caused him to seek an escape by
means of the stairway or else he would
have been able to save himself by the ave
nue. which he tried too late-jmping
from a window. When he finally ran
TO the window at the southeast corner of
the second story to jump to the shed be-
low the entire place was a roaring fur
mace.
BURNING AS HE LEAPED.
The only person who saw the unfortu-
nate man was a COlOred woman living Op-
posite the mill She said that as Mr..
Hartfelder sprang from the window of
the shed with a scream of terror his
apron was in a blaze. Hestruck squarely
on his feet on the tin roof, swayed a mo-
ment and then plunged headlong to the
street alongside Of the burning building
A moment later the roof of the mill came
down with a crash over the very spot
where Mr.. Hartfelder had fallen, bury
ing him completely under a mass of
fierCely burning debris.
When the firemen reached the scene in !
response to the alarm from box No As the
mill was down and the fire had communi-
Gated on the south of the mill to a house
belonging to r. B. Reppard, and on the
north to the twO-story residence of Capt.
LeCOnte.
No ONE AWARE OF IT.
At that time nobody except the colored
woman, who had witnessed Mr.. Hart
felder's tragic death, knew that fatality
had occurred and the firemen let the mill |
ruins alone and turned their attention to
stopping the progress of the IRE among
the dwellings, and protecting the lumber
yard of Reppard & Co. across the Savan- !
nah, Florida and Western railway track. !
The two houses referred to, however, |
were completely Quilted.
When the firennen had got the fire under |
control MIR Snedeker informed Chief |
Puder that Mr.. Hartfelder was missing, |
and few minutes later the woman who |
had witnessed the accident corroborated |
the rUmOr. The chief Immediately had |
all the streams turned on the mill ruins |
IN order TO save Mr. Hartfelder's body as |
far as possible from mutilation.
THE BODY FOUND.
At 4:30 o'clock the place was cooled OFF |
sufficiently to allow the search to begin. |
1t only lasted a few minutes. A Belt !
Line motornan saw Il pair of feet stick
ing out from under q mass Of timbers and
corrugated iron, and sent for Chief |
Puder a force of firemen quickly
started to work removing the debris, and |
in a few minutes Mr.. Hartfelder's body !
was exposed to view. The sight was |
enough to turn the stomach of a strong |
man. The little skin and flesh left on the |
dead mans face was burnt black, his |
clothing was almost entirely gone, his |
arms and limbs were crisped, and the |
body had burst.
Coroner Dixon was sent for at once and |
decided an inquest unnecessary. He gave |
permission for the removal of the body |
and IL was taken to the dead mans home, |
at No. % Gwinnett street. Mr.. Hart |
fielder was Is years old and a native of |
Germany. He had resided in Savannah |
for about forty years His funeral will !
take place at 8 O'Clock this morning.
WAS IT A PREMoNITIoN?
A singular coincidence of the tragic |
death of MIR. HaPtfelder was his con |
versation with Mr.. SnedelIer fifteen min |
utes before the fire started in the mill
which bN r,lo ]
few years ago. Mr.. Hartfelder remarked !
how dangerous il would be for any one |
TO be IN the second story of the mill in
case fire started below. The chances of |
escape, ne said, would be very slim. Lit |
tie aid he think al the time of the CONVEX
saJion that the very thing he was talking
ABOUT would occur few minutes after |
ward and that he would be the victim
caught on the upper floor.
Just how the Iire started viii probably
never be known. The ColOred man who
attends to the engine was cutting bed
Stats in the eastern side of the mill and a
young white man was at the wood turn
ing table N the southern end. The first
intimatiOn they had that anything was
wrong was a roaring sound from the en-
CINE room and on looking in that direc-
ton the men were starCled to see a blaze
rushing toward them.
FIERCENEss OF THE FIRE.
The negro ran to rescue the horse. and
the young man laid a line of hose and
hurried out on Duffy street TO attach it to
a plug opposite the mill The ferocity Of
the fire can be imagined from the fact
that when the connection was made the
entire structure was in flames and the
young man had to run away from the heat
and let the hose burn The negro
saved the horse drumming him across The
railroad track Both apparently forgot
about Mr.. Hartfelder or thought he had
saved himself
The proprietor Of the mill was uptown
at the time Of the alarm, and when told
that his father was missing
he hurried to the scene and
tried to dash into the ruins to save what
was then crisped body His grief was
pitiable to behold, and strong arms were
necessary to keep him out of the fire.
THE PECUNIARY LOSS.
The loss on the mill amounts to about
$500 and s., 200 viii cover the loss on the
houses. There was little insurance on
any Of the property.
Inc fire department deserve praise for
the manner in which the fire was handled.
Every body who saw it at the time the
nremen arrived believed that an immense
connagration was in store for Savannah
on account of the surroundings The