The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1894-01-01
BURNED HIS FAMILY
John Cummings, of Omaha, Ac-
cuSed of a Terrible Crime.
Alleged to Have Set Fire to His House
and Burned His Wife, Child
and Grandmother.

OMAHA, Neb., Dec. 31.-On marble slabs
at the city morgue lie the charred remains
of the family of John Cummings. Father
mother, baby and grandmother are there,
awaiting the outcome of the inquiry which
Coroner Maui has begun into the causes
of the tragedy which startled the city this
morning. Nothing in Nebraska's annals
approaches the deed for horror. Cummings
has been in i'll health for some time. and,
according to tw~elve-year-old Tommy Fox,
who was present, he deliberately set fire to
his own house and caused the death of his
mother-in-law. his wife and his one-year-
old baby in the flames. The little boy tells
a straightforward story, ar1 when asked
how the fire originated, he said: Cum
mings was sitting on the edge of the bed
In a rear room, where Mrs. Cummings
also was with the. baby. Another person
in the room was Mrs. Fox, the mother of
Mrs. Cummings, my aunt There was a
fuss about something, and Cummings upset
the lamp and closed the door, compelling
all the inmates to stay there. They cried,
but he refused to let any of them out"
Philip Nathan, a next-door ~neighbor, says
that when he first saw the flames he noticed
Mrs. Cummings trying 70 open the shut
terS Of the bedroom. He heard her cry out
and say: My baby is already on fire."
Soon thereafter he saw the woman envel-
oped in flames.
Miss Nellie Fox, who is a relative of Mrs.
Cummings, said she was a frequent visitor
to the house, that Cummings had been sick
quite a long time. She disputed her brothers
statement about Cummings having purpose
ly Knocked down the lamp TO burn the en-
tire family, but the boy answered that he
SAW MN DO If He also added that whom hn
nrst took notice he saw sitting
on the bed crying.
The basement of the house was occupied
by John Stuart, who has n contract for
FEEDING the city Jail prisoners. Stuart and
his assistant, Denny Sexton, were in that
part of the basement directly beneath the
room in which the bodies were found, UP
TO the time the fire broke out. Sexton gave
u vivid description OF the scufle in the
rooms above Immediately before the flames
were detected and confirms in many re-
spects the story OF the boy who witnessed
remarked Sexton, as he stood in the wreck
OF his quarters, a few minutes after the fire
was distinguished. 'the folks in the room
above have been carousing. About midnight
they would begin to quarrel and sometimes
would fight among themselves for an hour
and then quiet would be restored gradually.
as If they were all exhausted. l knew they
had a. great deal of whisky up there
several nights. Sometimes both Of the
quarreling and fighting among themselves,
and then they. would turn onafhe women.
inc trouble that resulted invite fire UP
there began early Saturday night. 1 heard
them swearing all the evening. The dis
t~urbance increased toward midnight, and
frequently oacns were heard. L distin-
guished the voice of a boy, a woman and
two men. Finally, some time about 2
O'Clock, a terrible scuffie commenced. From
the noise made by the heavy shoes Of the
men as they pushed each other across the
floor, and from the manner in which they
cursed, 1 knew they were having a des-
perate fight.
Suddenly there was a thud over in the
little room to the north in which the bodies
were found, as if one of the men had fallen.
He did not attempt to rise, and / heard
the other man take several steps and then
heard a woman scream. She yelled My
God and then gurgled as if being choked.
a moment later another body fell on the
floor. This was followed almost instantly
by the crash of heavy glass, and 1 saw
the flames breaking out through the small
window in the room where the bodies were
found. For a few minutes a confusion Of
oath5, screams and blows could be heard
in the little room, and then all was still"
fThe police are working on the case, but
have DEVELOPED nothing to dispute the evil
dence that Cummings committed the crime
while in a fit of insane rage.