St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1894-01-01
A HORROR AT OMAHA,
Nebraska InebPiata DelibeP-
ately Destroys His House.
FOUR PERSONS ARE BURNED.
Father, Mother, Babe and
Grandmother Die Together.
THE FIERD UPSETS A LAMF
And Imprisons His Vietim3
While They Roast.
A DREADFUL SUNDAY TRAGEDY

OMAIIA, Neb., Dec. 81. On marble
slabs at the morgue lie the charred re-
mains of the family of John Cummings.
Father, mother, baby and grandmother
are there awaiting the outcome OF the
inquiry which Coroner Maui began
into the causes of the tragedy which
startled the city this morning. Nothing
Ill Nebraska's annals approaches the
deed for horror. Cummings had been
In Ill health for some time, and accord
ine to twelve-year-old Tommy Fox, wha
was present. he deliberately set fire td
his own house and caused the death of
his mother-in-law, his wife and his once
year-old baby in the flames. The little
boy tells a straightforward story, and
when asked how the fire originated he
said:
Cummings was sitting on the edge
of the bed in rear room, where Mrs.
Cummings also was with the baby. An
other person in the room was Mrs. Fox,
the mother of Mrs. Cummings, my
aunt. There was fuss about some-
thing, and Cummings upset the lamp
and closed the door, compelling ali the
inmates to stay there. They cried, but
he refused to let any of them out"
NEIGHBoRHOoD TESTIMONY.
Philip Nathan, a neXt-door neighbOr,
says that when he first saw the flames
he noticed Mrs. Cummings trying to
open the shutters to the window of the
bedroom. He heard her cry out and
say: MY baby is already afre." Soon
thereafter he saw the woman enveloped
in flames. Miss Nellie Fox. who is
relative of Mrs. Cummings, said she
was q frequent visitor to the house; that
Cummings had been sick for quite
long time. She disputed her brothers.
statement about Cummings having pur-
posely knocked down the lamp to burn
he entire family, but the bdy rejoined
that he saw him do 1t. He also added
that when he first took notice he saw
Cummings sitting on the bed crying.
The basement of the house was occu<
pied by John Stuart, who has q contract
for feedlng the city jail prisoners.
Stuart and his assistant, Dennis 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
A VIVID DESCRIPTION
of the scutfle in the rooms above i'm
mediately before the flames were de-
tected, and confirms in many respects
the story of the boy who witnessed the
dreadful tragedy.
"For several nights" remarked
Sexton as be stood in the wreck of his
quarters, few minutes after the fire
was eXtinguished, 1.-The folks in the
room above have been carousing.
About midnight they would begin 10
quarrel, and sometimes would fight
among themselves for an hour. and
then quiet would be restored gradually,
as if they were all exhausted. | knew
they had a great deal of whisky uD
there several nights. Sometimes both
of the men, Fox and Cummings, would
be Quarreling and fighting between
themselves, and then they would turn
on the women. The trouble that re-
suited III the fire up there began early
Saturday night. heard them swear
ing up there all the evening. The dis
turbance increased toward midnight,
and frequently
OATUS WERE HEARD.
"E distinguished the voice of a boy,
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 ]
knew they were having a desperate
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 ia
rise, and | heard the other man take
several steps, and then heard a woman
scream. She yelled My God aud then
gurgled as if being choked. \ moment
later another body fell on the floor.
This was followed almort instantly by
the crash of heavy glass, and | saw the
flames break out through the small win,
dow in the room where the bodies were
found. For few minutes a confusion
of oaths. screams and blows could be
heard in the little room, and then all
was still"
The police are working on the case
yet, but have developed nothing to dis
pute the evidence that Cummings com.
mitted the crime while in fit of insane
rage.