The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1896-11-25
LOST HIS LIFE.
AMAN DIES FROM INJURIES RECEIVED
INALopGE ROOM.
He was Being Initiated as q Member OF the
Order OF EIkI When He Was Badly
Burned by Ills Clothes Taking Fire.


Curry, chairman OF the Democratic
State committe 3; died this morning in
his room at the Hotel Savoy. The
death was a direct result of injur-
les received while being initiated into
a Des Moiues lodge of Elksabout two
months ago. As Fart ofthe ceremony
he wss blindfolded and placed on
chair with an iron seat. Then light
ed lamp was placed under the seat
with the exp citation that when it got
tc , hot he would JUMP. But he sat
still unit! he YVES badly burned. His
trousers were burned aWav and the
flesh fearfully sc1rch 4. He was put
liz new clothes and did MOI realize at
the the that the injuries were serious.
In few days bloca roic?njug set in
end he grew worse st.f !',y. 1t was
ris des ire that the real caSsse Q! his in.
iuries should not bs n aie public snd.
another carse wss assigned for the iH
ness, the truth only becoming public
today. An evering paper published
q highly sensational story that the in
iu,ic3 were caused by placing bim, in
the process of theinitiation ceremony,
in an electrical chair and tuning ona
current which burned him badly, but
this is denied by the Elks. Mr. Cur
ry lived at lie IN and was lee1ing
attorney. The body viii be taken
thera tomorrJw by large Escort OF
Elks and Masons and the funeral will
be held tomorrow afternoon.
The stories differ as to whether Cur.
1y's death Yves due altos sther to the
iojnrics or the bad treatment accorded
him after receiving then, The story
told this morni 1g, as coming from the
family, was that Mr.. Clery was placed.
in chair rcharged with electricity, and
that slight current was turned OH
for the purpose of frightening him
and making him jump out of the
chair. He was not tiei IN, and was
free 10 get out it he wanted to; but
Curry hei the reputation of being a
gsmey man and he did not jump. go
the current was increai ID. Finding
that still it did not bulge him, the
r,rson in charge again increased the
strength of the charge and left it turn-
Cd on. Seeing smoke emerge from
the scat of the chair, Mr. Ct-ry was
pulled out and it was discovered that
his garments were burned end his
flesh badly scorched. He WIS taken
to his } om in The hotel, where physl-
ciars were summoned. A week or ten
days agoblood poisoning setin and moth
ing could be done to save him. 1t was
given out. at Mr.. Curry's request, that
nis trouble was of long steuding, and
this was the story generally accepted
this morning.
Leading members of the Elks lodge
who were seen today deny the truth
of the story. They admit that Curry
wss Injured in the lodgerc om of the
Elks, but they say it was not serious,
and it is shown that Mr.. Curry made
speech in the lodge after the alleged
burning occurred; that he walked to
his hotel after his initiation, and was
about town for three days before he
finally took to his t,d. One of the
mcst pr ointment members of the lodge
who was D. .=ent at the initiation said
that no ele ,srical appliance of any
kind whatever VS. rsed in the lodge.
room. -.
"Mr. Curry would never have been
hurt" he e.ded, ':if he bad followed
directors and bad not bssn Sd deter.
mined ID be game in going through
the sremony. The lod {, hes been N
exiss snc, for more than twelve yearc.
We have $50 members in this city, in
cluding many of the most prominent
professional men in town. Nobody
has ever besn hurt in tle lodge tefore,
and no one supposed That it was possi-
BILE for any one to set turt. Of course
there is great deal of funny
busine.7 and hoi:e pIay about the
lElks' initiation, as there is in all ss.
cret societies. bat I want to cay that
lit is MOI nearly es rough as the Mason.
ic iuitiation.
"But when a man sos, in with the
idea of fighting, and Goes not do es he
is told, he may toke s,me chances in
getting hurt in anv initiation Of this
kind. am surs Mr. Curry did not
blame the toys cne bit. In fact, he
said so. We have done everything
we c,uld to soften the blow for the
family"
The Ellis are very re::;esn in spesk-
ing of the case, because they do not
wish 10 cast any 1,fe ,tiors upon Mr..
Curry. who was very / ,pular. They
say that if he bad Esen PROF erly treat
ed at The / ,girning of his illness he
would bnve soon 1 covered. A change
in physicians was made alout + IN days
ago, but no hope of .rovery was ex-
press by the physicisn who then
10 * CHARGE of the ca-e.. The lodge
has exr ended over 81, 900 in caring for
Mr.. Curry, and will have charge of the
funeral. A delegation OF E!ks and
Masons will accompany the remains
TO LII IN, the home of Mr.: Curry,
where the inter ne1t will take place.
Mr.. Curry was a lhirty.sc cond de.
gree Mason and also belonged to the
Old Fellows and Knights of Pythias.
. this was rot bis first exr srience in
being initiated into secret society.
It was this exr orience aud his pride in
showing his nerve that got him into
this t, 5uble, g bis br other E!ks say.
wounds His Psramour.
GREENvILLE, 8. c., Nov. 20.-Early
this morning Ezelle Thackston, who