The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1896-01-02
NEW YEAR TRAGEDY
six People Killed Through
a Natural Gas Fire at
Columbus.
THEIR HOME SLIGHTLY DAMAGED
Sad Fate of John h. Hibbard and
tho Members Of His
Family.

COLUMBUS. Ohio. Jan. 2, 1s96-Six
deaths are the result Of a mysterious
| fire that occurred at 4:30 o'clock this
morning at the residence of John H.
Hibbard. at No. 1898 East Long street.
The dead are:-
John H. Hibbard
Mrs. John H. Hibbard
Mrs. Charles Lee aged 22, Barnes
Miss May Hibbard. aged 10, Barnes
vile. Ohio.
Allen Hibbard, aged years.
Mrs. Lee and Miss Hubbard Of Browns
vile are n;,l sisters Of Mr Hubbard and nc
Dorothy and Allen Hubbard are. chill
bn dren Of John r. a1 niobard Besides Is
the house at the time Annie Bell, a col
ored servant. and four other children
John and Hinton whose ages ranged
from 8 to IA years. They all escaped by
jumping from a second story window.
ankle and Walter. Hibbard sprained one
of his ankles; The others are not. in
lurgd. The house is e large modern
height and was heated with natural
gas by means of a furnace.
The fire probably resulted from an ex-
plosion of natural gas, though the facts
as to the origin will probably never be
known. Annie Bell is the only one who
escaped who can give anything like a
The house is not badly burned. but the
interior woodwork is all badly scorched.
Probably the gas in the furnace which
was turned low f1ickered out and then
the whole house was gradually filed with
gas. When the air was sufficiently charg-
ed with 1t. it was ignited from a burn
ing gas jet There does not seem to have
been much explosive force. however, as
the walls are not shattered in the least
Annie Bell says she was awakened by
full Of smoke. She tried to run over to
the part of the house the family was
sleeping in. but the hall was SO full of
smoke that she could not do it and re-
turning to her room raised the window
Jumped to the ground. about twerty
feet, and broke her ankle in so doinig
Then she saw Mr.. Hibbard at the win
dow of the room where some of his chill
dren were sleeping. He dropped the four
boys out and then fell, evidently over
come by the smoke. His body was found
sill, just as he fell after dropping Web
ster Hibbard to the ground. All the six
bodies. were found in the same room.
They had evidently been awakened and
ran there to escape. and were suffocated
there The bodies are all burned beyond
recognition.
screams of Annie Bell. called the Fire
Department. ana it was the work of but
lew minutes TO extinguish the flames
The family ate New Years dinner at
d.
FIVE F. u. went to the residence Of
Ihomas Huntington. a brother-in-law.
to spend New. Years evening. 1t was
about eleven O'clock when they returned
home and at once retired. Mr.. Hibbard
was q well known business man and was
the. Secretary and Manager of the Cen
trail Chic-Natural Gas and Fuel Com
pany, which controls the natural gas
supply here. 1t is "a remarkable fact
that a man 50 familiar with natural gas
should himself fall a victim to an acei-
dent resulting from it's use. He was
the son-in-laW of Pelatiah w Hunting
ton. President of the Haydan National
Bank and the Huntington Bank and one
of the wealthiest citizens of Columbus
Coroner Herbst began an investigation
of the accident at once.
Mrs. Lee was the wife of Editor Chas.
Lee of the Barnesville. Ohio, Enter
prise They were married two years
ago, and she leaves baby six months
DID, which she did not bring to Columbus
with her Mr.. Lee arrived here at noon.
The unfortunate family was extensively
related here and the sad calamity follows
the New Years festivities as a cruel
shock to the whole city Several plumb
ers who have examined the premises deny
that the fire resulted from a natural gas
explosion, but. there seems to be no other
exclamation of it.