The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1899-10-04
GAS BLOWS UP A HOME
MRS. BERT ID. ADAMS SERIOUSLY IN
JURED BY EXPLOSION.
Hurled from Her Residence ON North
Alabama shareholders were
Nightly Hurt.

the double house at Nos. 1441-1A3 North
Alabama street. at $40 o'clock last night.
and Mrs. Adams was seriously injured. She
and a s~ervant, Minnie Schutter, were in the
house alone. Mrs. Adams was carried
across the street TO the home of William
p. Kappes. and Drs. Henry Jameson and
Frank Morrison were summoned and ar
rived quickly to attend her. Her left arm
was fractured at the elbow. her upper lip
was split, her legs and the left side of her
face were burned and her head was bruised.
Her injuries are not fatal. Mr.. Adams was
down town at the time of the explosion, but
he heard the news soon after and hurried 10
his wife.
The explosion was spectacular and mys-
terious. Lizzie. Maggie and Sophia Selke,
all domestics, intended to visit their friend,
Minnie Schutter, at the Adams home. They
went around TO the back of the house. In
the alley they saw a fire and thought some
one had been burning trash. They were
startled to see the fire move across the al
ley TO the fence and pass under IL. Their
first thought was to hurry into the house
and warn the inmates. They passed through
a gate just in time to see the fire disappear
under the house. Then came a roar and the
south side Of the house fell TO pieces. The
girls turned and ran for their lives. Flame
shot out of the wreck and caught Lizzie
Selke's hair and singed it off. Her sister
Sophia fell with some debris and her face
was cut slightly. She scrambled to her feet
and ran after her sisters.
Mrs Adams was in a sitting room on the
second floor. Minnie Schutter had gone to
bed in her room. at the rear of the house.
The explosion ripped out the south wall
and Mrs. Adams was thrown through a win
dow. She fell with the window frame into
the wreckage below and into the midst of
the flames. A colored man, whose name
could not be learned, ran In and pulled her
out Of the debris. William p. Kappes, s. 8.
Rhodes and several other men arrived and
the fire which was consuming Mrs. Adams's
clothing was smothered. She was not un-
conscious. She complained of pain. Then
she was carried away. Minnie Schutter was
thrown out of bed by the explosion. Some
how, she does not know exactly, she found
her way down stairs, and two men carried
her out into the yard. She was in her
night dress, and she ran down the alley to
the home of Julius Wocher, No. 1913, where
she was given clothing. She was not hurt.
The north side of the double house
was the home of Scott r.. Searles,
a travelling salesman, and his family.
He was not In the city. His
wife and his two daughters, Marie and
Necie. were in different parts of the house.
When the crash came they staggered on
the rocking floor and saw the plaster fall
from the walls and the glass from the win
dow frames. They rushed out of doors and
were safe. They noticed that the bricks
of the walk at the side Of the house had
been torn Up. The framework of their side
of the house was uninjured, except at the
rear. where the wall was blown out.
THE FIREMEN ARRIVE.
When the fire department arrived the
flames had got some Roadway and by their
light and that of the firemen's lanterns
the work Of the explosion could be seen.
The whole south wall of the house had fall
en- into the vacant lot on that side and
the rear wall lay in a mass in the back
yard. The south half of the front wall
fell after the explosion. This revealed all
the rooms on the Adams side of the house.
The plaster was seen to be off the lathing,
the floors were bent down and the furni-
ture had slid into the pile of twisted lumber.
A great crowd had collected and there were
niture as soon as the fremen had put out
the fire. Most of the furniture was taken
cart -Ol II HelSnDOflnS houses. A piano, pat
tered and scorched, stood in the center of
the despoiled parlor. The fire in the top
OF the house was stubborn and ii took an
hour or more TO put 1t out.
The friends of Mr.. and Mrs. Adams gath
cred quickly. The scene about the place
was exciting. The explosion had shaken the
neighborhcod for squares around and nun
dreds of people ran to the place. The house
looked little like a house from the south
side and until the police roped the yard in
the crowd pressed forward to satisfy its
curiosity. 1t was feared that articles of
value might be stolen and the police
searched the house and gathered up the sill
verware for safekeeping. At 10 o'clock most
of the crowd had gone. but the police
watched the place all night. Across the
street, where Mrs. Adams lay suffering in
the Kappes home, men and women in even
ing dress, called away from social func-
lions by the news of the catastrophe, mixed
with the throng Of other friends of the
Adamses, and all were anxiously inquiring
about Mrs. Adams's condition. While 1t was
painful enough. a glance at the work of the
powerful explosion set all minds TO think
ing how fortunate and strange 1t was that
Mrs. Adams and Miss Schutter were not
killed.
Several days ago leaking gas was smelled
In the Adams house and a plumber was
called in to repair the leak. 1t was supposed
that he had done so. But the leak in the
house would not account for the blaze in
the alley. One speculation last night was
that the pipe in the alley had burst and
the gas leaking to the surface of the ground
had been ignited by a match dropped by
some one passing through the alley. Then,
according 10 this speculation. the burning
gas followed the pipe into the house. People
who were in the street at the time say they
saw a ball of fire leap into the air when
the explosion occurred. This phenomena
was observed down town The explosion
lasted two seconds, at least, due supposedly
TO its passage from the rear of the house
to the front