The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1900-10-26
ATTEMPT TO BURN.
But the Fire Was Discovered in
Time.
Indications Point to a Young Lady Nor.
NAL Student as the Probable Incen-
diary.---Is Out of Her Head.

by the Andrews Opera 20. they left
the house, 4t6 South Fifth street, Sc
curely locked. Mrs. Olmsted was par
ticular to see that the outside kitchen
door and the cellar door were fastened.
On their return at about IL 10 o'clock
they noticed that both of these doors
were unfastened. and the cellar door
partly ajar. CHANGING down the cellar
way, Mrs. Olmsted noticed a blaze,
and further investigation showed that
a five gallon can of gasoline was
standing in a wash tub and blazing
up. The can had not been used re-
Gently and contained four gallons of
the highly infammable fluid. Its place
was at one end of the cellar, and the
tub belonged in another place 1t was
evident that some one had entered the
cellar during the evening, placing the
can of gasoline in the tub, poured some
gasoline in the tub, poured some gaso-
line over the can and touched match
to it.
"a SI1I1 d1dIu was 1IluuOulUUOly SCAO
to the fire station and the hook and
ladder truck responded. James Berry
went into the cellar and at consider
able personal risk carried the tub and
its blazing contents out of doors, but
he did not escape altogether, as he re-
ceived few scorches. 1t is remark
able that an explosion of the gasoline
did not occur which would have prac-
tically insured the destruction of the
house. AS it was no particular dam
&c was done.
The question is, "who started the
fire, and for what purpose?" With
Mrs Olmsted and her daughter live
two students who are attending the
normal school, These young ladies are
Miss Erna Weschcke, daughter of DR..
G. A. Weschcke, who is mayor OF New
Ulm, and Miss Florice Payne, of Well
come. They room together on the
second floor. Miss Weschcke, who is
twenty-five years of age, entered the
normal school at the beginning of the
present school year, and is member
of the professional class that is to
graduate in two years. She is a gradu
ate of the New Ulm high school
Miss Weschcke was taken i'll Tuesday
morning talked wildly, and it was
necessary to summon physician. DR..
Andrews was called and pronounced
the young lady suffering from insanity.
A telephone message was sent to her
father, and he was expected to arrive
during the day and take her home.
She was not in condition to be seen
when reporters for the Free Press and
Post called at the residence of Mrs.
Olmsted Tuesday, but her rawlings
could be plainly heard from above.
Miss Payne was seen and talked
freely of the matter. She said that she
was busily engaged last evening with
her studies and did not pay any par
ticular attention to her room mate, ex-
cept that she noticed that the latter
was nervous and went in and out of
the room large number of times,
and only devoted about half an hour to
her study. She was under the i'm
preston at the time that Miss
Weschcke did not go down stairs, as
she was not gone long at any time.
Miss Payne remained up to let the
family in on their return from the OPP
era, and did not notice anything wrong.
Her roommate had retired but was not
asleep, and she did not know whether
motion caused by the fire and the ar
rival of the fremen, as Miss w. was
quietly laughing to herself during the
time.
Miss Payne recalls that Miss
Weschcke remarked to her during the
evening that if she were to die she
would like to have her remains taken
back to New Ulm, but at the time
Miss Payne did not pay any attention
to it, as the young woman had fire.
quently acted queerly and made
6O1 1C11o1h6 AhlSo hCOSAOhO d1SO
remarked during the evening that she
had at her home burned the curtains
in two of the rooms by handling the
lamp carelessly. These remarks seem
to be possessed of more meaning now
than they did then, in view of later
developments.
Monday afternoon, Miss Weschcke
was crying and talking wildly in the
presence of Mrs Olmstead, and among
other things remarked that she had
often thought of buying arsenic or
burning herself up. Mrs. Olmstead
made up her mind that she would not
keep the young lady in the house more
than couple of days longer.
Tuesday, the unfortunate young
lady had an hallucination to the effect
that she was under the influence of an
unseen power welded by certain parties
in the east, and that she was obliged
to carry out the suggestions of this
power. 1t is said that she has not been
doing very well in her school work,
and this may have caused her worry
and thus have unsettled her mind
She is bright and has travelled extern
sively with her father, and her friends
greatly regret the unfor tunate condi-
tion in which she is, together with the
imputation that it may have been she
who started the fire. No one thinks
that she would undertake to do such