The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1903-08-26
FATAL KEROSENE ACCIDENT
Lydia JOern, Twelve Years Old, Burned
Fatally In an Explosion at
Hotel Lakeview.
Ran Out of Kitchen a Seething Mass of
Flames, and Seemed to Avoid
All Assistance.

| Lydia, the twelve-year old daugh-
ter of Mr.. and Mrs. August Joern,
was burned fatally in a peculiar ac-
cident at the Lakeview hotel kitchen
at 4 o'clock last Friday afternoon.
Miss Joern was acting as helper
in the kitchen at the time the acct
dent happened, and she died from
the effects of the burns five hours
after the accident.
1t appears that Tracy Ferris, who
has been engaged at the hotel for
some time past in the capacity of
clerk and helper, had just finished
his work of filing the lamps for use
after the twelve O'Clock midnight
hour. He had with him five gal
lon kerosene oil can, in which he
claims and Landlord Smith claims,
there was not over one pint of oil.
He was instructed to 90 into the
kitchen and start the fire in the
range. At that time there were
some smouldering Goals from soft
coal in the replace. Tracy placed
some. paper over the top of this
coal and commenced to pour the
kerosene oil onto the paper 1t
was but a second or two before
there was an explosion, and the fire
from the burning Goals ignited the
running oil, and the gas of the lat
ter in the oil can catching fire ex-
ploded the can, blowing out the
end of it.
| The whole kitchen seemed ablaze
at the time. Miss Joern was stand
ing at one end of the range, leaning
on a gasoline stove, the reservoirs
of which had just been filled, The
fire from the can or from the range
must have set off the gasoline in the
gasoline stove, as nothing could be
found of the oil in those reservoirs
after III, explosion At any rate,
Miss Joern s clothing, after the
first explosion, was seething mass
of flames. She ran out of the kit
chen, sheet of fire, through the
runaway leading into the sample
room, and from the sample room
into the office, attempting to run
back into the dining room, where
her sister and another dining room
girl attempted to smother the flames.
The girl turned and ran into the
Office, seeming to avoid assistance,
but she was finally met by Mr..
Smith, who placed quilt over her
and smothered the flames, and
brought her to the floor. She was
horribly burned, the hair having
been completely taken off her head,
the skin being burned from the
arms and body, so that the muscles
were all visible. Physicians were
called at once, but while they gave
morphine injections and used the
other chemicals to relieve pain
from burns the girls condition was
beyond recovery, and she passed
away at nine O'Clock that night.
Sherecognized her sisters, mother
and father before she passed away,
and the recognition was rt-rend-
ing in the extreme. The body was
taken to the Joern residence and
the funeral held from that place at
three O'Clock Sunday afternoon,
Rev. L. F. Badger conducting the
services. The funeral was very
largely attended.
The clothing of Tracy Ferris was
also blazing as he ran out into the
Office, and these flames were extin-
guished by the head clerk throwing
his coat around Tracy, who is not
seriously injured by reason of the
accident.
Mr.. Smith thinks that his kit
chen, utensils, etc., have been dam
aged to the extent of $500 by reason
OF the accident. The kitchen and