Little Falls herald., 1905-05-19


get through into tho kitchen and ~
went around and found the kitohen
door blocked also; he then went down
the cellar from the outside, ali the.
time calling on those whom he kneWs
must be there, but received no r.
sponse. Fire had started In tho
kitchen and there was no time for
MIN to remove any Of the rubbish and
not being able to find any of tho
others and seeing that the whole:build-
ing must soon be consumed by flames. !
composed az 1t was of the most In
f'ammable kind of lumber and shaw ~
ings, he took Leo in his arms and
stared for Abbott's house. After
carrying the boy part of the way he
met Paul johnson and Charlie Sven
son going to the scene with a horre
and buggy and giving them the boy.
he took the rig and drove to the viii
lsge for the purpose of teiephoning to
Miiaca for a doctor. Fortunately Dr..
Bacon was in Foreston and soon at
tended to the boys injuries; he h.d
a cut on his forehead, his right leg
was badly jammed and lacerated and
a piece of iron was found in the
flesh Of the hip. The little fellow
says the stove hit him. The nail and
a little Of the end of the first finger
of his left hand were torn off. ~:<s
Meanwhile Mr.. Abbot had gone to
the scene, passing his wife, who was
on her way there before the explo-
sion took place. He was the first to
arrive after the departure of John
Hunter with the boy. The house was
then burned to the ground. He found
the body OF the little girl, Mabel.
lying eight or ten feet from the
foundation, opposite the west window
of the south room the body was not
mutilated but was burned and there
were bruises on the face. In what
way the body came to be In that place
can only be surmised. John is quite
sure 1t was not there when he left the
place and thinks it must have been
thrown into the chamber where it
stayed until the house burned and
then rolled out, but it would seem
that In that case it would have lain
nearer the foundation. The most
plausible theory is that the 1oof was
lifted by the explosion and the body
thrown out through the opening.
People from the village were soon at
the place and as soon as the heat
would permit, search was commenced
for the mother and babe. The debris
having burned away the bodies were
found In the south room. where they
must have been covered at the time
John was there. Both were terribly
mutilated. The heat was intense, but
probably not more than I'm hour
elapsed between the time of the explo-
sion and the finding of the bodies.
Nearly everything In the house was
blown to pieces, the baby carriage,
which John looked into when he first
entered the boilding, being all he re-
members seeing in good condition,
A coat with vest inside hung In the
kitchen and was afterwards found
hanging on fence with the vest still
inside. A photograph of the three
elder children was found some dis
tance away on the north side, in as
good condition as ever. A few pieces
Of Johns clothing which were in the
bottom of trunk upstairs were
found. but the articles on top have
not been seen. James had $25 in the
house, ten or twelve of it in silver
q lump of metal has been found
which is sall that remains of the
money.
The little boy Leo seems bright
and If no complications set in will
probably recover.
Just what caused the explosion will
never be known. There were no caps
on the dynamite, and whether the
heat exploded it or whether there
was some jar in the building remains
to conjecture.
Hunter has been arrested charged
with crimina. negligence.
Sven Carlson has gone to Scanlon to
be employed in saw mill.
1