The Oskaloosa herald., 1906-10-11
AN HEROIC WOMEN
SAVES TWO LIVES
ACTS QUICKLY WITH WONDER.
Full PRESENCE OF MIND.
WAS sHRoUDED In FLAMES.
Tears Sheets Into Strips and Makes
Effective Fire Escape - Son
and Self Climb to
Safety.

A woman's presence of mind, cou
pied with her instinct of self preser
walton saved two people early this
morning from a horrible death in a
burning dwelling. Mrs. Ed Konanz
was the heroine and her self posses.
sion and determination under most
trying circumstances preserved her
own life and that of her 14-year-old
son.
The dwelling at the corner of
Eighth avenue and F street, in
Geen's addition, owned by Simon
Convey and occupied by Ed Konanz
and family was badly damaged by
fire at five o'clock this morning, the
interior of the building being destroy
ed. Mrs. Konanz had arisen to pre-
pare breakfast for her husband, who
was going out on an early train. A
fire was built in the kitchen stove,
and here was the origin of the flames.
The stove pipe passes under the stair
way leading to the second story. The
pipe becoming over-heated, had fired
luO WOOu MOAh anu AAS SulllO 1O"Ch
part of the house was afiame before
1t was discovered.
Having served breakfast and after
the departure of the husband, Mrs.
Konanz retired to her room Tor rest,
She was awakened by the room being
filed with thick smoke and the
flames fairly bursting into the door.
She sprang from bed and had difficult
ty in getting her son, who was in
another room. The stairway was
now entirely burned away and no
avenue of escape was left. But the
woman acted on the instant. She
rushed into room containing dou-
BILE window. While calling loudly for
help she picked up feather bed or a
mattress and threw it from the win
dow to the ground beneath, distance
of over twenty feet. She took the
sheets and tearing them into strips
tied the ends together. Securing one
end about the sill dividing the win
dow, she and her son slid to the end
and dropped the few remaining feet
to the mattress and were unframed.
And then. woman-iike, having per-
formed an act of heroism that but
few would have thought OF, and find
ing herself safe from harm, she col
lapsed and was frantic at the loss of
her home.
An alarm was turned in from a
fhn fro onrn-
pany made quick response. The en-
tire house was well ablaze before the
arrival of the company and the inter-
for is practically ruined. Very little
of the household property was saved
Some insurance was carried. The
escape of the lady with her son is re-
garded as little less than remarkable.
Had she remained much longer in the
burning house she and the boy would
both have been burned. 1t is a won
der that both we're not suffocated as
it was.
An Earlier Blaze.
The fire company responded to a
previous alarm at two o'clock this
morning, being called to the Edgar
Hartgraves property on South /
street. The house which was a small
frame structure was occupied until
Friday by Thomas Sage. The proper
ty was vacated yesterday. The flames
had big start before the fire was
discovered and the entire building
was burning fiercely before the arriv-
al of the fire company. They could
do little else than put out the fire
from the blackened ruins. for the
property is a total wreck. No fire
was in the building after the leaving
of the Sage family, and the flames
must have been of incendiary origin.
The fire company returned to the
barn from this fire near three o'clock
and two hours later the boys were
called to the Covey property in
Green's addition. 1t was strenuous
night for the boys.