The Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1???-1928, 1907-03-25
S|NCLA|RD[FENOS
COLON|ESM0RALS
FATHER OF BURNT OUT UTOPIA
REsENrs ASSERTIONS or
COUNTY CORONER.
FREE LOVE WAS BARRED
In ,EaeIicon Hall, He Declares-Says
Eneiewood Residents Seemed
Hostile--Tells Why Bills
Are Unpaid.

i New York March 24,-upton Sin
Iclair, father OF the burnt out Helicon
hall colon, SITS, resents the imputation
fmade by the coroner's jury at Engie-
4 wood Thursday night to the erect
THAT the moral ideas of the colonists
iare advanced over those Of the exclu'
sive residents OF the suburban city. He
Isaid tonight, in defense of his colony
land himself that the jury called to in
vestigate the death at the Helocin hall
fire OF Lester Briggs had made I'm,
warranted deductions from the an,
lswers he had given them, and had put
io him questions assuming condi-
tion OF morals which did not exist
j among the colonists.
i Mr.. Sinclair made his statement
from his bed He was found In the
Hotel Cumberland, under the care OF
la trained nurse. and receiving the at.
ltention OF Dr. William Fisher Grier.
MR. Sinclair's foot, which had been cut
land burned by hot cinders the night of
1.-THE fire, had become highly infamed
ESQ the physician said, and these pre-
Icautionary measures had been taken
lagainst blood poisoning. The head col.
onist had begun TO use his foot too
soon. and now he must remain in bed
for several days.
Resents Line Of Inquiry.
Il want to state this as emphatic
Tally as | know how. that the Helicon
home colony was not free love com
munity, said Mr.. Sinclair when the
questioning of the coroners jury was
RECALLED TO him. And you may add
that I. as well as the other members
of the colony, resent the imputation
cast upon rs by the questions put to
some of us as witnesses last night
at the inquest in Englewood. The line
of questioning seemed to give the
board inference that our morals were
{ mot what they should have been and
THAT we were living under free-love
fegrime.
THE members of the jury asked me
, about the keys to the house and
, told them we had no keys, simply
, meaning to give information to show
that any one might have entered oul
place at any hour OF the night. The
: liGry took my statement to mean the
while house was open and there was
) free communication between the
rooms of the colonists | don't know
anything about tbs. don't suppose
1.-THE people living in Helicon hall turn
) led the locks on them elves any more
! than they would do il they had been
, living In the house of a friend
Says Rooms Were Private.
ri The jury also seemed to find sig
nficance in the arrangement we had
made for the accommodation of the
workers on the third floor. We were
| greatly crowded for room. We made
! little bedrooms by the big studio Oh
+ the top fcor by erecting partitions
about ten feet high, and then hung VI
: long curtains screening the rooms.
{ There was as much privacy here as in
: any Pullman car. and certainly none
! of us ever gave thought to the pos
+ sible wrong Interpretation that might
$ be given the method of our accommo-
e daiicn.'
Mr.. Sinclair added that from TIL
$ thine the HeIieon hall colonists moved
4 in up 10 the day of the fire there had
n been much curiosity among the Engle
9 wood folk about the manner of theiI
D living. He had heard stories circu-
i lated about town TO the effect that tn
e coIonis,s did not invite their friends
e among the townspeople because the!
S had something they wanted to con
ceal.
Last night when we we're called up
c on to face the co,oner's jury we al
G found distinct air Of hostility mani
u fe ed toward us by the members o
Il that body. Upon me in particular the,
seemed to visit their displeasures. an'
J. am afraid they thought they ha,
! made fool OF me- Maybe they did
!, felt that they did.
y Why Bills Are Unpaid.
They blamed us for running Hell
con hall as hotel without obeyinl
the hotel laws for protection agains
. fire. Way. that building housed
school many years before we took II
and when we entered we found NJ
|" fire protection at all. We immediatel.
!. bought thee fire extinguishers an
, Mrs. Hahn was in New York buyinl
fire escapes when the building burn
ed
An apoiogist for the colonists sal,
the inimicaI spirit Of the jury nigh
he accounted for by the fact that sew
eral cf it's members were tradesmel
, who held bills against the colony. Tb'
!, financial asffirs OF the association ba,
8 been badly muddIed j6st about I
: month before the fire. said Mr. Sin
4 clair. through the illness OF Supi- Ran
= DAN. He was forced to go to Hsvan
n 10 temperate and he took some OF tn
, account books with him.
n The colonists continued TO pay thei
o board and lodging. but no settlemen
# Of outstanding bills could be made
g while MI Randall vas away with thu
q books OF the financial department