The Washington times., 1908-02-13
Forty SCantily Clad Pa
tientS Driven From
Ward and. Two
Get Away.
Man Found Beating
Head Against Curb
stone and Bites
One Of CaptorS.

| Fire which originated in the flInI-
! eating room Of the receiving ward Of
the Washington Asylum Hospital drove
forty scaEttly clad Patients from the
| building and did more than gl.00J dam
age shortly before 4 o'clock this mgrn-
ing.
Two patients William 4. Meyers ana
-ary Carter, both white, escaped dur
ing the excitement which followed the
discovery OF the flames by Miss Maud
Oden, a nurse. The remaining patients
were restrained and kept in order with
great difficulty by the attendants. A
notice Of the escape Of the two patients
was sent 10 nearby precincts and both
were captured shortly afterward by
citizens.
Bites Captor's Hand.
Meyers was found by several men at
Thirteenth street and PENNSYLVANIA
avenue southeast, where he was beating
his head against the curbstone. Hr
was placed IN the Fifth precinct wagon
only after a severe struggle in which
one Of his CaptOrs, whose name is not
known, was bitten about the right
hand by the insane man.
The Carter woman vas located several
blocks away from the grounds wander
ing aimlessly about a vacant lot in her
night cOlthes- The police of the Ninth
precinct took her into custody without
difficulty and returned her 10 the hes
pital Both were drcnched by the rain
which began shortly after their ESCAPE,
but IL is not thought they wiz suffer
any I'll effects from exposure.
Before the flames had time TO gain
much headway the attendants succeeded
in transferring all of the patients ez-
cept Meyers and the Carter woman 20
the accessory ward several hundred feet
away. II was while the officials were
giving out blankets TO the inmates that
Meyers and the Carter woman made
their escape.
Firemen Had Hard Fight.
A call was sent in 10 the IRE deuart-
ment by Night Watchman c.. lockwood.
but by the time the engines arrived the
receiving ward building had been Eutted
and II was all the hremen could do 10
save the walls and nearby buildings.
As far as has been learned the rre
was caused by flames from smoIderina
sulphur igniting clothing which was
being fumigated. The attendant. --7o
was doing the fUmigating. saws thar
he left everything in order when he lef-
the room, in which the clothing of nevy
arrivals was being subjected to slllD,.r
treatment. Il IS thought by the s-.
who made an Investigation.
that one Of the articles of clothing fen
into the burning sulphur. and that a
draft from the door which had not bcep
properly closed famed the flames to the
woodwork
Praises Attendants.
Louis F. Zinkhar. superintendent of
the hospital. said that the attendants
were to be congratulated on their v-orl,
He said also that l. was great vonG,r
10 him that a number Of patients y-a~a
not injured or escaped. Two mental
patients, Oscar y. Pomeroy. aud Robert
Janiou, did heroic WORK in ouietfD- tho
inmates and assistiT7- in
them To another buiIdi7e-
The destroyed building is the IarraS-
IF the group at the " ashinCtou As,-i7r,7-
ana was. occupied by forty or roors
patients at the time of the fire. AnDo11
his number were all the daDRerOusI5-
insane, and six or eight women ana IN
ants.