The Washington times., 1908-11-07
Clarence Bremerman Finds
Wife, Mother, and Baby
Dead in Their Home.
NO COCKS OPENED,
SO HE DECLARES
investigator Believes Faulty Burn
er Produced Excessive Guam
tity of Carbon DioXide.

The mystery Of the triple tragedy
that robbed Clarence H. Bremen
man of a mother, a wife, and an
infant son yesterday, was solved
this afternoon when a chemist from
the Department of Agriculture de-
cided that deadly carbonic oxide
fumes caused by the improper COM
buStion of the carbon in the stove
burners struck the tho dead as
quickly as an aSSaSSin'S bullet.
Coroner Nevitt said this afternoon
that he would summon a jury to
sift Immediately the responsibility
for the improper formation of this
deadly gas.
CALLS TO WIFE.
Clarence Bremerman, returning
from his daily work, yesterday after
noon, walked info The flat, at 1909
First street. Calling to his wife at
the foot of the stairs, he received
mo answer Alarmed by the unusual
odor in the house, he hastily mount
ed the stairs, going directly TO the
kitchen, and found there one Of the
most terrible tragedies that has ever
| shocked Washington.
In a little crib in the dining room
| lay dead his eighteen-month-old
son, Cuts Bremerman.
FINDS WIFE'S BODY.
Stretched across the threshold of
! the door between the kitchen and
the dining room, lay the dead body
of his wife, Ms. Hebe Cuts BTem-
/ Ierman; across her form lay that of
/ his mother, Mrs. Helen Brememan.
The babyS body was StiIl warm,
indicating that the distance from the
/ death-dealing fumes in the kitchen
had prolonged his life. Physicians,
who were hurTiedly summoned,
said that the mother and wife must
have been dead for some hours.
GAS BLINDS HIM.
Even as the horror stricken husband
entered the room the presence of the
gas was sufficient TO blind him. He
groped his way to a window, opened
it, and, taking the still warm body
of the infant from the crib, laid il
upon the window sill. Then he tele-
phoned DR.. L. Perry, family physician,
and DR.. Wells, who was the first to
reach the scene. When the physicians
Iarrived from the Homeopathic Hospital
but one glance told them that their
mission was useless.
Mr.. Bremerman said this morning
that on dashing into the kitchen he
found one burner lighted. The water
heater was at red heat. Beyond this
all Jets were turned of, obviating the
| bHtoIg VI INC CoCa pc oA Illuminating
gas as having caused the tragedy.
All night and this morning Coroner
Nevitt and Central Office detectives
worked upon a number of theories to
ascertain the nature of the gas that
could have wrought such deadly havoc.
Stricken Suddenly.
! The fact that the two women had
been so suddenly stricken that they
were unable to even leave the room
for the purer air without was a bafllng
, one.
At noon. today. W. ". Skinner, ex-
pert from the Bureau of Chemistry,
came to the Bremerman apartments at
. the request Of Coroner hewitt and be-
! gan a minute investigation Of the flow
| OF gas and air TO the kitchen stove and
the general connections thereon.
After half an hour he made an in
formal statement OF his belief as TO the
way in which the three people had been
killed. This report in more extended
form viii later be submitted for use in
Coroner Nevitts investigation.
Chemist SINNERS theory is that i'm
proper combustion OF carbon is the
cause of the deaths. Ordinarily. carbon,
> which burns with a proper supply Of
, oxygen, forms a gas known as carbon
! di-oxygen. In the present case the
? opening through which the oxygen was
supplied probably slid shut and only an