The Plymouth tribune. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1901-1911, 1910-09-01
NARROW ESCAPE
FROM DEATH
BY BURNING
QUICK WIT SAVES THE
LIFE OF GIRL CAMP
ING AT PRETTY
LAKE.
Jessie Slayter and Flora Stall
wood of Chicago Suffer Severe
Burns When Lamp
Falls.

The quick wit of Miss jessie
Slayter, Is years OF age, save1
her from being burned to death
after her clothes caught fire iron
a coal oil lamp which dropped
to the floor while being lighted
by the girl at the Bortree cottage
at Pretty Lake Saturday evening
The oil saturated the girls cloth
ing and in flames she ran iron
the dining room where the acci
dent occurred. to the parlor an(
threw herself upon a rug lyins
on the floor, which she wrapped
around herself and with the as
sistance of others in the cottage
succeeded in extinguishing the
flames. Death was averted by
the quick action of the girl, who
is now confined in bed with Sc
we're and very painful burns or
the lower portion of her body
Before being smothered, tht
flames burned the girl badly from
the waist down. her hips anC
limbs are severely but not dan
gerously burned.
Miss Flora Stallwood also O.
Chicago, who with Miss Slayter
is a guest of Miss Edna Bortret
at the Illinois cottage was pain
fully burned on the left hand
from the flames which envelop-
ed Miss Slayter. Miss Stailwood
was seated at the piano playing
when Miss Slayter rushed into
the room all silame and threw
herself on the floor beside Mis-:
Stallwood. The flames set fire
to the curtains of the room
clothing hanging on a clothes
tree were set abIaze and the cot
tage took fire in two places, in
tile dining room where the acci-
,1ent occurred and in the parlor
INTO which Miss Slayter ran wher
ahre. Cottagers living on botl
sides of the Illinois rushed to the
scene and quickly extinguished
the fire in the house. Physi-
clans from Plymouth were sum
moned. who dressed the burns Of
Miss Slayter and Miss Stallwood
Was Lighting Lamp.
Miss Slayter was lighting ths
kerosene lamp which stood in
bracket on the wall, whe the
accident occurred. She had
lighted the wick of the lamp and
in attempting to place the glass
chimney. found that it did not
go in place easily, and bore
rather heavily upon the lamp. in
trying to set the chimney. Thi-
pressure caused the bracket hold
ing the lamp to break and il
crashed to the floor breaking and
throwing the infamable Kerosene
upon the clothing of the girl
The flame in the lamp at once
ignited the saturated clothing
AS the girl rushed to the parlor
the blaze on her clothing set fire
to drapings in the cottage. and
the fire in the building itself ap-
peared dangerous. until cottag-
erS attracted by the screaming
of the girls came to the rescue
No Men Present.
Miss Edna Bortree was not
present when the accident oc-
Cured. and the only other per
son at the scene was Miss Bor-
tree. an aged aunt of Edna Bor-
tree. She rushed into the par
lor.. where the girls were trying
to smother the flames with the
RUG, and quickly secured a bucket
Of water from the kitchen, which
COMPLETED the work of extin-
gushing the flames on the cloth
ing of Miss Slayter.
1t is plainly evident that had
Miss Slayter rushed from the
house, while in flames, or had
done ANYTHING except what she
did do. that her life would have
been claimed by the flames. DR..
Charles Holtzendorff is caring
for the unfortunate girls.