Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1910-11-10
ALEX. BEST'S
SHOCKING DEATH

5HUCklN6 UtAln
one ~ the most shocking events That
have occurred in this CITY during many
sears took place Saturday afternoon.
whrr Alexander Best. resident II
town. was burned q, death in y hefre
fire. which consumed flte building ia
wtleh De- lived
Tho fire occurred iua story and a
half frame structure ON sechler's run
et the rear II Mill street. owned by
Kcalcv g Steinmill,r.t the blacksmith.
The building was erected for tin
shop, but was later used a. repair
shop. Lattcrly it was occupied by
Alexander Best. who lived alone. The
building j. situated in nest of frame
structures. among which is the barn
Of !. r. Toolcy, the grocer.
The fire broke out about two o'clock.
An alarm was promptly sounded but
before any water was procured the
building was cnvoloped in flames.
which had communicated to the roof
of Toolcy's barn and another adjacent
building.
Meanwhile news flew through the
big crowd of people collected that
Alexander Best along with his two
dogs was in the building and had
burned to death. This story was alter
nately affirmed and denied, some
claiming to haye9positive information
that he was in the burning building
and others stating that he had been
seen down town.
The Friendship and the Continental
Fire companies both had a stream of
water ON the fire The Washes were
also on the ground 1t was too late to
save the building, however, which
| burned like tinder. The firemen ad-
dressed themselves specially to the task
of saving the adjoining structures. a
dead clam prevailed, in addition to
which the roofs of the surrounding
buildings were damp as the result of
the fall of snow, circumstances which
aided the firemen greatly. Had there
been a high wind and had the roofs
been dry, it would havessss requiredLthe
hardest kind Of work to cope with the
spread of the flames.
! T,, lagc than ba1f ON hnnr aftar the
fire broke out little. more :than heap
of ruins remained of the building. The
firemen.didInotshave to search long
among the debris before the very
worst that had been surmised was
found to be true. The chaIred and un-
recognizable remains OF the man who
had occc1piedit6e house were:f found p
Justice Of the Peace ssJames Dalton
was on the gIound.and satisfiedshim-
self by inquiry that an inquest was
not necessary.
4 George B. Jacobs, Perry FGaskins
and George Strouse were among the
very first at the burning building ana
the stories told by these men left no
doubt that the fire started accidental
! " and that the man was unavoidably
trapped in the building.
When Mr.. Jacobs reached the build
| ing with bucket of water the great
er part of the interior was in flames.
The outer door leading into an unoc-
cupied apartment was open. He dash
ed a bucket of water inside which had
the effect of clearing away the smoke
sufficiently to reveal an inside door
which was closed. leading into an 9th
er apartment, which was occupied.
I Somebody dashed into the burning
building and threw open the inside
door A volume of smoke and flames
/ came belching ont, however, and there
was no sign of the man. Mr.. Jacobs is
confident, however, that upon arriving
at the huildingshe heard the doomed
man inside calling imploringly fer
| help.
With the:hope of saving the man
axes and picks were employed to cut
an aperture through the rear wall of
the building, but he could not be
reached in that manner. Perry Gask-
ins smashed in window. In the flame
and smoke he could discern the figure
of Mr.. Best, and he called to him to
come to the window and he would
! help him ont. The man, however,
seemed to be too far gone; he stagger-
ed forward a few feet and that was
the last seen ofShim.
! Alexander Best was we'll known
throughout the county. He wasss ssem-
ployed by the vendors of the curbstone
market to take care of their horses, 10
remove the benches after market hours
and to replace them in time for use on
the following market day. As far as
can be ascertained his two dogs per
B isLpl with him in the fire