The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1913-04-14

ding and the governors party stood in
| the glare of the burning Irvine plant
and discussed plans for rebuilding.
| TT will not be necessary to call a
! special session." said Governor Hodges.
| There are enough public spirited,
patriotic men in Kansas who have
| faith in the state. These men will fur
nish all the money we need and trust
to the next legislature to repay an
honest debt"
And the matter was settled.
Gov. Hodges Attended Chapel Service.
For the first time in Is years a Kan
sas governor attended Sunday morn
ing prison chapel. With Governor
Hodges sat Attorney General Dawson,
Thomas w. Morgan and w. l. Brown.
members of the board of correction.
The governor did not talk to the pris-
oners-it is an honor which every ex-
ecutive has gracefully lodged since
away back some fifteen years ago
when Governor Leedy decided that
speaking to the convicts paved the way
to many wrong interpretations on the
part of the prisoners. Both Attorney
General Dawson and Speaker Brown,
however, made short speeches and it
is probable that in the minds Of many
of the prisoners the Sunday morning
chapel services will stand out almost
as wildly as the fire of the previous
day.
AS the prisoners in chapel sang "He
Promised Never to Leave Me-" and re-
joiced in the visit of the Kansas state
officials, a half dozen men, with their
faces and hands swathed in bandages
lay in the prison hospital a half block
away and listened to the strains of the
old church hymn. In the hospital
ward was the real story of the peni-
tertiary fire.
Mcdowell Was the Hero.
Frank Mcdowell, with a broken an
Ill 1T hot 1fv1 nd
his face, hands, arms and shoulders
blistered from the flames. leaned on
his pillow and listened to the music
of the prison band and the songs OF
his fellow convicts. Among the real
heroes of the previous day, Mcdowell
held undisputed first place. Yet the
man who was sent to prison from
Rush county to serve six to Is years
for burglary and larceny, was inclin-
ed to believe that his work of Satur-
day had been overrated.
Mcdowell was on the second floor or
the Irvine plant when the fire started.
A half dozen men were trapped in the
room with him. Under their feet they |
heard the roar of the flames. Then the
fire burst into the room ano Mcdowell
yelled that they would have to look
to the windows for escape JACK
Smith and Frank Dixon, cripples, were
on the floor with Mcdowell. He hated
to leave them and he feared the men
could not escape without air. So NC
Dowen secured a little ladder. He
dropped it out of the window, put IL
was six feet too short. Mcdowell jump |
ed. His ankle was broken. But the |
man still thought of his companions IN |
the roaring furnace He yelled TOT
them to come to the window. Placing |
one end of the ladder on his broad
shoulders, Mcdowell provided means !
Of escape for Smith and Dixon ana
four other men. Out of a lower Win
dow the flames licked McDowelPs face
and shoulders and charred his hands |
and arms. Not until the last man left |
the building, though, did Mcdowell de-
sert his post. Then he was taken TO
the hospital for treatment.
IT was under the motor operated by |
George Appleton that the fire started.
Appleton is serving a life sentence Ior
kiIlif1g an officer in Barton county. But
when he saw the fire. he saw ms
workshop being destroyed. With his
can and coat Appleton beat the hames'
but to no avail. Jackson Wright, serV-
ing % years for the murder or MS
sweetheart in Topeka two years ago,
Joined Mcdowell in the fight. They
STAYED in the room until it was a veri-
table furnace. Then they were forced
to lump for their lives. Appleton is in
the hospital, badly burned.
Had the power house burned Satur-
1ay. it meant the destruction of the
entire prison plant The roof of the
bui1dine vas half burned and for 80
minutes there was faint hope OF saving
the structure. Burning of the building
meant that every drop of water pelng
used to fight the fire would be instant
" shut off and that nothing could save
the prison from complete destruction.
Possibly the convicts operating the
ouuops and engines realized this fact
inst as wei as any official. These men
stuck to their posts, with burning shin
yles and embers falling at their feet.
Jesse Robinson Played Part.
Jesse Robinson, negro sent from
Shawnee county to servs one TO nxe
years for larceny, seized a line of hose
nd carried it to the roof of the power
house. A half dozen white guards
md prisoners Joined him. so intense
vas the heat that some OF the WHITES
we're compelled to desert. But Robin
ION STAYED right on the job. line and
.gain he turned the hose on himself
o wet his smoking clothing. To
ruard who worked by Robinson's side,
he negro yelled, when 1t gets too
lot up here for you all, I'll be right
lere'' And Robinson was right
here and saved the building.
Conyicts saved the Laundry.
Another fight was to save the laun-
Try. Burning of the laundry, meant
hat the fire would enter the west cell
louise and possibly destroy the entire
liant, suffocating many of the men
ocked in their cells. Twenty convicts
TODD under the tottering west and
outh walls # the Irvine plant adjoin-
ng the laundry, while a dozen more
worked from the roof of the laundry
Their work saved the cell
ouseS. i
Hale Saved Band Instruments.
Howard Hale. doing life sentence
Or the murder of a neighbor, plays
4 the band. When the music hall
aught fire Hale rushed into the
urning building and carried the in
truments to safety. He started back