The Washington herald., 1917-03-24
HEARS CRY OF "FRE;'
| RIDES AWAY in SLEEP
Herndon Youth Pitched Into Ditch and
Hurt4Other Stories Of Big Blaze.

Stroies Of strange happenings curled
from the smoldering ruins Of Herndon,
Va, last night as the panic-stricken
townspeople recovered their composure
after a fire which did S1oo, 900 damage.
How little Edward Moffett rode a horse
In his sleep and was pitched headlong
into a ditch, to the freak appearance
of a cross on the walls OF the Congrega-
tional Church were among the ex-
periences related.
The fire was Not without It's hero.
He was Fred 'Albaugh, who was where
ever the fire blazed the fiercest and who
narrowly escaped with his life. But
Albaugh did not get a hero's reward.
Instead, someone stole his $45 watch
while he was directing a bucket brigade
on the roof of three-story buildinH
which was a mass of flames within.
"Crank. darn 1t. crank" yelled DIR. e.
L. Robey as he sat at the wheel of his
automobile and the flames crackeled ali
about him.
DIR. B. l.. Poole was cranking for all
he was worth. but the little Ford be-
came stubborn and refused to respond.
DIR. Pooles coat started to burn. but
still he kept cranking.
Auto Starts ChugEing.
Just as the fire broke through the roo
of the garage. the auto started chuggtng
and jumped out through the door. with
DR.. Poole hanging onto the radiator.
Last night Herndon was the mecca for
hundreds of Virginians from nearby
towns. Many washingtonians made a
trip to the town. To their sorrow many
went unprepared and stood about in tho
chilling rain waiting for the first car
home, sadly aware Of the fact that Hern-
don was bone dry
- nI+IR,,1 80 zoo r,oo ruoy,,-
en- and children digging among the ashes,
which were all that was left of their for
mer homes. Women and girls walked
about wearing mems hats and coats
Some men, who fled from the flames in
their night shirts, had to borrow cloth
ing from neighbors. The fire left some
without even a cent.
when the cry OF fire went through
out the town, young Moffet arose from
his bed. went to his fathers stable.
mounted a horse. and galloped away. Aft
er riding for nearly two miles the lad
was thrown to the roadside.
Several minutes later his father came
along, going in teh direction Of the fire.
He stopped when he saw the figure of a
person lying by the road. Upon investi-
eating he recognized his own SON.
Unconscious Six Hours.
The boy was unconscious for six hours.
When he regained consciousness he de-
clared that he knew nothing of getting
out of bed or of riding a horse. He re-
lated that he was asleep when he dashed
to the fire.
For his somnambulistic stunts young
Moffett is suffering from a broken collar
bone and gashes in his head.
When the fire seemed to be beyond
control it was decided to dynamite
several buildings in an effort to save
parts of the town. One OF these build
ings blown up was the jewelry store
of H. H. Hawley. This successfully
prevented the fire from spreading to
the northwest. The home of Caval
Stevens. also was dynamited.
1t was reported that Mrs. Irene
Stearns lived in this house and that
she made the supreme sacrifice of her
only worldly goods" in consentIng to
have her home blown up that many
other houses might be saved.
The fact is that Mrs. Stearns lives
in Washington. was here at the time
and is an extensive property holder
throughout Virginia. especially in the
vicinity Of Herndon. She owned the
house in which Mr.. Stevens lived.
This residence stood next to the
Congregational Church. The charge
of dynamite was SO heavy that 1t bad
ly damaged the church. breaking every
pane of glass and shaking it up other
wise.