Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1917-01-10

or the case, and an instant later we
were leaping the stairs through the
fetid atmosphere Of gas which had
rushed from the room when the door
was smashed in.
During my score OF years expert
eEce as a police reporter and investi-
gator have encountered tragedy
and horror in countless blood-chill-
ing phases, but never in my life have
| witnessed that which so palaryzed
me with heart-tearing grief and hor-
ror.
Stretched upon the bed exactly as
If in deep and peaceful slumber lay
Sheriff Davis, the waX-like pallor be-
ing the oaly sign that the grim
reaper had touched him; but even
far more tragic was the figure of Mr..
Foster upon the floor, where he had
fallen in brave battle to reach the
windows, closed and mocking with
their gay holiday decorations of red,
in order that he might admit the
| life-saving air.
A servant in the hotel who was on
the floor below at 6 o'clock that
| morning remembered distinctly hear
ing the sound Of a heavy fail in the
room occupied by the two men, and
1T is believed that it was at that hour
when Foster was awakened by the
strangliDg fumes Of gas pouring
from the open jet over the bed, and
struggled from the bed only to fall
to the floor with arms outstretched
toward the windows but three feet
away.
An ambulance from the Elizabeth
General Hospital arrived almost ST.
simultaneously with the police, and
two physicians worked over the men
with pulmotors for more than an
hour endeayoring to awaken some
spark of life through artificial respi-
ration. The physicians agreed that
Sheriff Davis had met death first and
pointed out the medical fact that a
large man will Invariably succumb
more speedily than one Of smaller
physique through asphyxiation by H.
Illuminating gas.
Apparently stunned by the i'm
mensity of the tragedy, the local po-
lice made a regrettable blunder in
officially announcing that both She
rihi Davis and Mr.. Foster had come
from community where iIluminat-
ing gas was unknown and that they
had "blown out the light in the
room before retiring"
That afternoon County Physician
Wescott, who practically fills the
post of coroner. visited the room
and examined the bodies. He i'm
nediately discovered that the cock
in the gas jet responsible for the
double tragedy turned so loosely
mat it would have been quite possi-
Die for any one accustomed to turn
ing on and off gas lights all their
liVes to have turned off this light and
then on again, so loosely was it set
III It's socket. Defective gas lets of
this sort have been responsible for
SO many deaths in hotel rooms and
dwellings, that an act had already
been prepared for this years session
Of the Legislature to end the menace.
Large crowds were attracted in
front of the hotel before the bodies
were removed across the street to
me morgue Of d. J. Leonard. Win
dows on opposite side of the stree;
We're filled with curious men, women
and children striving to peer into the
interior Of the chamber Of death, the
windows OF which have since been
Kept wide open, the proprietor of the
Motel declaring that it will never be
rented out again.
Owing to the unusual physical pro-
portions Of Sheriff Davis, the under
taker and his assistants had difficulty
In preparing the body for shipment.
1t was impossible to purchase a size
10 n collar for him, nor a shirt for
burial. However, collar was OBJ
tanned from the Sheriff's grip, which
was held by The police, and the shirt
the Sheriff had worn was sent to
Chinese laundryman, who made it
fresh for the purpose of preparing
the body for burial.
Stiff, Sore Muscles Relieved.