The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1919-11-21
ONLY CHARRED BODIES
TELL THE STORY
DIED WHILE IN The TRAP
Films Exploded and, Set Fire To
Morristown Moving Picture
Theatre

. Faribault, November 1.-Two char
red bodies those OF H. E. Hershey,
thirty seven. proprietor of the Juno"
motion picture theatre at Morristown.
and Leonard witter, eighteen, his
helper, were found lifeless in the OPP
erator's' booth of the theatre Thurs
day evening at 1880, one hour after
the explosion of several reels of film,
which set fire to the building.
Firemen fighting the blaze with
hand pumps and chemicals saved the
building and the, double tragedy was
rot discovered until the booth, which
is constructed of sheet metal and as
bestos, had been chopped open.
q When found the men were lying on
the floor dead Much of their cloth
ing was burned and the faces Of he
victims were almost Understandable.
1t is thought that the two men were
working In the booth eat abeut s6:15
rewinding fms on the machine when
an electric spark might possibly have
caused the explosion or the inflam.
mable eeluloid films. It is the belief
Of DIR. pa. Smith, county coroner,
that the men were killed from the
shock of the explcsio although no
further information could be gained
by the coroner Who thought It useless
to hold inquest because of the fact
that the two victims were alone when
the terrible accident took place.
Fire Was Detected.
Fire was at first detected coming
from the roof, when hand pumps and
chemicals, were Immediately thrown
into action to save the one story
structure The booth. which was
placed at the front Of the building,
above the entrance, was entered by a
ladder and il by, chance the men es-
capped imIn ediate death from the shock
they were actually trapped in the iron
cage and burned to death.
Their whereabouts were not known
until the fire had been extinguished
in the building when someone asked
where Hershey was. 1t was then
brought to mind that he had not been
seen around all evening. After search
ing for some time the booth was brek
en- into and enc of the most shocking
accidents in the history of the county
was revealed. 10 aDaf
The little booth is hard to get into
and constituted veritabie deathtrap.
There was an opening at the top
through which one might climb out
under the roof, but there was evident
Iy no time for either to crawl out
that way. go
The films were near the, doorway,
and when they fared up they must
have cut off all chance Of escape in
that way.
A fire extinguishef which had been
HANGING on the booth was found empty
on the floor, indicating that probably
Hershey had caught ii up and pumped
the contents on the blaze without eff
feet. That was the only tangible evil,
dence that the unfortunate young
men had even a, seconds opportunity
to fight for their lives.
MIGHT Have Been Suffocated.
Even If the extinguisher had been
partially effective, it is supposed that
in the dimunitive room in which the
fumes would be confined they might
have been sufficiently dense to have
suffocated themoq bas bohots 5ai
elCreW Were Mot Eiectrocuted, aos
While there was. Jsomeo speculation
as to whether the, death of the young
men may have been caused by an elec-
trio current. fitiowas stated by the
Northern States Power company,
which sent annexpert to Morristown
this morning to- make an investiga-
ton, that they were not electrccuted.
II was stated by the Northern
States eanployesn&ho returned from
the village that the accident was I'M
doubtedly caused by an explosion of
the films. as flames shot from the
building about twelve feet high when
first seen.