The weekly Alaska citizen., 1920-01-19
WOMAN LOSES LIFT. |.
 FIRE ACCIDEs. T
UPSETS CANNED FIRE" IN AL COHOL LAMP USED FOR CURL ING HAIR; HUSBAND EXTIN- GUISHES FLAMES WITH FIRE EXTINGUISHER; TOO LATE.

NO T lSkAAlIS'O W II Y llNfA
 EXTINGUISHER; TOO LATE.
 Mrs. Bessie Pfaffle, wife of Ed ward Pfaffle, leading Council mer- chant and business man. died Satur- day at her home in Council City, a victim of one of the most shocking accidents occurring in this district in years. The unfortunate lady met her mortal end as result of burns sustained by the upsetting of an al- cohol lamp while curling her hair preparatory to attending an evening social function at the home ot i friends. The accident occurred on the evening of December 4th almost on the eve of the couples first wedding anniversary, their marriage having occurred December It, 1918. l Owing to the long distance telc- phone lines being out of order, the first news of the tragedy did not reach Nome until Wednesday ui the present week; on which day Ed Piai- file. husband of the deceased, ariye ed from Council with the body, accom- panied by two native mushers who assisted him in bringing the remains here.
 Details of the sad fatality as ;elat- ed to the Nugget by the grief strick- en husband are as follows: Mrs. Pfaffie was engaged in dressing pre- paratory to spending the evening in company with MT. Pfaffle at the home of MT. and Mrs. Fred Nicholson. The day was the wedding anniversary of the latter couple. While seated at her dressing table heating a curling iron over an alcohol heater of the type known as "canned heat" Mrs. Pfaffle, in some manner overturned the blazing contents of the can into her lap. The flaming mixture of all cohol and parrafine ill the container instantly spread over the light gown she was wearing. soaking thru to her under garments and seye ly burning the flesh beneath. Almost before she could cry out, the flames had seiz- ed upon the light fabric of her dress and was reaching upward for her face and hair After momentaIy intellectual attempt to stamp out the blaze with her hands both of which were severly burned in the effort, the unfortunate woman covered her face with her hands and fled to the lower floor. MT. Pfaffle, was all oblivious of the dreadful tragedy un- til his wife burst into view surround ed by sheet of flame. Being for tunately endowed with an unexcit- able disposition, the husband instant ly seized an automatic liquid fire eXtinguisher and turned the spray on the blazing form of his wife as she approached. The fire was ex- tinguished in another moment or two as result of the quenching applica- tion. Despite her injuries, Mrs. Pfaf- fle's first thot when her own danger was relieved, was for the safety of the house and she immediately call ed to him to put out the fire up but the room is on fire" MT Pfaf- file hurried to the upper floor and found the room in which the accident occurred in a blaze, appar- ently from flaming fragments as she fled. Luckily it required only a few moments to eXtinguish the blaze with the fire eXtinguisher and scarcely five minutes elapsed before he re- turned to his wife. Possibly owing to the fright or remarkable quality of fortitude, Mrs. Pfaffle was appar- ently not suffering great pain and made light of her injuries while her husband was placing her in bed. She said her hands were burned but otherwise she was all right" Dr. Ramsay was hastily summoned and, with the assistance of Mrs. w. l.. Taylor, whose skill as nurse is well known in Nome, did all that was possible for the unfortunate lady On examination it was found that the burns, altho extensive, were not of markedly fatal character. being confined largely to the arms and lower limbs.
 Owing to the protection offered by her corset, the middle and upper DOT tions of her body were scarcely touched by the flames. Her face was also practically uninjured and much of her hair still remained. Altho grievously injured, the chances for her ultimate recovery seemed good at first, but later 1t was found she could retain no nourishment whatever. Whether this was due to internal burns caused by inhaling the flame, or by the shock is not ascertained.
 After rallying in excellent manner, the unfortunately lady was apparent ly making excellent progress, when a sudden change developed and she