The independent. [volume] (Elizabeth City, N.C.) 1908-1936, 1923-01-12
CITY'SLATEST
FIRE MYSTERY
And Wife Of The Victim Want
ed The Cash, Not the
Corpse.

llIc WHICH NC3llON GU lIlC Vii
tral Caic in this city and caus-
cd the death Of a lone lodgcr in
the place early Thursday morn
ing, ian. 4, indicate that the
place was set on fire. 1t is
believed that the person who
fired the place did not know
that the building was occupied
at the time.
Tho man who was burned alive in
tho plac" was w. II. Lee. - years
oII. cr Washington County. The
police havc information that Lee was
Il r,amShuc d'ytillcr. If this is true
it may be inferred that hr was in
Elizabeth City To find market for
the product Of his still. This might
also cXplain his having taken lodg-
ing IN ,ho Central Cafe. a place OF
mmistaEahlc I'll fame that has been
long rrlrr III" surveillance of The
local rnIir". The Central CAT" has
figured i'm all sorts of stories of lcwd
women aud bootleg liquor and has
been rcnortcd 10 the police time after
time. The propriotorS, Jo" Self and
Willie Warren. are friends of Sheriff
Chas. Reid and retain tn" law firm of
Aydlctt Il Simpson for legal protcc-
tion.
The burning alive Of the Washing
ton County man in th" building WAS
one of the most horrible incidents in
the annals Of the Elizabeth City fire
department. The FIRE started in I'm
uroccupiCd annex To the building ana
had acquired no great hcadway when
the chemical truck from fir" head
quarters reached the scene. But the
flimSv nature of The burning structure
warned the iircmcn to use water in
stead of chemicals and time was TAX
,en TO connect Il hose with 4 fire hy-
drant. After making connection with
athe hydrant. the firemen could get no
Bwattr 1rcsSurE. wafer coming from
thc nozzle at the end of the hose like
wafer from 4 Spigot. 1t has been
established that the fire pumps at "ht
water works were working aIl right.
hu' il iS long way from the water
plant on PENNSYLVANIA Ave. to the
extreme end of West Main street.
and the fire hydrant at the latter
rofnt is supplied only by four inch
main that is believed 20 be Cloggcd
with dirt and rust. While the fire
mon were losing time with low water
pressure. the fire gained hCadw:ly
and rapidly cngulfcd the building.
The fircmcn did not suspect that any
ono occupied the building ut that
hour, four o'clock in the morning.
The frcmcn were told by Edgar
Williams, who keeps restaurant and
lodging house across the street. that
no one was in the building.
And The Sausages Didn't Burn.
The fire had penetrated the upper
story of the two story structure
Kcfucdy Davis, member of the fire
dcpartmcnt saw part of the body of
man protruding from a partially
open window on the second floor in
the rear. The flames cngulfcd the
body before Davis could procure a
ladder and make n rescue.
So intense WAS the fire and 50
dense the smoke. that eye witnesses
TO the horror which followed can not
tell whether the body in the window
WAS alive o. dead. OnC leg. one arm
and mart Of the trunk waS out tho
window. The head and one arm were
on the inside and apparently caught
BY the upper sash having fallen
across the victims neck. 1t is sup
roscd that Lee attempted TO crawI
backward out of the window when
he was overcome by smoke and the
upper sash fell on him, pinning him
fast in htc burning framework. MI
that was left of him was Il distorted
bundle of roasted flesh. The face was
completely burned away. leaving only Il
yawning skull. The skull did not
grin. for the dead man had no teeth,
The man in the window burned to
crisp: but right under the spot
where he fell into the burning en-
brrs when the wall collapsed, little
negro boy pulled out Il string OF
grccn sauSagcs Saturday. The Sau-
Sagcs were moist, fresh, clean and
never touched by fire or affected
by the heat.