The Holly chieftain., 1924-01-03
A TRAGEDY OF THE DRY LANDS

Lycan, Colo, Dec. 81, 1923-One of
the most appalling tragedies imagin-
able occurred in this immediate vicinity
on Friday December 28th, about two
p. NJ, when the home, a half dug -out,
of an aged man, Uncle Johnnie Paul
inc, as he was called was consumed
in flames, and the occupant was burn
ed to death alive. Floyd Shafer, a
neighbor, was, out on horseback saw
the smoke, and rushed to the place.
The door fell in just as he arrived.
He grasped an iron well pipe and beat
the end of the dug-out in, only to be
met with rushing mass of flames.
He was not sure whether the owner
was at home or not so rushed to the
barn to see if his horses were there.
On finding the team in the barn, Mr.
Shafer felt sure the old gentleman
was in the burning building. By this
time Frank Halsey and Dan Young
had arrived, but the flames were so
fierce they could not even see the
body, until the worst of the fire was
over. They then put snow on the
body to put out the fire, but the flesh
had already burned off, leaving only
the skeleton, as the fire smoldered
and burned, parts of the skeleton kept
dropping. The body was near win
dow, and apparently had fallen back
wards over some barrels, which were
under the window, with water, maize
and beans in them. In the water was
found his deeds and papers. He may
have groped to the window, for ..es-
cape, or for air, as the main partsSf-
the fire was near the door cutting
off the exit. The cook stove was near
the door, no lids were on the top of
it and the front was also off of the
stove, which gives rise to the suppo-
sition that he may have thrown some
kerosene on the live Goals, which ex-
ploded blowing the pieces off the
stove. The explosion may have killed
him even before the fire or piece
of the stove could have hit him. As
he wore beard and tolerable long hair,
these may have caught on fire when
the stove exploded. There seems to
have been two or three bales of hay
in the house, which made good food
for the flames.
Mr.. Young saw Mr.. Pauline from a
distance put in tthe yard, siiol long
before the fire.
Some surmised that Uncle Johnnie
was maybe tired of living and had
taken this means to end it all as he |
had lived on his homestead here for
about ten years, and endured many
hardships as a pioneer, always living
alone, and living seemingly on moth
ing. The last time he was at the
Lycan kore, he made the remark that |
he was going to sell his place as he
was tired of living this way. At that
time it was noticed thai he was very
thin and feeble. He seemed to have
had domestic troubles in his younger
days and had separated himself EN-
tirely from his family. We think the
wife is dead now but he has some
grown children in the east with pos
sibly one son in Denver. He had
told the writer several times, "fhat
he was going to bring some pictures
of his children to the store to show
US what nice looking children he had"
So he was not entirely hardened to-
wards his family, although it is said,
his daughter came here once to see
him and he would have nothing to
do with her. They frequently wrote
to Mrs. Brooks here inquiring about
their father.
Some said, he might have met with
foul play, as it had been talked, that
he once owned place in Oklahoma,
sold it and came here to file on land
and since then has spent practically
nothing, not even having a we'll on
his place. He was always seen driv-
ing well kept team to an old wagon,
with one or two water barrels in it.
The barrels were always in the wagon,
wherever he went. He hardly ever
drove out of a walk and always stop
ped when car passed. He spent
very little for clothes and provisions,
always having just about the right
tied up in a handkerchief to
pay for what he bought. Some think
he had some money hid away and
termed him a miser. At any rate he
was always honest, never having beat
EN- anyone out of a cent and we pre-
sumo he owed no man. He attended |
strictly to his own business, even
though he had queer ideas of his own.
L