Sedgwick County, Kansas

Robert E. Lawrence "Maplewood" Mansion ~~ Kansas Masonic Home

FIVE PERSONS LOSE LIVES; PROPERTY LOSS IS $200,000

All of the Bodies Taken From the Ruins Are Burned Beyond Hope of Identification

ONE OF THE ADULT RESIDENTS STILL MISSING

Forty-Five Children Who Lived There Were Rescued and Taken to Places of Safety

THE FLAMES BROKE OUT ABOUT 2:16 O'Clock

Frozen Water Plug Handicapped the Firemen in Their Effort to Cope With the Fire

Property Was Owned By the Masons of Kansas---Maintained as a Home for the Aged Members of the Lodge and Orphans of Masons.

It Will Be Rebuilt

MASONIC HOME ROSTER;

PERSONS WHO ESCAPED

THE MISSING

Jesse T. Brown, age 80, of Wichita
Mrs. Jesse T. Brown, age 60, of Wichita
Frank Ferris, age 80, of Atchison, Kas.
Mrs. Frank Ferris, age 78, of Atchison, Kas.
Gertrude Weigle, age 20, Burden, Kas.

BODIES RECOVERED

Four adult bodies have been recovered from the debris and 18 inches of water in the basement. They are burned beyond identification.

The Kansas Masonic Home, in West Wichita, was destroyed by fire early today with a loss of $200,000.

Five of the 108 adult residents of the home are believed to have lost their lives.

All of the 45 children who resided there were rescued.

Four bodies of adults, burned beyond all hope of identification, have been taken from the ruins. It is impossible even to determine the sex of the bodies. They have been taken to the J. W. Gill morgue.

The fire started at 2:16 o'clock this morning in the boiler room. Frozen water plugs greatly handicapped the fire department. The firemen did heroic rescue work among both the children and adult residents at the home.

THOSE THOUGHT TO BE DEAD

The five persons who are believed to have died in the fire are Jesse T. Brown, age 80 years, a member of Masonic Lodge No. 99 of this city, and his wife, age 60 years; Frank Ferris, age 80, of Atchison, Kan., and his wife, age 78 years; and Miss Gertrude Weigle, age 20 year, who was employed in the dining room at the home.

The bodies were found in the basement buried in debris which was covered by water 18 inches deep. They were burned so badly as to be dismembered and some of the firemen who recovered them believed that instead of there being four bodies there may be only three.

Insurance carried on the building and contents amounts to $90,000.

A Boy Wanted to Sleep

The drowsiness of Paul Zellke, a 16-year-old boy, who was on watch in the boiler room until midnight, probably was responsible for the failure to discover the fire in time to save the buildings and the lives of the inmates.

Young Zellke went to sleep during his watch. He was wakened up by the crackling of flames about 2 o'clock. The boiler room was a seething furnace of flame fed by crude oil. Zellke was scorched in making his escape.

Excited by the flames, Zellke ran to the instrument board in the boiler room to turn off the motors that drove the oil pumps. Instead he switched off the lights from the entire building. This left all parts of the home in darkness and tremendously handicapped the firemen in the rescue.

Water on the Flames

Meanwhile the pumps continued to pour crude oil on the flames until the motors were consumed. The oil storage tanks were buried under the ground nearly a hundred feet from the boiler room. It was reported that these tanks were located near the boilers.

"The interior of the home was tinder," said Fire Chief A. G. Walden. "The flames went straight to the roof from the boiler room and then spread rapidly thru the various wards.

"One of the boilers had a small leak. A plumber had looked at it recently and, being unable to repair it immediately, ordered that it be watched, very closely. It may be that this boiler burst."

Col. Tom Fitch was uncertain where the fire started. He was inclined to believe that it originated in the laundry and not in the boiler room. Colonel Fitch said, however, that the real cause of the fire probably never will be known.

18 Inches of Water

It was nearly 10 o'clock when the debris heaped up in the basement in eighteen inches of water was cool enough for firemen to dig for bodies. It required only a few minutes to discover the body of a man under a room which firemen saw burning while they were rescuing others who were still alive.

Not one of a dozen Masons standing about was able to identify the body, so badly was it disfigured. Superintendent Burdick was called. He scanned the charred countenance carefully but could not name the man. Gill's ambulance quickly took the body away.

Two Bodies Were Taken Out

A few minutes later two more bodies were removed. These were so badly dismembered that they were gathered in sheets. The firemen could determine that the second bodies were those of women.

A little later parts of another body were found. The rescuers were not able to tell whether they belonged to a fourth one or to one of the three already recovered.

At 11 o'clock all work was stopped. Many of the firemen were badly frost-bitten. They recovered all the ruins they could without the aid of heavy tools for lifting the tangled masses of iron, masonry and ice. Later in the day the work was resumed.

As soon as the fire was under control and all the Home inmates rescued had been taken to places of safety, the task of checking up began. This was tedious work as men, women and children were bundled up and taken to any homes that were opened to them as rapidly as they were taken from the burning building.

They Began to Report

Slowly the persons who had taken in one or more of the inmates began to report. Hardly a home in the immediate neighborhood was without one refugee and many had four or five. Some were taken several miles from the Home.

By noon all but five of the 108 persons living at the home had been accounted for. The missing at that hour were: Mr. and Mrs. Jesse T. Brown, members of Wichita Lodge No. 99; Mr. and Mrs. Frank Ferris, members of an Atchison lodge, and Miss Gertrude Weigle, 20 years old, a dining room girl.

The bodies found in the debris were under the rooms of these five persons and Superintendent Burdick expressed the fear that all five had perished in the flames.

In all there were 108 residents and employees living at the home. Of these, thirty-one were men, twenty-one women, twenty-seven boys and nineteen girls. The ten employees brought the total to 108.

Four of the oldest men in the home were taken to the residence of W. J. Gilbreath, 522 South Elizabeth Avenue. These were: W. M. Swofford, 93 years old; E. S Dunscomb, 83; U. I. Ward, 78, and W. K. Brown, 61. Mr. Swofford is the oldest inmate of the home. He has been there sixteen years. His condition was reported serious and under the doctor's orders he and Mr. Dunscomb were removed to the hospital.

In The Hospital List

The hospital list early this morning included the following:

Louis Schmucker, Irving Malley, Jimmie Armour, John Kreger, G. C. Castleman, William Dundon, J. S. Whiteside, Mrs. Ella Barnett, Miss Ettell Stewart and Mrs. Regina Fluhrer. Miss Stewart, one of the matrons, was overcome by smoke. John Kreger, a boy, had badly frosted feet.

Doctor Calls on the Ill

Dr. J. W. Cave visited all of those reported ill from exposure or suffocation. Several who had been taken to private homes were ordered to the hospital. Dr. Cave said that the exposure of some of the older persons and the younger children might prove fatal.

The Masonic Home chapel, which was being decorated for the usual Christmas festivities, became administration headquarters this morning. Here Henry Wallenstein, Superintendent Burdick, Frank Harris, John House, Gifford Booth, Henry Jones, C. K. Bothwell, Colonel Tom Fitch, Ransom Brown and many other Masons labored to check up the living. Under direction of Mrs. A. J. Applegate a house-to-house canvas was made to locate the missing members of the Home family.

Tonight the chapel will become a dormitory for men, cots were secured and bedding provided. The building was heated by its own furnace.

Hundreds of offers of aid were received during the morning. Mr. and Mrs. C. K. Bothwell found temporary homes for thirty-six of the unfortunates. M. W. Woods of Sedgwick House offered to take twelve. Individual Masons agreed to care for one or more until the Home can be rebuilt.

A flood of telegrams and long distance telephone calls poured in on Superintendent Burdick. Most of these were from persons having relatives at the Home. In most instances Mr. Burdick was able to send back the cheering news that loved ones had been saved.

SHE LOST HER LIFE --- FOR WEDDING DRESS

Gertrude Weigle, 20 Years Old, After Aiding in Making Rescues, Died While Recovering A Gown

In order to rescue a wedding dress from the fire at the Masonic Home last night, Miss Gertrude Weigle, 20 years old, in all probability, lost her life.

Miss Weigle was employed in the children's department of the home and was to be married in the spring. She had been working for some time on a wedding gown and had taken great pride in showing it to friends and the children under her care.

According to children, Miss Weigle was one of the first persons to leave the burning building. She gave a great deal of her time to caring for the thinly-clad children as they were taken from the building, thinking that the fire would soon be extinguished.

When one of the firemen told her that there was probably no hopes for the dormitory, at least, she rushed by him, telling the children she had been caring for that she would be back just as soon as she had recovered her dress.

They waited in the chapel till firemen took them away, but Miss Weigle did not return. The children fear that she perished while attempting to rescue her wedding gown.

A CHILD'S APPEAL SAVED HIS BROTHER

Heroic Firemen Answered the Boy's Call and Rescued a Boy from a Closet

"My brother's in there; oh, Mister, can't you get him out?"

This piteous appeal from a cold-stricken, 8-year-old boy in the arms of Fireman Harlo McCall, creeping down slippery roof of the flaming Masonic Home, drove firemen back into the third floor death trap when they had believed all of the children saved.

"We'll get him, little fellow; go on down the ladder," said McCall and went back into the third floor window.

Going on hands and knees, Firemen McCall, Ray Morris, William Offenstein, Thomas Sladek, A. M. Williams and Bert Furnas fought their way thru sixty feet of hades. They swept the hot floor around them for bodies, under beds and behind chairs. They had found nothing and some were turning back when a yell from Morris reached them thru the roar of flames. He had found a partly open closet door. This meant unexplored space and children might be in that black hole. It seemed certain death to do it but choking men crawled slowly into the hole.

Huddled in a Corner

Fumbling blindly among heaps of clothes, the firemen found three boys from 6 to 10 year old huddled in a corner of the closet. They were unconscious. Morris, Offenstein and Sladek plunged back to the roof with the children. The others continued that blind search in the hole until they were sure no more children were hidden in the clothes. The floor burned their hands as they pushed back thru the 60 feet curtain of smoke.

Twenty-six boys were saved from that smoke-filled east wing. With stairs cut off by fire, men from No. 1, 2 and 4 Companies went into the ward thru windows.

SOME OF THE INJURED Irving Malley, G. A. Castlewood, William Dunden, J. S. Whitside, Mrs. Ella Barrett, Charles Lewis Smucker, John Kreger, James Armour and Miss Stewart, the children's matron, were taken to the Wichita Hospital following the fire at the Masonic Home early today. Smucker, Kreger, Armour and Miss Stewart were injured by smoke suffocation and frost, while the others were invalids taken to the hospital for shelter. John Kreger, 11 years old, had his feet frosted. James Armour, 10 years old, was suffering from smoke. Chas. Lewis Smucker, 7 years old, was ill from smoke and exposure.

They Were Hard to Find

"The little fellows were everywhere, under beds, huddled under quilts, and were hard to find," says Ray Morris of No. 2 Company. "If any of them called you couldn't hear them for the fire. Many of them were overcome by the smoke. The men felt around on the floor with their hands to find them. You couldn't see and you could not hear.

"When they smelled the smoke, the boys went crazy in the dark. They crawled into all manner of places. Most of them left their beds."

"It would make a man weep to hear those little chaps cry when we put 'em out on the cold roof," says McCall. "It was terribly cold and the roof had ice on it. The boys didn't have any more than night gowns on and some of them were naked. We didn't have time to grab up blankets except where we chanced to find a kid in bed. They were down on the floor and we shot them out as fast as we could without waiting to get clothes or blankets.

Girls Had More Time

"Most of the boys had to be carried down the ladders. The girls had more time and got out earlier with some clothes on but the boys were stupid from smoke and without anything on. Our coats were covered with ice and it was pretty hard on the kids to grab 'em up against those icicles."

Boy's Feet Were Injured

The cold sent 11-year-old John Kreger, one of the east wing boys, to Wichita Hospital with severely frosted feet.

Seven-year-old Chas. Lewis Smucker and Jimmie Armour, 10 years old, two of the three found in the clothes closet on the last trip into the boys' ward, were near death from suffocation and were taken to the Wichita Hospital. They are ill from the effects of the smoke.

Assistant Chief Brownswell concentrated the efforts of the men on the rescue work.

"We had tried to get into the basement with a line of hose and were driven back, then we tried to get a line into the first floor of the main building but we couldn't make it so the assistant chief called us all to the front of the building to save the children and the old folks," says P. N. Rawson, of No. 4 company.

It Saved Firemen's Lives

That order calling the men to the front saved Rawson, A. M. Williams, C. W. Tabler, and Moore of No. 1 and No. 4 companies. A moment after they left the place they had been struggling to maintain in the face of the furnace, tons of stone, brick and timbers fell where they had been standing.

Mr. Brownswell was at the forefront of the squads searching smoke-choked rooms for men, women and children.

"We'd think we had all out and then we'd hear the assistant chief yelling: 'Come on; here's another one,' and that's the way it went for what seemed like hours," is the way Fireman Moore described the work.

A woman, half insane from fright, tried to return to her bedroom for her canary when he wants taken from the room by Fireman Ray Morris.

"Save my Dickey bird," she screamed.

"Darn the Dickey bird," replied the desperate fireman who was having all he could do to get the woman out alive without rescuing birds.

Building Was in Darkness

The fire had extinguished the electric lights early in the struggle and firemen's lantern and flash lights gave vision only a few feet into the smoke.

It was most dense in the children's department in the third floor. There were nineteen girls and twenty-six boys here. As rapidly as the children were hurried from firemen to firemen, from rooms to roof and roof to ladders, then forty feet down the runged inclines to the ground, they were snatched up by waiting persons from nearby houses and rushed to warm places. Nearly every house within reach had one or more children.

For this reason, neither Chief Walden nor the home authorities were able to tell whether more children remained in the burning building and the firemen risked their lives to search corners and closets before they were sure all were out.

THEY SAW A BODY LYING IN A HALL

When the Firemen Returned to Remove it They Were Unable to Find it Again

In their work of rescuing the children, Assistant Chief Brownswell says they came upon the body of a man, who was apparently dead. This was supposed for a time to have been Joseph Deck, who later reported at the chapel. The firemen were too busy getting the children out of the building to attempt to remove the body at that time and when they completed the rescue work they fire had gained such headway that they could not reach the body.

The loss of life appears to have all been in the west connecting wing of the building directly over the furnace, where the smoke was already dense when the fire was discovered. Miss Julia Howard, of Oatville, one of the dining room girls, in her night clothes, visited several rooms in this part of the building and awakened the sleepers. Some of them responded quickly and made their escape without help. Others who were feebly and did not quickly realize the danger were rescued with difficulty.

Refused to Get Up

The two elderly couples who were sleeping in this section, Mr. and Mrs. Jesse Brown of this city, and Mr. and Mrs. Frank Ferris, of Atchison, were awakened by Miss Howard, but they refused at first to get up. When they were finally aroused sufficiently to realize their danger it had become a matter of life and death with the other inmates and they could not be assisted.

It is believed that Miss Gertrude Weggle, of Burden, a friend and roommate of Miss Howard, lost her life in her efforts to arouse these old persons and help them to get out of the building.

On the arrival of the firemen they saw the imminent danger of the residents in the building so Chief Welden directed that only one line of hose be connected and the water turned into the basement which was a roaring furnace, while the majority of the firemen were detailed to do rescue work. But for this prompt action on the part of Chief Walden, the loss of life would certainly have been greater. E. C. Elliott, superintendent of the Wichita Water Company, commends Chief Walden highly for the way he handled the fire. He says there is probably not another town in the country with a more efficient department. The first alarm of the fire reached the water station at 2:16 a.m. At that time the pressure was 80 pounds. The department called for more pressure at 3 o'clock when it was increased up to 95 to 100 pounds and held there until the fire was subdued.

Slow Making Connection

There was a report that all the fire plugs were frozen, but there was only one of them that was stuck. It was at the corner of Maple and Seneca. It took about ten minutes to make the connection there.

Most of those who escaped from the building ran into the chapel a short distance away, and remained there till the place became so full of smoke that they could stay no longer. Many of these were scantly clad, but with bedclothes about them they walked or were carried to the home of residents nearby. Several of the boys ran in their bare feet half a block or more thru the snow, and wherever they saw a light in a house they asked for shelter, which was gladly given.

Opened Hoyt Residence

Mrs. E. A. Hoyt, 341 South Dodge Avenue, to whose house several persons ran or were carried, set about it at once to make coffee for the firemen and before her supply of coffee was exhausted she had supplied more than a hundred cups of steaming coffee for the firemen whose clothes were frozen stiff. Others were soon helping in this work also.

As soon as daylight came a force of workmen was set to digging a trench to lay pipes and convey gas to the hospital cottage, which will be the headquarters of the Home till other arrangements can be made. A telephone was also put in immediately.

Henry Wallenstein and Col. Thomas C. Fitch were among the first to arrive after the firemen. They spent several hours assisting in the work and were drenched with water and chilled so they could scarcely move. At last, when there was nothing outside that they could do, they began the work of enumerating the persons who escaped.

Mrs. Applegate There

Mrs. A. J. Applegate was on the groud soon after 3 o'clock and began at once to look after the needs of the children. She walked from house to house hunting the children, getting their names and helping to get them comfortably settled. At a late hour this forenoon she said she was positive that every child was saved. At that time she had seen and talked with all but four or five an said she had talked with other children who knew that these few got out of the building safely.

There were 102 regular residents on the roll, but four were absent on leave. There were also ten employees, making 108 all told in the building at the time the fire was discovered.

A MATRON COLLAPSED CARING FOR CHILDREN

Miss Stewart Kept Up Her Rescue Work Until She Fell Completely Exhausted---Taken to a Hospital

Miss Stewart, the children's matron at the Masonic Home, as taken to the Wichita Hospital early this morning suffering from smoke suffocation.

Although firemen attempted to hold her back, Miss Stewart dashed into the burning building time and again, to carry the little ones she had cared for so long to safety.

At last, with both arms loaded with little tots, all crying and shivering from cold and freight, she collapsed at the door and was carried out by firemen. She had recovered consciousness before noon, but was unable to talk. Physicians say that her burns, which are in her throat, will be very painful for some time, but they say that her life is not in danger.

SAFETY OF CHILDREN WAS CAUSE OF JOY

"Luckiest Thing in the World," Says Al Brownewell, Assistant Fire Chief, of the Rescues

"We've saved all the children."

This was Assistant Chief Al Brownewell's paramount thought when a reporter found him in a smoke-enshrouded group directing streams of water into the ruins. His fire-cracked lips strained stiffly in a broad smile as he said it.

"I don't see how we did it without losing one of the little fellows," he continued. "It's the luckiest thing in the world that we didn't leave some of them behind.

"When we reached this place, flames were shooting thru the roof. The windows were jammed with children and old people. They couldn't get to the stairways.

Unable to check it

It was useless to try to stop that fire. Two lines we forced into the basement and main floor were driven back and I pulled in the lines and set all of the men at rescue work. We began at the north part of the east wing dormitory and used all the ladders we could muster on the windows there first."

No sooner had the ladders touched the windows than girls literally poured down the way of escape. Three girls swung down one ladder, ignoring firemen's cries to wait. The ascending stream of girls and the descending stream of firemen met midway of the ladder. Neither paused, the firemen winging out and risking falls to let the girls pass.

Nineteen Were Girls

"As soon as we got out the girls--nineteen of them--then the old folks from that northeast section we rushed the ladders to the southwest wards," continued Mr. Brownewell. "From there we moved the ladders on around the building, emptying it as we went until we reached the west end, which was the invalid wing. Here we had great difficulty."

At last we were out of the invalid ward but two old men. They refused to move. Paralyzed by freight, they resisted repeated efforts by firemen to get them from their rooms.

"We can't budge 'em," was the despairing report which reached the assistant chief.

It Was a Death Trap

"I'll get 'em," he said and plunged into the blackness. There was a few minutes left, he estimated, in which men could get in and out of that death trap alive. One of the old men, with gray beard and a cane, gave no heed to Brownewell's efforts to rouse him. The assistant chief half carried him from the room. Seeing that the man was unable to walk, Brownewell gave him a terrific push which sent him across the corridor toward a window--the only way of escape.

"If you don't get out of here, I'll throw you out of that window," he shouted. The threat had the desired result. It roused the old man and he hobbled briskly to where firemen could aid him from the building. The other was too heavy to carry. Brownewell aroused him by jerks and pushed and dragged until the window was reached.

Other Persons Helped

D. S. Yates, one of the men of the home, was not content with his own rescue but helped the firemen with the rescue of children.

Chief Walden arrived soon and directed the fight against the flames, moving a company here, sending another there as rapidly as they reformed after scattering for rescue work. Seven streams of high pressure water shot into the flaming buildings at strategy points. It was too late after the inmates were rescued to save the building, but the chapel and hospital buildings were saved. It was after noon today when the battle was ended.

A BOY DREAMED THE HOME BURNED

David Seemed to Be Forewarned of the Loss---He Told His Mother About It

David Stratford, young son of Mr. and Mrs. A. A. Stratford, 524 South Osage Street, dreamed Wednesday night that the Masonic Home burned and that everything was frozen up so the firemen could not work. He told his mother about it yesterday morning and it made such an impression on Mrs. Stratord that she thought about it all day.

A BOY DESCRIBES FIRE; HE ESCAPED

Harry English Tells of the NIght's Events

Choking From the Smoke and Gas When He Fled From Burning Building

Harry English, aged 11, who is new at the home of Oscar C. Hays, 310 South Seneca, tells an interesting story of the events of last night's fire at the Kansas Masonic Home.

"I was asleep with the rest of the children in the big dormitory last night when they woke me up. Someone said, 'Open the door, I am choking.'

"About that time I began to choke from the smoke, so I tried to reach for my clothes and run for the door. The rest of the children crowded out on the balcony at the front of the building and they took me along. I was able to breathe all right when I got out there, but we had to beat some of the boys on the back to make them breathe.

They Went Back

"One of the fellows thought of two boys who were still sleeping in the dormitory, so we went back inside, holding our hands over our mouths. We found the two boys in the closet where they had gone for better air. We got them and brought them out on the balcony and they were soon all right.

"All the children commenced to yell for the firemen. The flames were coming nearer. We could see them eating thru the woodwork on the other side of the room. Some of the girls in the next room were screaming.

"One of the boys, Frank Mowrey, 14 years old, jumped from the balcony on the third floor where we were standing, to the top of the roof on the second floor. He then jumped to the ground which was all covered with snow. He had on nothing but his night gown.

Frank Called the Firemen

"Frank then ran around the building to the firemen and told them we were about to be burned up and the firemen brought ladders. We threw a blanket to Frank and we thanked him because he saved our lives.

"The firemen set up the ladders against the porch and then brought them up to the top balcony and we climbed down. The snow was awfully cold and we about froze. One of the firemen told us to go to the home of Mr. George Cox, across the street. We piled in there and got warm. We got some clothes to put on and we spent the rest of the night watching the fire because w couldn't sleep.

"I was worried about my brother, Frankie, 6 years old, who was sleeping on the second floor, and so I went over to the firemen and asked them to save my brother. They said they would get him.

"I found out that Mr. Oscar Hays had already climbed a ladder and had brought my brother out of the building and brought him to his house. I went over there to see my brother. Frankie didn't have any clothes at all when Mr. Hays found him. I'll bet he was cold.

Thinks a Girl Died

"One girl, I think her name was Gertrude Weigle, was burned to death. She was with us a part of the time, but she had forgotten her dress and presents. She expected to be married on Christmas so she left us and went back into the building for the dress. We tried to keep her but she was too strong for us.

"We saw her walking around in the flames and the girls heard her cry. She had found her presents and the dress but she was overcome by the heat an the smoke and we saw her sink into the flames. None of us dared to go after her so we kept yelling for the firemen.

"The fire escapes were all locked and we couldn't get out when we tried the windows after we had been waked up by the smoke. Mr. Burdick had them locked several months ago because the children would go upstairs to go to bed and then they would sneak out and run off to the picture shows.

Eight Boys on Balcony

"When we found that we couldn't get out of the fire escapes we crowded out on the balcony. There were eight boys with me on the balcony but we could see several others at the windows.

"One boy had a flashlight which he kept winking until the firemen saw it and placed a ladder under the window.

"Frankie and I have been at the Masonic Home for two years, ever since our father died. We used to live at 2149 North Waco Street. I am glad I am with my brother again."
(The Wichita Beacon ~ Friday ~ December 22, 1916 ~ Submitted by Lori DeWinkler)

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OUT OF THE RUINS - $300,000 BUILDING

New Kansas Masonic Home On The Old Site

WORK TO START AT ONCE

Board In Session At Eaton Hotel Today

NO TIME IS TO BE LOST

Only Fireproof Material In The New Structure

FIVE OF THE NINE MEMBERS OF THE STATE BOARD PRESENT AT THE MEETING IN THIS CITY TODAY

The board of directors of the Masonic Home decided today at a special meeting at the Eaton Hotel to rebuild the home which was destroyed by fire yesterday morning, at once.

They intend to put up a building that will cost about $300,000 and will make an appeal to individual Masons all over the state for contributions.

The building will be of steel and concrete and absolutely fireproof.

Bishop Makes an Offer

Bishop John J. Hennessy of the Catholic diocese of Wichita has offered to take care of all the inmates of the home at St. John's institute, Mt. Carmel academy, St. Marys academy and at St. Francis hospital until the new home can be built.

The Sedgwick Home and the Children's Home have also offered to take part of the inmates.

An Appeal to the Masons

Grand Master Giles H. Lamb of the Masonic Grand Loge of Kansas told The Beacon at the end of the forenoon session of the board of managers of the Masonic Home that the board had decided to build an entirely new structure from the ground up and that he expected it would cost somewhere between $250,000 and $300,000.

He also said that the board had authorized him to make an appeal to the individual Masons of the state for contributions to the building fund. The appeal will be sent out immediately.

Just as the board had come to this decision, John House and J. F. McCoy, two prominent Masons, appeared before the board saying that they just had a telephone message from Bishop John J. Hennessy of the Catholic diocease, of Wichita to the effect that it would give him pleasure to take all the residents of the Masonic Home and keep them until a new home could be built.

How It Would Be Done

It was not stated where they would be taken care of, but it was inferred that he would distribute them between St. John's Institute, St. Mary's Orphanage, Mt. Carmel Academy and St. Francis Hospital in this city.

Grand Master Lamb delegated Mr. McCoy and Mr. House to thank Bishop Hennessy for the great kindness expressed and tell him that they would give it their consideration.

Bishop Hennessy had just returned to the city and did not know of the destruction of the Masonic Home by fire until he reached here.

The members of the board present were Grand Master G. H. Lamb of Yates Center, Col. Thomas G. Fitch of this city, Owen J. Wood of Topeka, Judge W. I. Stuart, of Hiawatha and Judge William Easton Hutchson of Garden City. Altho not a member of the board, Albert K. Wilson, grand secretary of the Grand Lodge of Kansas also attending the meeting.

The members absent and expected later are Col. P. M. Holsington of Newton; Charles E. Lobdell of Great Bend; Edward Wellington of Ellsworth, and Miss Emma Viets of Kansas City, Kas.

Good Care

The Board spent the entire forenoon attending to preliminaries, especially the care of the children. They are in hopes, after a few days, of having everything straightened out. They are especially anxious that the young ones be kept in school. Some six or seven of them are attending the high school and it is the purpose of the board to have a handy boarding place secured for them near that building.

The board issued a resolution approving of everything so far done by Col. Thomas G. Fitch and the superintendent of the home and authorizing Col. Fitch to do anything else he considers necessary for the immediate care of the inmates of the home. In fact, for the present, Col. Fitch has been given extraordinary powers.

Clearing It All Away

It is quite certain that there will be no attempt to reconstruct the old building. The general opinion is that its walls are no good whatever. The limestone of which it was built is already disintegrating from the heat of the fire. Moreover the new structure will be entirely of a different model. It will be modern in every respect and fireproof. It will be built with a view to taking care of a great many more people. The growth of the order justifies a building that will accommodate from 300 to 500 persons. The board thinks it would be very unwise to neglect the present opportunity to build for the future.

The board is spending the afternoon at the Home and inquiring as to what can be done for the present. The hospital and chapel will probably be used for the adults. Arrangements have already been made to heat them thoroughly and to set aside portions of them for cooking, eating and sleeping.

They Call It a Miracle

Grand Master Lamb and the board asked The Beacon to express their thanks to the people of Wichita for the splendid generosity and sympathy they have shown. They were very anxious that the firemen be thanked most heartily for the great work they did in saving so many lives, especially in saving the lives of all the children. They think it was nothing short of a miracle that all the young ones were saved from the fire.

While the members of the board were speaking informally, it was learned from them that their idea was to bring the new building several feet forward from the old building and making it absolutely fireproof. It was the general opinion that it be built largely of steel and concrete and modern in every respect.

It Must Be of the Best

"The Masons of Kansas," said one of them, "will not be satisfied with anything but the best. Masonry is a permanent institution. It will be here for centuries to come and we are not going to build any makeshift or temporary thing."

O. J. Wood thinks it is remarkable that the children were saved. He said that he was called by telephone at 3 o'clock yesterday morning and told that the roof had already fallen in. "I was never so shocked in my life," he said. "I know every inch of the building and when I heard that the roof had caved in, it froze by blood, for I knew that the little ones were sleeping immediately under it."

INJURED IN FIRE, ALL ARE IMPROVING

All the persons sent to the hospitals in this city from the Masonic Home, which burned early Friday morning, are reported improving. It was said at noon that there appears to be no reason to believe that any of them will die as a result of inhaling smoke or of exposure to the cold. Charles Lewis Schmucker, 7, and Edgar Schmucker, 6, Ettele Stewart, 55, an Lawrence Smith, 3, are still seriously ill, but their cases are not considered critical, and all are improved since Friday. None of the other cases are considered serious.

No more bodies have been recovered from the ruins of the burned building. It is known that there are two more somewhere in the ruins. Of the three bodies found thus far, one was identified today as that of Miss Gertrude Weigle, 20, of Burden, Kas., who, after her escape from the burning building, went back to get her dress in which she expected to be married soon.

The other four persons who lost their lives in the building were: Frank Ferris, 80, Atchison; Amanda Ferris, 78, Atchison; Jesse T. Brown, 60, Wichita, and Elizabeth Brown, 60, Wichita.

FIND PIECE OF SILVER NEAR A CHARRED BODY

Fireman Gives Money to a Fund to Help Supply the Needs of the Residents

A dollar found in debris of the Masonic Home ruins near a charred body by Fireman Perry Hazzard of No. 5 Company yesterday will go toward supplying needs of a resident who lost all in the fire.

"I know of no better use for the dollar, which was probably being saved for Christmas gifts by the unfortunate person who died in the flames," said Captain J. A. Nolan of No. 5 company, to whom Hazzard handed the dollar. The captain gave it to C. K. Bothwell, one of those directing the care of the fire sufferers. Hazzard received approval from the captain for his honesty. "Some men would have stuck it in a pocket and said nothing about it," the captain said.

No. 5 company as a whole received approval and praise was showered by numbers of persons on Jerry and the big bay team of the No. 5 station, which made a record run of three miles and a half from College Hill to the blaze.
(The Wichita Beacon ~ Saturday ~ December 23, 1915 ~ Submitted by Lori DeWinkler)

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HOW THE WOMEN HELPED TO RESCUE

They Worked Early and Late to Save Children

Mrs. A. J. Applegate Directed and Others Helped -- Every Child Housed

Woman's part in caring for terrified children and inmates of the Kansas Masonic Home, who were victims of the fire yesterday morning, is the kind that always demonstrates itself when a quick mind is necessary to meet a great catastrophe of emergency. It was a woman, Mrs. A. E. Almond, who telephoned from the home of her mother, Mrs. E. A. Hoyt, 341 South Dodge Avenue, at 2 o'clock a.m. to Mrs. A. J. Applegate, telling her of the fire, and for every few minutes afterwards, until the taxicab call had been answered for Mrs. Applegate, that Mrs. Almond continued to inform the Eastern Star woman of conditions of the home which was then a mass of flames.

Called Chapter Members

While Mrs. Applegate was anxiously awaiting the coming of the cab, she hurriedly called up matrons of the Ivy Leaf Chapter informing them of the danger at the home. She was the first Eastern Star woman to arrive at the fire, and with only two cups of coffee and a half a sandwich taken at noon time, this woman worked without rest, going from home to home, counting the children, assuring frightened relatives of the safety of a child or some old person who was in the home.

"That Wichita people have have the biggest hearts in the world was shown yesterday in the way they responded unsolicited in giving help," said Mrs. Applegate to The Beacon today.

Where are the children?

"There were three homes offered to every child we have," continued Mrs. Applegate. "They are in homes on the West Side and out on the hill. People were so eager to get to the home, they called taxicabs and came without breakfast. They have offered everything for the comfort of those we had in the home. Some people have taken old couples and others begged for the children."

Many Made Application

Children of West Wichita who go to school with the girls and boys from the Masonic Home were everywhere asking that this girl or that boy come to their home.

"We want Mary", said a childish voice. "We love her so and want to take care of her."

With tears in their eyes the little ones pleaded to be allowed to have their playmates come and live with them.

It was 5 o'clock in the morning when Mrs. Applegate entered the home of Mrs. George Cox, 404 South Seneca Avenue, and found the matron with her sleeves rolled up and busy over a great pan of biscuits making them for several little fellows from the fire who had found shelter in the Cox home.

At 5 o'clock Mrs. J. R. Johnson, of 1031 University Avenue, was calling women of Trinity M. E. Church to come to the church to make coffee and sandwiches. And all day the women stayed at the church serving many pots of coffee to the firemen and other workers.

Some Sad Incidents

Perhaps one of the saddest incidents of the fire coming right at the Christmas time is the fact that many hundreds of dollars worth of Christmas gifts from Masons all over the state were destroyed in the fire.

The Christmas things, clothing, toys, etc., were all in one room, and everything lost," said Mrs. Applegate. "Many weeks had been spent in the preparation for a happy holiday at the home."

People in their eagerness to lessen the suffering of the little ones and the old folks, offered to clothe them, to sew for them, to keep them in their homes until the new Kansas Masonic Home should be completed.

By night there was $900 worth of bedding to the Eastern Star chapel. This will be turned into a dormitory for the old men until the new home is done. Meals will be served for these men at the West Side restaurants.

Sent Forty Beacons

"Because of the correct account of the fire as given in the last night's Beacon, I have mailed over forty copies to official Masons throughout the state" said Mrs. Applegate today.

When Mrs. Applegate reached her home on South Topeka Avenue last night, she found calls from the telegraph offices for messages that had been pouring in all day from Eastern Star members. Because of her prominence in this order, she has been kept busy every minute looking after matters of importance both at home and throughout the state.

Oscar Rice, past grand patron of the Fort Scott chapter, wired Mrs. Applegate that he will bear the expense of clothing and carrying for two girls from the home.

So numerous were the telephone calls at the Applegate home last night, it was necessary to tie up the bell that no more calls need to be answered. The calls were from people eager to help.

"There never was such loyalty shown," Mrs. Applegate said with enthusiasm. We have great people in this city and the Eastern Star women certainly appreciate all the goodness that is coming to us from the generous hearted citizens."

Opened Sedgwick House

Superintendent Woods of the Sedgwick House offered one entire floor for inmates of the home, that they might be cared for comfortably there and be to themselves. Mrs. Kendall, matron at the Children's Home, has been anxious that the girls and boys of the Masonic Home share the care given the fatherless and motherless little folk on the hill. It is possible that later, such a plan may be arranged. This was one of the first plans thought of by Mrs. Applegate and others, but the willingness of Wichita people to care for the children and the immediate need of getting them supplied with clothing has scattered them in various homes throughout the city.
(The Wichita Beacon ~ Saturday ~ December 23, 1916 ~ Submitted by Lori DeWinkler)

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FIREMEN HEROES OF MASONIC FIRE

City Adopts a Resolution in Their Praise

Memorial to Be Transcribed on Parchment and Hung in the Central Fire Department

The City Commissioners have unanimously passed the following resolution, which will be transcribed and hung in the Central Fire Department:

"The Burning of the Masonic Home Friday morning, December 22, 1916, having called the attention of the citizens of Wichita, in a startling way to their indebtedness to the brave men of the fire department; and it appearing to the Board of Commissioners of the city fitting and proper that some expression of appreciation be publicly made, it is there

"Resolved. That in the heroic efforts made by each and every member of the department, in the saving of the lives of the dwellers in the Home, the decrepit men and women and helpless children--the department has placed the people of Wichita under a lasting debt of gratitude. It is still believed by this people that "Greater love hath no man than this---that he give up his life for his friend." What is the measure of the devotion of him who bound by the ties only of a common humanity, hazards his life repeatedly in efforts to save the lives of others?

"Resolved. That in order that a lasting memorial may be made for the department, these resolutions be transcribed on parchment in the best style of the penman's art; that the names of the members of the department follow these resolutions under the heading 'Heros of the Masonic Home Fire.' "

Chief A. G. Walden eloquently thanked the commissioners for the great compliment they had paid the fire department and said it would stimulate and encourage its members to still greater efficiency in public service.

GATHER IN CHAPEL AT BURNED HOME

First Meeting of Residents Since the Fire Last Week

Children Are to Be Enrolled in Schools---Clothing Was Distributed This Morning

The former residents of the Kansas Masonic Home went to the chapel some time this morning and received clothing and shoes. The home was destroyed by fire last week. The residents have found temporary homes at numerous other places in the city.

A call last night for all of the members to gather at the chapel at 10 o'clock this morning. Some of the small boys and girls were at the chapel by 7 a.m. waiting for the doors to be opened.

Beds have been placed in the chapel and some of the older men are being cared for there.

By next week all of the children who were living at the home will be entered in the city's schools, and it is for this reason that the clothing was given out this morning.
(The Wichita Beacon ~ Wednesday ~ December 27, 1916 ~ Submitted by Lori DeWinkler)

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SCORES OF MASONS OUTS

More Than 300 Attended Funeral of Four Aged Victims of Fire

Probably the largest Masonic funeral service ever held in this city was that of Mr. and Mrs. Jesse T. Brown and Mr. and Mrs. Frank Ferris, fire victims of the Kansas Masonic home, held from the Gill Funeral home yesterday afternoon. More than 300 loyal Masons filled the chapel to hear the last words spoken by friends and members of Wichita Blue lodge No. 99.

The body of Miss Gertrude Weigle, the other victim, was not buried yesterday because her father had not yet arrived from Idaho, where he was at the time of her death. Friends and relatives of both the Brown and Ferris families were present.

Because Jessie T. Brown was a member of Blue lodge No. 99, this lodge was in charge of both the services at the funeral home and at the grave. W. J. Frazier performed the ritual. Dr. John R. McFadden, pastor of the First Methodist church, preached the sermon. Harry Stanley's quartet sang several selections.

Dr. McFadden took for his text a passage from the fourteenth chapter of Job, "If a man die, shall he live again?" He showed the implicit faith of Job in the crucification and resurrection, comparing it with Robert Ingersoll's infidelity. Dr. McFadden also quoted from some of the orations of Plato, showing his belief in future retribution and immortality of the soul." Dr. McFadden showed the answer was plain, depicting the scenes of the crucifiction and resurrection in bringing forward the theme.

The following Masons acted as pallbearers: Otto Souders, master of 99; Henry Kernohan, junior warden of 99; E. F. Duncan, master of 303; Hugh Gill, senior warden of 303; Thomas Hanson, member of 86; Cecil Dexter, junior deacon of 86, and Jay Gill, member of 99.

Interment was made in the Masonic plot in the Maple Grove cemetery. It is probable that the body of Miss Gertrude Weigle will also be buried there.
(Wichita Eagle ~ December 27, 1916 ~ Submitted by Lori DeWinkler)

BURY GIRL FIRE VICTIM

Friends of Man She Was to Have Married to Act as Pallbearers

Funeral services for Miss Gertrude Weigle, 20 years old, of Burden, Kan., fire victim in the Masonic Home, will be held at 2:30 o'clock this afternoon from the Gill Funeral Home. Rev. C. A. Kitch, pastor of the Grace Methodist Church, will be in charge of the services. Temporary burial will be made in a receiving vault at Maple Grove cemetery. Young men living near Hayesville will act as pall bearers. Keith Howard, the man she was going to marry, lives in Hayesville.
(Wichita Eagle ~ Thursday ~ December 28, 1916 ~ Submitted by Lori DeWinkler)

MASONS DO HONOR TO WARDS

Belated Christmas Tree for Children of Masonic Home Is Attended by Thousand Persons

EVERY CHILD WAS MADE HAPPY

A thousand persons sat in the auditorium of the Scottish Rite temple last night and saw the curtain rise on the dark stage. Gradually a big electric star at the peak of a Christmas tree glowed; then the entire tree blazed in incandescent lights of red and green, and Santa Claus and four assistants, costumed as aged men, and carrying great baskets of gifts, appeared.

The tree stood in the center of the stage, set with a forest scene and crystalline snowflakes fell from the flies. More than forty children of the Masonic home were being given a Christmas entertainment, belated by the fire that threatened their lives a week ago.

To them Hal McCoy, as Santa Claus, explained he had been delayed by the fire, and the forty odd orphans greeted him with shrieks of joy.

The even of the configuration saw presents for every child in the institution labeled and in readiness for the annual celebration. The next morning these presents were in ashes. The loss was made up by the Wichita Scottish Rite consistory and last night there were new presents for every child, and automobiles to take them to their temporary homes after the entertainment was concluded.

Practically every resident of the institution was present. With the exception of Francis Smith, a boy still in Wesley hospital, children who were overcome by smoke have recovered, as have the majority of the aged residents. Among those who attended the entertainment were members of the families who are caring for the homeless wards of the Masons until the proposed temporary quarters in West Wichita are completed.

Henry Wallenstein, Col. Thomas G. Fitch and C. R. Lewis, prominent Masons, directed arrangements for the Christmas tree entertainment and the tree was decorated by Mr. Lewis, Gifford Booth, Donald Hayworth, James Clark and Fred Noel assisted Hal McCoy in the distribution of gifts.

Earlier in the evening Mrs. Blanche Wilson, of Salina, grand matron of the Eastern Star, and Mrs. A. J. Applegate, local member of that order, spoke.

Col. Fitch declared no blame could be attached for the recent disaster and predicted a finer and more beautiful institution will rise from the ashes of the destroyed home.

A chorus of children from the home sang.
(Wichita Eagle ~ January 2, 1917 ~ Submitted by Lori Dewinkler)

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