The Wheeling Daily Intelligencer

A Mother And Her Three Children Badly Burned by It.

An alarm of fire sounded from box 45, at the corner of Chapline and Twenty-third streets, about 1 o'clock this morning, was occasioned by a fire in a small, double two-story frame house at the corner of Jacob and Twenty-third streets, owned by Mr. Filan and occupied by George L. Francis, George Holtzclaw and Chas. Pemberton.

The entire eastern half of the building was occupied by Pemberton and his family, who recently moved into the place. Francis lived in the basement of the western half, and the Holtzclaws occupied the upper stories of this half.

The fire started in the Holtzclaw quarters, but just how is a mystery. Mrs. Holtzclaw and three of her children were severely burned, and had it not been for the prompt and heroic action of a man who was among those early on the ground, it is probable that they would have been burned to death.

The name of this man and other interesting points in connection with the fire could not be learned owing to the lateness of the hour.

The story as learned, however, was that when the fire was first noticed the flames were bursting through the windows of the room in which the woman and children were. Some one cried out that people were being burned to death in that room, and a ladder was quickly procured from a neighboring yard. A man ran up to it, and breasting the flames, managed with great difficulty, to get the woman and four children out.

Mrs. Holtzclaw is seriously burned about the breast, back, face and legs. A girl aged about 14, had her arms terribly burned, and was nearly frantic with pain and fright. A girl aged 9, has her arms painfully burned, and an infant, aged about 2, burned in a pitiable manner. A boy aged 10 or 11, escaped with his hair singed.

George Holtzclaw did not appear to be scorched, and so far as could be learned was not in the burning room. The woman and children acted as though stupified while they were being gotten out, and had it not been for the watchfulness of their rescuer, they would have fallen back into sure death when they were aroused.

The Holtzclaw family is well known in police circles. The burned woman and children were taken into a neighbor's house and physicians summoned to attend them. Their screams were awful, and attracted such a crowd that the police had to be called to disperse it.

Mr. Pemberton claimed to have smelt smoke for several hours previous to the fire breaking out. While in the house where the burned ones were being attended to, a young woman was overheard to say: 'I know where that fire started.' Holtzclaw, who was standing near, turned and said, 'You keep your mouth shut, will you?' It was rumored about in the crowd that Holtzclaw had been quarreling with his family during the evening.

When the department arrived the upper half of the entire building was in a blaze. Quick work was done and the fire drowned out, thereby probably saving the entire neighborhood of frame structures. Had there been any wind the destruction would have been great.