CHILDREN PERISH IN BURNING HOME

Boy 3 and Baby 16 Months Old Die in Tekamah Fire

Carl, 3 and Billy, 16 months old, sons of Mr. and Mrs. Scott Rhoades of Tekamah, were burned to death in a fire which destroyed the Rhoades home yesterday afternoon. Another son, Walter 5, was burned about the face and shoulders. The mother had gone to a neighbor’s to get a bucket of water. A short time later she saw smoke and flames break out over the entire cottage.

Firemen are unable to rescue the children. Carl’s body was found under a bed and the baby had dropped to the floor from a hammock cradle.

Mrs. Rhoades, 23, collapsed and is in a serious condition. The father was picking corn in the country at the time.

The older child told the father that Carl had obtained some matches and was playing with them when the fire started. Walter is not seriously hurt.

Mrs. Rhoades and the boy are at the home of a relative.

Walter told his parents that he tried to lead Carl outside when the fire started. His brother jerked away from him and crawled under the bed he said, and he had to run from the room as the flames rapidly spread around him.

The home, a flimsy pine shack covered with tar paper, was in embers within a short time after the blaze started.

~~~Obituary courtesy of the Nebraska Washington County Genealogical Society. News clippings on file in the Blair, Nebraska Public Library~~~