From the Emporia Gazette 22 Dec 1916, page 1:
"KANSAS MASONIC HOME BURNED
THE $250,000 STRUCTURE AT WICHITA WAS DESTROYED BY FIRE EARLY THIS MORNING.
FOUR BODIES RECOVERED
A FIFTH PERSON STILL IS UNACCOUNTED FOR
FIRE STARTED IN THE BOILER ROOM, AND FROZEN WATER PIPES MADE ITS CONTROL IMPOSSIBLE
ESTABLISHED BY GRAND LODGE OF KANSAS IN 1896
Wichita, Kan., Dec. 22. -- The Kansas Masonic Home here was destroyed by fire early this morning. The property loss is estimated by Board of Trustees to be $250,000. Only five persons, all adults, are unaccounted for. They are MR. and MRS. JESSE BROWN, of Wichita; MR. and MRS. FRANK FARIS, of Atchison, and GERTRUDE WEGGLE, employed in the dining room. The other four persons missing are aged. JOSEPH DECK, who was believed to have been burned under a bed where he was seen by a fireman, was later found at a nearby residence.
There were ninety-two adults and forty-one children living in the home. The destruction of the records and the fact that the persons rescued were taken to numerous residences in West Wichita makes it difficult to account for the residents at the home.
The home was the property of the Masonic Lodge of Kansas. The chapel valued at $10,000, and the hospital, valued at $9,000, were the only buildings saved. The fire started in the boiler room and had gained great headway before it was discovered by passersby. Frozen water pipes made it impossible for the firemen to check the flames. Several thousand gallons of crude oil, stored in the basement added fury to the flames. Two firemen, who made a final trip into the children's department, crawled sixty feet and found three children hidden in a closet. Many of the children wrapped themselves in bedclothes and tried to hide from the fire. Firemen found them hidden under beds, in corners of the rooms and elsewhere.
The Masonic Home was established by the Grand Lodge of Kansas in 1896. Since that time, $100,000 has been spent in buildings alone. The home is maintained by a per capita tax of 50 cents per year from the Grand Lodge of Kansas and 10 cents per from the Order of the Eastern Star. The beneficiaries of the home are the aged Master Masons, their wives or widows, and children of the members of the Order of the Eastern Star. It has given shelter to more than 200 of these needy people and helpless children since its foundation, DANIEL F. BURDICK and wife are superintendent and matron of the home. Col. THOMAS G. FITCH, member of the Kansas Masonic Home Board of Trustees, stated at 7:30 this morning that he did not believe there were any bodies in the ruins.
"We are positive that all the children were taken out," said MR. FITCH. "All have been accounted for. We believe there was no loss of life among the aged residents at the home. Some of them were taken to homes in West Wichita and others to residences of friends at some distance from the fire. This has made it impossible to make an accurate checking of the list to ascertain positively whether there were any casualties."
The main building was of three stories, and the two wings that extended to the west were two stories in height. The north wing, in which the fire started, was the women's department.
Rescued men, women and children were taken to nearby homes for the night. Several were unconscious due to exposure. The children and aged women, some of whom were past 90 years old, suffered the most.
Fire Chief WALDEN said today that the buildings would burn for fully ten hours, and not until then would it be possible to search the ruins for bodies. The blaze was got under control at 5 o'clock but not before the entire structure, with the exception of the east wall of the main building, had fallen in.
Four bodies, all of adults, have been taken from the ruins. It is impossible to identify or even determine the sex. They were in the basement in eighteen inches of water. They were found in twos directly under the rooms occupied by MR. and MRS. JESSE T. BROWN, of Wichita, and MR. and MRS. FRANK FERRIS, of Atchison, all of whom are unaccounted for. GERTRUDE WEIGLE, twenty years old, of Burden, Kan., is the fifth person believed to be missing." [end]
Another article from the Wichita Beacon gives more details, but is incomplete due to damage to the old newsprint. I found this article here: (
visit link)
THE WICHITA BEACON, Friday Evening, December 22, 1916, Page 39
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.
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.
MASONIC HOME ROSTER; PERSONS WHO ESCAPED.
ACCOUNTED FOR: [long list of 103 names]
EMPLOYES ACCOUNTED FOR.
Stewart, Ettele. Zaring, Emma.
Fry, Marie. Davis, E. J.
Howard, Julia. Reinert, L. B.
Davis, Emma.
THE MISSING.
Jesse T. Brown, Wichita.
Mrs. Elizabeth Brown, Wichita.
Frank Ferris, Atchison.
Mrs. Amanda Ferris, Atchison.
Gertrude Weigel, diningroom girl, Burden, Kas.
"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 I. 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.
THOSE THOUGHT TO BE DEAD
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 and his wife, age 60 years; Frank Ferris, age 80, of Atchichon Kans and his wife, age 78 years; and Miss Gertrude Weigle, age 22 who was employed in the dining room at the home.
Bodies were found in the basement buried in debris which
was covered by water 18 inches deep. They were burned so badly and others dismembered and some of the firemen who recovered them thought instead of there being four bodies there may be only three. Insurance carried on the building and contents amounts to $90,000.
ONLY WANTED TO SLEEP
Witness Paul Zeilke, a 16-year old boy who was on watch in the basement 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 Zeilke [sic] went to sleep during a watch. He was wakened up by a crackling of flames about 2 o'clock. The boiler room was a seething furnace of flame fed by crude oil. Zeilke was scorched in making his escape.
Excited by the flames, Zeilke 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 interior of the home was tin-
der,' said Fire Chief A. G. Walden. ....
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. ....
18 inches of Water.
It was nearly 10 o'clock when the debris heaped in the basement in eighteen inches of water was cool enough for firemen to dig for bodies. .... Superintendent Burdick was called.
Two Bodies Were Taken Out.
At 11 o'clock rescue work was stopped. 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
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.
....
In all there were 108 residents and employes living at the home. Of these thirty-one were men, twenty-one women, twenty-seven boys and nineteen girls. The ten employes 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, 92 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 ma-
trons 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.
The Masonic Home chapel became administration headquarters this morning. Here Henry Wallenstein, Superintendent Burdick, Frank Harris, John House, Gifford Booth, Harry 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 canvass 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. 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. ....
__________________
SHE LOST HER LIFE FOR WEDDING DRESS
Gertrude Weigle, 20 Years Old, After Aiding in Making Rescues, Died While Recovering a Gown.
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, too?"
This piteous appeal from a cold stricken, 8 year-old boy in the arms of Fireman Harlo McCall, drove firemen back into the third floor death trap when they had believed all of the children saved.
Going on hands and knees, Firemen McCall, Ray Morris, William Offen-
stein, Thomas Sladek, A. M. Williams and Bert Furnas fought their way thru sixty feet of hades. Morris found a partly open closet door. This meant unexplored space and children might be in that black hole.
Huddled in a corner, fumbling blindly among heaps of clothes, the firemen found three more children hiding from the fire. They were brought out and reunited with their fellow wards."
The final story confirms Miss Wegel's fate and sows the seeds of the building now on the site:
LAWRENCE JOURNAL-WORLD, Dec 23, 1916 page 1
TO ERECT NEW HOME
Masonic Board in Session Today Considering New Building
Wichita, Kans., Dec. 23.—The Kansas Masonic Home board in session I here today- decided to begin at once the erection of building to cost $300,000 on the site of the home which was destroyed by fire early Friday morning with the loss of five lives. Aged members of the Kansas Masonic lodge and orphans of members of the lodge reside at the home.
Identification was made today of the body of Gertude Weigel, of Burden Kans., who lost her life in the fire that destroyed the masonic home, She was twenty years old. Miss Weigel, after rescuing a number of children re-entered the building.to get the wedding dress in which she was to be married soon
The other four bodies are burned so badly that-identification is impossible. They were Mr. and Mrs. Frank Ferris of Atchison, and Mr. and Mrs.' Jesse Brown of Wichita." [end]