FLAMES TAKE
LIVES SHORTLY
AFTER ARREST
FOR DRINKING

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Locked In Single Cell,
Victims Die Without Chance.
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FIRE'S ORIGIN UNKNOWN
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Jail Already Mass of
Flames When Alarm Turned In;
Investigation Planned.
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Special to The Observer.
MAIDEN, Feb. 9. ---
Scarcely two hours after they had been arrested for drunkenness, three young Catawba county men perished tonight in a fire that suddenly transformed Maiden's dingy jail quarters into a blazing inferno.

The dead men, all residents of the Bandis Crossroads section four miles east of here, are:

Forrest Crouse, about 25,
Henry Abernethy, about 21,
Wilson Hewitt, about 21.

Locked in a single cell, and left unguarded, the men were dead, burned beyond recognition, when rescuers forced their way into the cell. The flames already had reduced the jail, situated in the rear of Maiden's city hall, to a shambles. It was 9:30 p.m. when the alarm went in. In all probability, the prisoners were dead by that time.

According to Chief of Police W.L. Strutt, the three men, although living in the same neighborhood, came to town separately and became disorderly. Peculiarly enough, each was arrested separately although at approximately the same time. Chief Strutt arrested two of the men himself and the night officer, H.S. Reeds, arrested the other.

The men were locked in one cell and were the jail's only occupants. A woolen blanket, two chairs and a steel cot constituted the cell's only furnishings. How these became ignighted, or whether the fire originated elsewhere, local officals had not determined late tonight.

Pending a further investigation, a formal inquest has not been set.

Abernethy, Hewitt, and Crouse died without a chance to save themselves. Officers believe it is possible they had fallen asleep and were overcome by the flames or smoke before they knew what was happening. Persons in the vicinity of the city hall just before the fire was discovered heard no outcry from the rear.

Abernethy was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Bud Abernethy. Wilson Hewitt was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Washburn Hewitt, while Forrest Crouse was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Mack Crouse. Officers described the victims' fathers as well-known...
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Unknown if this was the Charlotte Observer or the Observer News Enterprise.