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Show NARROW ESCAPE PROM DEATH. Salt Lake Tribune. Charles Wilkinson, an old and highly respected resident of Cedar City, had an extremely narrow escape from death yesterday, as the result of asphyxia, caused by the inhalation of gas. Mr. Wilkinson arrived in Salt Lake from Cedar City on Friday last, accompanied ac-companied by his son-in-law and daughter, Mr. and Mrs. F. A. Cameron, Cam-eron, and the party engaged rooms at the Walker house. Mr. Wilkinson retired re-tired as usual Saturday night, after making arrangements to attend church yesterday. He failed to appear during' the forenoon, but nothing was thought of it, his relatives supposing he had gone to church alone. About noon, however, as he was still missing, an attempt was made to enter en-ter his room by means of a pass key. The door was found to be bolted on the inside. One of the attaches of the hotel then got up to look through the transom, and his nostrils were at once assailed by a strong smell of gas, and at the same time he saw Mr. Wilkinson lying upon tbe bed. The door was immediately im-mediately broken open and Drs. Par-melee Par-melee and Hanchett were summoned. The gas burner was found wide open, and the fact that the transom was left partly open was undoubtedly the means of saving the man's life. The two physicians at once began the task of reviving the unconscious man and soon had him out of clanger. Those intimately associated with the affair claim that it is not a case of the rural visitor being unfamiliar with the modus operandi of the deadly gas jet. To blow out the gas in the room it would have been necessary for Mr. Wilkinson to have stood upon a chair. The clerk of the hotel says that he explained ex-plained the workings of the apparatus to Mr. Wilkinson when he engaged the room Friday night,. and cautioned him about blowing the flame out. The fact that Mr. Wilkinson passed the first night in safety would seem to corroborate corrobo-rate this. The daughter, Mrs. Cameron, says that her father is accustomed when blowing out the kerosene light at home, to turn the wick down extinguish extin-guish the flame and then turn the wick up so that it would be ready for lighting light-ing again. Her theory is that her father turned the gas out and then, absent-mindedly, absent-mindedly, turned the valve back again according to his habit. Mr. Wilkinson is about ." years old. His son, who is editor of the Record at Cedar City, has been telegraphed for and will arrive as soon as possible to assume the care of his father. F. A. Cameron, the son-in-law. is a machinist ma-chinist in the employ of the Southern Pacific in Nevada, and with his wife was returning home from a visit, to Cedar City. Mr. Wilk:non accompanied accompan-ied them to Salt Lake and intended to return to Cedar City today. |