From the Lawrence Daily World for Nov. 2, 1910:

“A gas explosion which tore out the entire rear end of the house and injured Homer Bales occurred last evening at 7:30. Bales, who was to have been married tomorrow, went to 1133 Delaware last night after working hours to connect the stove in his first home. He was accompanied by Harry Allen, who was also seriously burned about the face. When the pair reached the house, they entered by a front door, and with Bales leading, walked towards the kitchen. Bales was carrying a lighted match, and the instant the kitchen door was opened, a terrific explosion occurred, which lifted the kitchen fifteen feet away from the rest of the house. Bales was severely burned about the hands and face. He was to have been married tomorrow to Miss Ruby Reed of High Prairie, but the accident has occasioned a postponement in the wedding plans. Miss Reed came to Lawrence in an automobile this morning, and is with Bales today.”

“E. Hackley, a workman on the new Innes building on Massachusetts, narrowly escaped being impaled on a spiked stake in a twelve foot fall this morning. Hackley was working around the concrete foundations of the new business block when he lost his footing and fell to the bottom of the excavation. He fell squarely between two stakes which were firmly implanted in the earth and which were only a short distance apart.”