Karl and Ida: The Fire

In May of 1928, tragedy struck the home of Karl and Ida.

St. Hilaire Spectator

 

Mar 15, 1928 K.T. Dalager & family were visitors Sunday at the E.H. Stephen’s home.

 

CHILDREN MEET DEATH WHEN FARM HOME BURNS

 

May 17, 1928 Trapped in their bedroom on second floor of the home, the two small daughters of Mr. and Mrs. K.T. Dalager, Katherine, age 5 and Adelaide, age 9, perished in a fire which completely destroyed the Dalager farm home five miles southeast of here shortly after midnight last Thursday, May 12th.

 

The parents were aroused about midnight by noise from downstairs and upon investigation found the incubator and wall behind it ablaze. After calling the children, the parents made an attempt to extinguish the blaze that seemingly had not gained much headway by that time. It is believed gas must have generated from the heated incubator lamp as the whole room suddenly burst into flame, driving the parents out and cutting off escape by the stairway for the children. The two boys, Horace and Vincent, managed to break a window and jumped to the ground clad only in their night clothing. Mr. Dalager made a heroic attempt to reach his daughters but was driven back by the flames that completely enveloped the interior of the house by that time.

 

Help was summoned from the Walseth house nearby and a general alarm was sounded on the farm telephone line. Help was soon at hand but too late to be of any assistance in rescuing the children or saving any of the contents of the house that burned to the ground. Position of the remains of the children found after the fire would indicate that neither had awakened and it is likely they smothered before the fire reached them.

 

Rev. M.L. Dahle assisted by Rev. Lerohl of Oklee at the Norwegian Lutheran Church here Saturday afternoon conducted funeral services for the little girls. Internment was made in the cemetery east of the village.

 

The heartfelt sympathy of the community is extended to Mr. and Mrs. Dalager in the sad loss of their little ones and their home under such heartrending circumstances.

 

Pastor Lerohl was from the Glenwood, Minn area and had officiated at Karl and Ida’s wedding. Because Oklee and St. Hilaire are not to far apart, the Lerohls visited with each other quite often.

May 17, 1928 Mr. & Mrs. J.O. Grove of Glenwood, Mrs. K. Knutson of Willmar, relatives of K.T. Dalager, arrived here Friday being called by the holocaust that occurred at the Dalager home Thursday morning. They all returned home Sunday, Mr. Dalager accompanying them to spend a short time with his relatives.

The Glenwood Herald

May 17, 1928

 

Mr. & Mrs. J.O. Grove of Glenwood and Mrs. Knute Knutson of Willmar left here last Thursday evening for Hazel, Minn., called there by Mr. Karl T. Dalager, brother of Mrs. Grove and Mrs. Knutson, on account of the burning the night before of Mr. Dalager’s farm residence where two of his children lost their lives.

 

The fire was noticed in the middle of the night and at that time it had reached such headway that Mr. and Mrs. Dalager and the two elder boys barely exited in their nightclothes. Some of them had to jump out through the windows. It is not known how the fire started except that it is thought that it may have come from an incubator that was running in the house at the time. The two children that lost their lives were: Adelaide nine years old and Kathryn four years old.

 

Funeral services were conducted on Saturday afternoon at St. Hilaire. Relatives from Hallock, Minnesota also attending were Mrs. John Brendal and Hazel Grove.

 

Karl and Ida took this especially hard for if they had cleared the house of people before trying to put out the fire, no one would have lost their lives.

 

At the time of the fire, Gladys Peterson remembered waiting along with her mother for her dad, Gabe, to return. He had gone over to the Dalager place when central had sent out the general call. Horace went to stay with the Gabe Petersons and Karl, Ida & Vincent went to Walseths. As a result of the fire my parents lost all their pictures. They had lost the house and Katherine and Adelaide but also their memories.

Hazel Dann was the teacher at the East-Side school during the 1927-28 school year, the year of that fire. Hazel remembered that Katherine was visiting school the day before the fire. Katherine and Adelaide were having so much fun and they did not want to go home. Hazel described the girls as being “sweet.” When school met again Hazel said she had a “sad group of children.” One of the hardest jobs she had was to clean out Adelaide’s desk.

My parents never talked about the fire, however, the cellar and foundation of the house was always there as I grew up. The pain of the event is evident, also, in the fact that Dad left the farm for a time to live with his sister in Battle Lake, and Mom’s hair turned from black to white in a year’s time.

One of the sweet memories that mother told Shirley in later years was that Katherine and Adelaide had run down to the barn to say “good night” to their dad before they went to bed on the night of the fire.

Karl and Ida: 4-H, the State Fair, and Ida’s driving

Because there was less than two years difference in our age, Shirley and I took part in many of the same activities as we grew up. We had an active 4H club and Luther League. When we were old enough we usually went to the Lake of the Woods Bible Camp. Shirley went several times and I believe I went twice, once when I was in high school

One of the big 4H projects we had was to raise a beef calf. Both Shirley and I did this. This was during World War II and this was to help the war effort. Because it was a special project, there was a special beef competition in the fall. The top prize went on to further competition. The other calves were all sold at a local auction where local merchants bid on the calves. Our calves were sold locally. Shirley’s calf was purchased by the Jung’s Bakery and mine was purchased by Mostue’s Flower Shop.

Shirley was active in the Style Review and also in Demonstration for which she won a trip to the state fair. However, since this would have been a short trip the county agent recommended that she work at the Farm Camp. This way she had to do some grandstand work but she had free food and housing and some free time. In all, she spent 11 days on the fair grounds. When Horace was about 15 or 16, he also won a trip to what was called the Farm Boys camp during state fair time. This was truly an educational experience for him.

When Vincent was in high school, he played in the high school band. The St. Hilaire high school band played at the 1935 Minnesota State Fair. Although Vincent had graduated that spring he was able to take part in this adventure. Therefore, all three of my siblings earned trips to the Minnesota State Fair.

One of the high points of every summer was our annual July 4th trip to visit the Franze cousins in the Battle Lake area. Uncle James lived on the home farm near Battle Lake and most of the other Aunts and Uncles lived near by. There were always many of kids our age and lots of good food, games, swimming. Because of the cows that Dad had, we either had to find someone to do the chores or Dad or Horace had to stay home. I remember on one return trip home we had a billy goat riding on our running board. Another time a small accident occurred on the way home from Battle Lake when mother was driving because Dad was tired and Shirley and I were riding in the back seat. As mother came over the hill on highway 59 just east of Erskin, Minn she was faced by a dead end. Mother did not drive very often and did not know what to do. This was when highway 59 ended at that point. Dad woke up and grabbed the wheel trying to turn to the right. However, we went into the ditch and the car tipped on its side. However, the car was not hurt badly and we were able to drive home from there after getting it back on its wheels