Bowers, Clarence

Half asleep and clad only in his underwear, Clarence Bowers, 33 years old, jumped from a window of the second story of the Bass rooming house, 400 South Connell avenue, Picher Oklahoma, at 1:30 o'clock this morning and was seriously injured. Other occupants sounded a fire alarm with the discovery of fire in one of the rooms of the establishment. In his leap of 14 feet, Bowers struck against the fender of a motor car parked at the side of the building, receiving internal injuries and severe bruises about the body. A brother of the injured man, Van Bowers, of Tulsa, was notified of the mishap today with a request that he come to his brother's bedside as soon as possible. Bowers stated to friends after the fire that he only vaguely remembered jumping from the window and was not fully conscious of what had taken place until shortly after he fell to the ground. He was said to have run from his room into a room across the hall and to have jumped from the window of this room. Upon examination, the fire was found to be a burning mattress, which was presumed to have caught fire from a lighted cigarette. The blaze was extinguished with only a slight damage being caused. The fire department was summoned as a precautionary measure but their services were not required. About three hours after this fire, Picher firemen were called to the 600 block on West Second Street where flames threatened destruction of a one-room building occupied by the Cottage Beauty shop, operated by Mrs. Fannie Watson. The upper part of the structure was damaged with approximately $100 loss. Slight damage was caused to adjoining residences. The blaze was believed to have originated form a short circuit of electric wiring. The flames were quickly extinguished by the fire department.