As told by: Edward E. Kahut

“There was a woodbox along the kitchen stove. Matches were kept on the warmer. I was almost 3 years old. I would crawl up there and get those matches, so the adults moved them. But one day i stood on the woodbox and saw one match which had fallen down in the crack between two pieces of metal. I worked and worked and dug it out with my little fingers.

“I went out to the barn with the match in hand. I was thinking about how the other kids took matches, stood them on the striker and flicked them. They would light and spin like fireworks. I got down to the barn thinking to see if they hay would burn. I stuck the match on the wood like I saw my brothers do. I put it on the hay right there. Then I saw the hay would burn. I blew on it to put it out but I saw that it was over my head. So I got scared and ran to the house and hid under the bed. I stayed under there for a long time.

“The barn was burning. They didn’t know where I was. They were scared I was in the barn. I don’t remember if I came out or if they found me under there. They didn’t know I did it. They asked me and I shook my head back and forth for weeks.

News article from March 30, 1933

Three Horses Burn to Death

Woodburn — A large barn on the Joe Kahut farm two miles southeast of Woodburn was completely destroyed by fire Saturday which was thought to have started from defective wiring. Three horses were burned to death and a fourth was badly burned but may recover. 

Tony Kahut, 14, bravely entered the burning structure and led a valuable bull to safety. Two silos, one full and the other about half full of silage, a large amount of hay and other feed, a number of farm implements and several sets of harness were also destroyed. The Woodburn fire department with the chemical truck was able to save the house and other adjoining buildings. The fire broke out about 2:30 o’clock in the afternoon shortly after Kahut left for town and there was no one at home but Mrs. Kahut and six children of which Tony was the eldest. 

The barn was built about 20 years ago and was 60×60 feet in size. Loose hay in large quantities in the lower part of the barn caused the blaze to burn rapidly, and it was impossible to save anything from the burning building. The loss is estimated at $2500, partially covered by insurance. 

Sixty nine years later, the truth comes out:

One day my dad and I were on a walk together. He asked me if I did it and I told him the truth. Maybe it was six months later but it seemed like years. It was too late to give me a spanking.”