Sets Fire to her Clothing While Mentally Unbalanced Last Tuesday Evening.
Last Tuesday evening, March 30, 1909, about 6 o'clock Mrs. Matthew Hinrichs, who has been mentally unbalanced for several months, held a lighted match to her clothing, which was soon a mass of flames. She ran out of the house screaming, which attracted the attention of the neighbors, but before they could reach her and extinguish the flames her clothing had been entirely burned off, excepting the lower part of her stockings.

As soon as the neighbors reached her they wrapped her in quilts and carried her to her bed, where everything possible was done to alleviate her suffering until death mercifully relieved her agony at 10 o'clock p.m., Mrs. Hinrichs has been a sufferer for some months and last fall was taken to the hospital at Council Bluffs and returned home much better. While her condition has been thoroughly understood by her relatives and friends it was not thought that she was dangerous. According to her neighbors she has had a mania for lighting matches and it was necessary to conceal them from her.

Mrs. Knutsen, who has been taking care of Mrs. Hinrichs during the absence of her husband, Matthew Hinrichs, who has been in Kansas doing carpenter work, says that on Tuesday evening she had stepped out of the room and when she returned the unfortunate woman was laughingly holding a lighted match to her apron. Mrs. Knutsen rushed to her and tried to extinguish the flames and was quite severely burned on the arm, but Mrs. Hinrichs, her clothing now a mass of flames, eluded her and rushed out of the house where her screams attracted the neighbors. Emil Albert, who resides across the street from her, was the first to reach her, and was just in time to extinguish the fire which had started to burn her hair, her clothing being entirely burned off.

As soon as the accident occurred a telegram was sent to Mr. Hinrichs in Kansas and he arrived home last night. A telephone message was also sent to Mrs. Charles Wiese, of Westside, a sister to Mrs. Hinrichs, who drove to Manning at once but did not arrive in time to see her sister alive.

The funeral was held from the house this afternoon at 2 o'clock, under the auspices of the M.W.A., which order Mr. Hinrichs is a member of, and the remains were laid to rest in the cemetery south of town. Many beautiful wreaths and flowers wire in evidence as tokens of the love and esteem in which the deceased was held.

The husband and relatives of the deceased have the sympathy of the entire community in their sad affliction.

Note: there is a Bertha Henricks, May 30, 1890 - March 30, 1909, buried in the Manning Cemetery, Section A, row 14, south to north. She is buried next to her son Walter H. Henrichs, who died December 23, 1890, listed as son of M & B Heinrichs.

The city records show Bertha Heinricks and Walter H. Heinricks.

No Matt or Matthew Hinrichs or variation of last name was found in either set of records.

Note all of the spelling variations for the same 2 people.
Based on the death date, Bertha Henricks/Heinricks is probably the same person as Mrs. Hinrichs in this obituary.