The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1882-01-25
INSANE INcENDIARY.
The County Jail Destroyed
by Fire.
Origin of the Confiagration,-
the Work of a Prisoner.
The Loss Estimated at
$40, 900.

This morning at 5 o'clock the county
Jail building was discovered to be on fire..
as dense smoke was seen issuing from
the cornice of the prison. The discovery
was first made by Officer Bresnaham, who
had occasion to pass the building at that
hour on his way to the police headquart-
ers at the Armory. The officer, in passing
down Thirteenth street to the Wide-awake
engine house, noticed that the fire appear
ed to be located near the roof Of the prison,
in the northeast corner of the structure.
The inmates were apparently asleep, as not
a sound was heard, save the noise by the
consuming fire. The alarm was soon sound
ed, and in very few moments the Wide
awake hose and the remaining companies
of the Rock Island fire department were on
the ground, with five different streams
playing on the burning building. Great
difficulty was experienced in reaching the
flames, as the fire was located IN the wood
work of the roof, which was covered on
the exterior by galvanized sheeting, and
had a tin coating ON the interior The
firemen fought bravely and well, butitwas
not until late hour of the merning that
the flames were under perfect control.
THE JAIL
forms an ell to the county building, which
is jointly occupied as residence by the
Sheriff and his family, and also contains
the offices of the County Clerk and Circuit
Clerk, with all the records of their respec
tive courts for the county of Rock Island.
The Jail is situated in the rear of the
Sheriffs dwelling, and communicates di
rectly with the residence of that official.
The building is of stone, and has roof
composed of tin, wood and galvanized
iron. The structure is quite aged. and is
not particularly adapted to the purposes
for which it is used. The jail is especially
inadequate to the requirements of prison,
as the walls were not constituted on an i'm
proved plan, but their weakness had en-
abled prisoners in the past to effect their
escape,
The sheriff Frank Ankrum and the turn
key John Bruner were first apprised of
the existence of a fire in the rear of the
Jail by police officer who rang the door
bell to the residence and shouted ''fire."
The sheriff with the turnkey fastened to
the interior of the jail, where they found
the prisoners locked up in their cells as
they had left them on retiring Tuesday
night. The room in which the cells are To-
Gated was filed with smoke and it was
with difficulty that they made their way
about the premises. Some of the prison
ers were awake, and were calling Justify
for help as they feared that they might be
suffcated Eby the smoke before they could
be released from their cells. Other prison
ers were sound asleep and the officers were
obliged to enter their apartments and shake |
them before they could be aroused. Sher-
III Ankrum who is regarded as one of the |
most cool headed men in this county dur |
ing any excitement was as deliberate and |
free from excitement as could be desired. I
Hebrought the prisoners of whom there
are fourteen in the jail, out of their cells,
and as they emerged into the corridor. he
shackled them In pairs. When this was
~ known as the womens department,
but occupied by j. j. Schmidt, who was
in prison for contempt eof court. Here
evidences of how the fire originated were
discovered, and leads to the inevitable
conclusion that it was the work of enc of
the prisoners.
Schmidt was brought down stairs and
having been hand-cuffed, he and the re-
maing prisoners were conveyed, under the
charge of the Sheriff, his deputies, and1
Police Officers Brennan, Bresnaham and
Rugh, to the city Armory, where they
were locked up in the tramp room.
NO EXCITEMENT.
The removal of the prisoners was &C
complished in such business-like manner
that no unusual excitement was manifested,
either by the prisoners themselves or the
crowd of spectators that had been attract
ed by the alarm of fire. No attempt was
made to escape and the transfer was sue
cessfully carried out.
The prisoners were left in charge of
some deputies, and the Sheriff returned to
the building to save his own household
goods and such county property as was
thought necessary to remove to place of
safety.
The place was soon deluged with water,
but for some reason the fire was not ex- |
t1nguished. The loss entailed by water
equal that caused by the fire itself.
ORIGIN.
John Jacob Schmidt has been in Jail
about two weeks. He was originally ar
rested at Milan on charge of drawing a {
revolver upon one of the residents of that ,
place. During his trial before justice of I.
peace at that place he became very abu-
sive and was committed to jail for con {
tempt of court, under a certain amount of I
bail, which he has so far failed to produce.
He is either insane or playing the crank
dodge, and while confined in the Jail with
the remaining prisoners, he proved himself I
such nuisance that it was found necessa- I
~ to remove him to an apartment on the !
second floor, separated from the rest of !,
the Jail. This is the room commonly
known as the debtor or woman's depart I
ment. It is located in the northwestern
part Of the building and is separated from :
the rest of the jail by board partition.
When the sheriff visited this room to re-
lieve Schmidt, he found that the prisoners I
bed was on the floor and was nearly con- {
sumed. The flames were communicated
to the partition wall, and had by this means /,
reached the roof where it was in q meas
ure confined by the composite nature of 4
that covering The theory to account for
the fire is that Schmidt ignited the straw {
in his mattress by meaes of the gas which
was burning in his room during the even
ing, and that having gained good head
way, the flames were communicated to the
board partition, and thence. reached the $
roof. h
Schmidt denied knowing anything about :
the origin of the fire, but mildly limited
that it might have caught from his pipe
which ne sometimes threw upon the bed /
after ylsintr If /;