Daily globe., 1883-10-30

! glass of q broken lamp;{t lOObeO as tnougn
| it caught fire III front; think there were
two counters; fixtures were only charred;
there was water on the floor couldn't say
how deep; I wore low shoes, and didn't
get my feet wet; saw fireman pick up
some cloth from back of the counter There
| is a stable in the rear, in which
horses were kept; G. W. Anderson kept
groceries in the store; Sdon't know who
used the stable. The cloth was found IN
the left hand side about fifteen or
eighteen feet from front; the batting was
| found on the right side about ten feet
from front The batting smelled strong
| of kerosene.
C, W. HILDEBRAND.
Am assistant chief of the fire depart
ment; noticed front door open when
arrived at the fire and table partly out;
stream was being thrown in from the
rear door, ordered it taken out as it was
| doing more hurt than good. There was
strong smell of oil; some one said there
| was a barrel of oil in the store; l spoke to
/ the chief; said there was lots of oil, and
thought it WAS 6 grocery store; found no
lamp. Defendant said he dropped q
lamp about five or six feet from the front;
found layers of cotton batting; opened
ore and in the centre found it had been
saturated with kerosene oil; had to wash
my hands to remove the oil; one of the
pipemen picked up bolt of cloth half
way from the front; found another piece
of batting, also saturated. The defendant
was fully dressed but without hat. Did
not ask where the lamp was found; found
81
were no dressed goods; had there been We
should have found them. The patterns
were burned in the centre and on the
edges.
OFFICER ZIRKLEBACH
was on the market beat at time of fire;
had conversation with prisoner next day;
told him ne was charged with a serious
crime, and he had better tell the truth.
The prisoner said ne had lamp and drop
ped it; said there were goods which were
all burned up.
ANTHONY FRANCIS
was at the fire before O'Clock; am captain
of engine No. l; the fire was about 250 feet
away; the flames burst through front door
and window when 1 first saw it; reached
fire in thirty-fve seconds; could smell
kerosene; the fire was put out in six or
eight minutes; examined the store; the
prisoner said he dropped lamp at front
door; found no pieces Of lamp glass; ex-
amined some cloth found; it was saturated
with kerosene; the prisoner showed me
where he dropped the lamp; it
was about five feet from
the door on the right hand side; there
were no goods on the shelves; prisoner
said he was in bed; thought he heard
burglars and got up to see; he SAID there
were lots of goods, but could not find
them; he said they must have been burned
up, but the insurance was $1,000.
Cross -examined--The building is not in
the same condition as on the night Of the
fire; looked for lamps for three-quarters
of an hour; and also q part Of the fore
noon the next day. There is a step as
you go into the building.
Jacob Stoltz was sworn Gs to the own
ership of the building and the land.
The prosecution here rested and counsel
for defense
CALLED THE PRISONER,
Frederick Bulov, who was sworn; 1
was born in Germany; am G
tailor by trade: learned the business
in Wisconsin and have worked at it eigh
teen years; am married; have wife AID
four children, aged from four to seven;
my wife lives in Minneapolis with her
mother; worked for Lewis Gross two years; i;
came To st. Paul April Is last; I worked
here for the same man; in shop on corner
of st. Peter and Ninth streets; three other
men work for Gross, one in the shop, and
two at home; am paid $15 per week the
year round; was foreman, and had
charge of the business; boarded on st.
Peter street; there was stable at rear of
shop in which horses were kept; the back
room of the shop was used for work
room; there were two large tables and a
small one in that room and three sewing
machines; one belonged to Gross, and the
other two to other parties, who did their
work there; I was doing good business;
had about $500 IN orders
this was the best season for
tailors; quit work at o'clock in the
evening, took a walk down town; weat to
bed about 8; slept in the back room on
mattrass and blanket on table; had slept
there since April; there were several rolls
of goods on the counter on the left side of
store; all round the room cloths were
hanging, from top shelf down to floor, to
show goods, and to thus make a showing
of large stock; there was goods in front
windows also; bolts of cloth lay on the
counter; couldn't say how many; had a
bale of batting; it lay on the counter on
the left side of store; the floor was very
dirty, from groceries having been kept
| there; had no curtains; there was glass
front; also an awning; in case there was
light in the store it could be seen from the
outside; went to sleep and woke
lup about midnight; un-
| dressed, all except shirt, drawers and
stockings. There were three bracket
lamps, ,one on each side Of door in brackets,
| and one 1 used as hand-lamp; I did no
night work; the lamps were Lot lighted;
when I went in to go to bed I lighted a
lamp, and carried it to the front part of
the store, put it on the counter, blew it
| out, then went back and undressed and
went to bed. The table on which I slept
| stood across the back room; 1
woke up about midnight; heard a
noise in back part of building; dressed
partly, went into the store ard lit the
lamp. Saw nothing, went back ana soon
again heard the same noise. Was
frightened and so excited 1 dropped the
lamp, I hoItered fire and look soma