The Osceola times., 1885-08-08
AN JNCENDlARY FOiLeO.


ing. in Which Were FIFTY Sleeping in-
mates, Fails to Connect-Diluted Aico-
hoi Proves Poor Conductor of Fire.
NEW YORK, August 2.-About eight
months ago Frank Sciacca, an Italian
barber, who is also known as Frank Lilly,
moved from Chatham street to 26 Canal
street, where he started a well-furnished
snop with five chairs and four assistants.
He charged but five cents for shave and
ten cents for hair-cutting, and he soon
had plenty of customers. Joseph Cara
bella, a youthful fellow countryman OF
sciacca, got permission to establish
boot. blackng stand in front of the bar
Der shop on condition that he would
sweep out the premises every morning,
aud the key OF the barber-shop door was
entrusted to him When Carrabela went
10 work out his rent this morning, he
saw smoke curling through the cracks In
the door of the shop. He called police
man, who kicked In the door. They
found little pile Of saw-dust shoulder
ing on the floor. 1t was damp from the
alcohol with which 1t had been soaked.
wide strip of muslin which had
also been wet with alcohol connected the
smouldering sawdust with four Of the
chairs. Other strips connected the chairs
with the rack Of light woodwork along
the wall containing the shavns-cups.
Between the chairs lay heaps of shavings.
through which ran the train of alcohol
soaked muslin. The fifth chair, which
was a little distance from the others,
was also connected with the sawdust by
a similar train, which ran across piles of
paper in the wash-basins. On each chair
was an alcohoi-soaked towel, and other
towels similarly soaked hung upon a
baby's chair and an ordinary cane-boltom
| chair in another part of the shop. Halt
| open drawers filed with shayings and
waste paper and everything In the shop
| that would burn were connected with
the smoudering saw-dust by >alco-
| hol-soaked muslin. An empty
/ gallon demiiohn and several
| big bottles that had held the alcohol
were scattered about the shop. EVIDENT
/ ly the alcohol had been diluted with wa
| ter, which had dampened the muslin and
| sawdust so that in place OF burning II
| had only smouldered. There was a full
| bottle Of kerosene near the empty bot
ties. What little fire there was in the
| sawdust was easily trodden ont, and
| Chief Kehoe of the Tenth battalion ex-
amined the cellar under the barber shop
| which is occupied by Samuel Cohen, a
soda-water maker. lie broke open the
door without difficulty and found even
more dangerous preparations for burn
ing the premises than existed In the bar
Der shop. Big wooden boxes, which
were excellent kindling, half filed
the room. A hole was cut In
the gas pipe near the gas meter,
from which the gas was rushing.
| From a hole in the floor Of the barber
shop board on which was a train of
fash powder, the kind used in making
fireworks, cxi ended to the gas meter.
Nearly two pounds of powder was In the
train and there was a big double handful
under the meter The plan Of the incen.
diary was evidently to lead the fire which
he had started In the shop above to the
meter by means of the train OF powder
in order to cause an explosion which
would destroy all evidence OF his crime.
The police believe that Scacca Is the in =
! Ceuuldfy. lie IL hNONu 10 nave bttll III
the shop late on Friday night, and, con-
trary to his custom, shut up the premises
himself in place OF letting Carrebella do
it. He went away about ten O'Clock, but
is supposed to have returned Just before
daylight TO lay the match 10 the train
which he is thought TO have spent the
previous evening in laying.
| Although convinced that Sclacca Is the
sole inccndiary and that he got into the
soda water factory by breaking in
the police put Mr.. Cohen and Solomon
Faymann, his assistants, under arrest
aud took them TO the Madison Street
Station. Lawyer Adolph Cohen went to
the station-housc and endcayored to see
them, but Captain Heddon would not
permit him TO and refused TO give hiT
any satisfaction whatever; the lawyer
subsequently obtained a writ of habeas
corpus from judge Cullen and had the
two prisoners brought before the court
in the afternoon No reason being given
for holding Them, Judge Cullen imme
datey ordered their discharge.
Had the attempt at arson been success
ful large loss OF life must have resulted
The building is a Gvc-story tenemen
Nearly fftY persons sleep In 1t. llaC
the ncendiary scheme succeeded the eS
plosion would have shattered the stairway
and those in the upper stories must have
pershed