The Dalles daily chronicle. [volume] (The Dalles, Or.) 1890-1948, 1891-09-21
Fire Committees Report,


City:
We, your committee appointed to in
vestigate the origin of the several dis
tressing fires which have recently oc-
Cured in our city and to inquire into the
many reports of attempted fires, which
have been in circulation since the fires,
beg leave to report:
We have made inquiries as to five re-
ported fires and two alleged attempts to
set fires and find that the report that
three separate fires have been set at the
Catholic church is wholly without foun-
dation; no attempts have been made, so
far as we can learn, to burn the Catholic
church or any building connected there
with. The report that the house occu-
pied by j. NJ. Smith had been set on
fire is wholly untrue. We were informed
that fire had been set and extinguished
under the China wash house just west of
the Baldwin restaurant. Upon investi-
cation we found that this report arose
out of the attempt of some person who
desired to rob the China house to induce
the occupants of the building and that
the person who warned them of the fire
was, as they believe, endeavoring to get
them out in order to pilfer. The report |
that combustible materials saturated |
with oil had been placed in a shed ad- |
joining the premises of M. T. Nolan,
proved to be untrue. A small quantity |
of bark-chips and splinters with a small |
piece of cotton cloth was found piled on !
a OraiOaac IN, s,,oI, q cbaJ oo~o.-: l. |
be the work of children. The was no Oil |
about it and we do not believe they were
the materials of an incendiary. The re-
port that the barn on the premises |
formerly occupied by Mr.. Ben Snipes
had been saturated with oil was without
any foundation; upon examination of
the premises we found no evidences of
oil there.
We have carefully inquired into the
origin of all the four recent fires. We
lind that the fire of September I'd started
either in the basement of F. w. L.
Sk1bbe's house or under the house of ].
IL. Larsen. There had been 10 fires in
either OF these houses for some weeks,
and none in the Skibbe house since
spring. The foundation of the Larsen
house was so enclosed as to prevent as
cess under the house. The basement to
the Skibbe house was open and clear of
all easily combustible materials; the
persons who discovered the fire and Z
were first'in the Skibbe house believe
that the fire originated in the basement i
of that house but detected no evidence
OF incendiary work other than that there :
was fire. No odor of burning oil was
detected in the smoke. The fire occurred
just at time when many persons were !
most likely to be about the building and ,
there is nothing that indicates that this ,
fire was the work of an incendiary. We
are unable to ascertain what caused it,
unless it was from matches dropped
through carelessness or carried bv rats S
or mice. So far as we can learn there !
were no attempts made on the I'd to set
hre, and believe that all the fires which
on that day came from the one q
IRE in the Skfbbe or Larsen house. ,
The fire which occurred on the 9TH .
inst. at the fair grounds, commenced in
the first or second stable from the east
side. These two stables were unoccupied
and were not locked. They contained
more or less of straw and dry manure
and when the fire started it burned
slowly, there being about five minutes ]
from the time it was first seen before it
was of sufficient extent to attract par
ticular attention, and even then it was
not supposed that the stables were on ]
fire. No strangers or suspicious persons
were seen about the building during the
day or evening and men who were con-
nected with the stables were about
there till a very short time before the
fire. In our judgment the fire originated
from cigar or cigarette stub dropped
by some one about the stables during
the day or evening.
We find that the fire in Mr.. J. T. Pc
ters' stable commenced in the basement
OF the stable; the main part of the barn
was used as store-house for boxing ma
terials and small amount of hay, and
was kept securely locked; no one had
been in this portion of the bnilding after
three O'Clock of the day of the fire, and
the persons who were last known to have
been there had no fire with them. The
basement, which extended under only
the north part of the barn, had been
used as stable and contained more or
less straw and dry manure and consid-
cradle amount of sawdust For the past
few months it had not been locked and
was accessible to anyone desiring to en-
ter. The portion of the town where it
is situated, we find, is rendezvous for
tramps and Indians, and the testimony |