The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1891-05-06
TOO MUCH INSURANCE.
The Queer Story Of a HObOken Fire
AT Best a Case Of Fraud.

On the night Of April 30 flames were dis
covered in the big brick tenement house
No. &c First street, Hoboken. The story
Of the fire. and the narrow escape Of the
tenenfs was told in The JEEsEY CITY
NKws at the time. The day after the IRE
Colonel Stevens, who IS president OF the
Hoboken Land and Improvement Com
panv, which owned the building. told the
police that he believed the FIRE was of in
cendiary origin. and Detective Sergeant
Rathjen and policeman julius Nelson
Last night Rathjen arrested William
Redick In whose apartments the IRE
started Redick is charged with arson,
aud he will have TO explain a great many
suspicious circumstances before he Will
be released
Redick hired apartments on the
third floor OF the building about five
months sgo. Besides his wife and two
children, his mother-iu-law aud sister-in-
law lived with him He bought furniture
on the installment plan and had it insured
in the Workingmen's Insurance Com
pany OF New York for $500 The neigh
bors saw the family seemed to be sorelY IN
need Of money.
VERY HOPEFUL
On February IL, Redick borrowed s..
and secured premium Of s. 900 from the
Germania Insurance Company. His wife
is reported as having said at that time:-
William. why do you borrow IS for in
surance policies when we have no money
TO buy bread"
William is said to haye replied.
st is n good investment. Wait until
after May 1 and we viii have plenty Of
money"
As the first of May approached and the
Redick family was IN arrears for rent they
were served with a disDossess notice.
On the-night Of the fire, April 30, Red
ick's wife and mother-In-law went TO
New YORK. They have not accounted
satisfactorily for this visit. At half past
seven O'Clock, Redick his sister
in-iaw and his children went TO
the apartments of Mrs. Petersen
on the top floor. The Petersen
family were rather surprised at the visit {,
but treated their visitors cordially. Re
dick appeared very nervous. and the
Petersens say he ran down stairs to his
apartments four or five times. Each
time be came up he was very excited
Finally about ten minutes to nine O'Clock
shortly after Redick came upstairs from
one Of these visits, the fire broke out.
CONTRADICTORY.
Redick says he went 10 the apartments
OF the Peterson family 10 play a game Of
piDochle as had been his custom with Mr..
Peterson. Mr.. Peterson says that he
never played a game OF Diuochle with
Red.ck and that there were no cards
10 the house. Redick. says he was look
ing for hIs baby's stockings when ne
went down TO his apartments. He said
that he left the lamp on a washstand In
the bedroom the last visit he made. The
wash stand Is where the fire started.
II the police do not succeed in con-
victing Redick of arson. they viii con-
vict him OF attempting to defraud the
insurance companies. Redick made an
inventory OF his loss, and
fixed it as S2e29.4O. Among
the items were eighteen dresses.
valued at 500. fifteen pairs of shoes
valued at SIS, ten hats $50. thirty pairs
of stockings, SIS, and various luxu-
ries which seemed out Of place in
ssst.s ss.ss,ss5- OF "a poor mao.
The WoFkingman's Insurance COMPANY
had check drawn for s779.50 to pay
Redick, and the Germania Insurance
Company were willing 10 pay him $1,000.
The police visited the cOmDanies
and payment was stopped. Redick
now admits that he grossly exaggerated
his loss.
This morning he was taken to the
County JAIL