New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-06-22
TEN INCENDIARY FIRES.
HAS THE MISCREANT BEEN CAUGHT?
FLAMES STARTED WHILE TIE HOUSE WAS BE
,xc w,rcurn NO t,orp PEOPLE

FLAMES STARTED WHILE TIE HOUSE WAS be
ING WATCHED By FOUR rEOPLE
Inmates Of the two tall tenement houses Nos.
1863 and los MottSt. have been unable TO sleep
soundly OF late on account Of dread OF fire. There
have teen ten fires In the houses Snce March e'and
all Of them are believed to have been OF nccnd"ry
origin. The two latest fires we're discovered on
Monday night. They had been hnclcd at Il time when
a hired watchman, the hCusekccpcr, a fireman cnd a
policeman on guard, yet the mi'cT7ant was not
caught In the act. Andrew Hon. bcer-selcr at
No. rs Park Row. owns the houses. The housekeoVcr
Is Mrs Karstadi who lives the second floor OF 80
lG3. There rooms for thi:tytwo hnincs IN DOM
houses, and every room Is occuPed
The first inccndiary fire WIS discovered In one Of
the woodhou,cs in No. 1853 on the night OF March
3. X did not cause Euch olmagc but IL served
to alarm the occupants Of the house and cause talk
In the n.igItorhood. Ton nights after"ard IRE III
the cellar Of the house drove the families OUT o'
their rooms and increased the excitement. During
two months following there were five lnceAo'ary nrs
in the cellars on in the 0uh1iscs IN the yards
Zach lire wa started In the night tme ana kerosene
was used to kindc the flames. No serious loss OF
property caused by either fire, but tine a"rh
among the tenants increased and some OF them tah.d
OF moving away The Fire Marshal and the pol ce
made Investigations and s;dd that the fires had 0eeh
started by malicious boys. probably In sport, IN
Three boys who lived In the house were suspected
and were taken 10 Fire Headquarters, in East hXty-
sey,nth-,t TO be examined By the Fire MARSHAL
Tncy strennously denied all guilty knowledge OF the
nrc. and they let 60. Among the boys was
James O'Bnen, aged sixteen, who lives VIII Ms
IL, rents on the third floor Of No. 163.
The eighth rp was started In the cellar OF the house
ON tie night Of June and Was put ont before IL
caused any damage. Mr.. Horn, the owner, hired a
atr,1t no O
night in order TO make that outside incendlares
d,d an, pe, In through the scutcs Mrs. Karlsi ait
and her daughter took turns watching In the Railways
a, night A policeman kept eye ON the front doors
OF the houscs after dark A week ago some paper
soaked with kerosene was fourd IN one ot tne ouN
houses but there no fire.
Half an hour before midnight Monday night,
when n policeman and fireman we're taking III iIVnt
cf the house, and the private Waterman was Oh Tue
roof Mrs Karstak detected the iami!iar oior Vi
smoke and kerosene In the cellar and she ran down
stairs With a pail Of water which she had handy she
met Jimmie" o'Bricn IN the lower hallway. INC
door leading to the cellar open, although 1t had
leen locked by Mrs. karlsiad'> dauehter only zen
minutes before and the cellar stairs was DiaAhg
bag which had been soaked IN Kerosene MIS- harf
,,adt extinellshed the flames In minute Inc pon'e'
man and fireman, who heard her cutlery ran through
the hallway and found flames In one Of the on HOUSES
in the ward They gnished che blaze there WIFI
an, roubls There wa, no sleep for the excited occu
pants o. the house un II morning. Jimmie obnch
nas questioned Ito said h. had not been In the
cellar or outhouse but had gone OF the front door
with a pail OF GARBAGE which bis mother had tod MIN
IN empty In the street. Mrs o'Brien defended Der
SON and snd he had not been out OF her rooms hve
minutes when the FIRE discovered. Tho boy WIS
sas,sa So"t to-day and Mrs Kalisadt viii be
there also 10 testify.