Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1892-01-18
IT LOOKS QUEER.
PECULIAR STATE OF AFFAIRS IN A BUSINESS
HOUSE, LAST NIGHT.
Occupants Of the Building Up-Stairs Smell Gas
Firemsn Sent for, and ALI the Burners
Found Turned on Save One Which
Was Lighted.

A boarding house upstairs, with a
dozen or fifteen people sleeping.
Downstairs, death trap set, sure to
result in explosion aud fire, unless acct
dentally discovered.
This was the state Of affairs at No.
1904 Main street, last night. There
ought to be prompt explanation-lack-
ing at this writing.
That there was not big gas explo-
sion, fire, and loss Of life, as well as
grave damage to property, is not the
fault of the wretch who had the devilish
ambition to burn the building.
That this was the deliberate purpose
of some one, seems warranted by
the state of affairs when the iremen ar
rived on the scene.
About quarter after 10 o'clock last
night the residents at Mrs. Yccke's
boarding house, upstairs over Jacob IL
Harburger'S dry goods store, No. 1904
Main street, became aware that there
was bad smell Of gas about the prem
Uses, and having had some previous ex-
perience in that line, they sent for the
fremen at the Chemical engine house,
on Eleventh street. The firemen re-
sponded, and after an examination, as
certained that the gas came from the
store room on the first floor. Not being
able to force an entrance without
breaking window, Mr.. ShaughnesseY,
of the chemical, sent for Chief Healy.
The Chief responded, and this is what
he found, as he related it to a reporter
for the REGISTER last night:
"When | got there we tried to open
the door, but could not, but before
breaking it open, l concluded to try
the transom. We found it open, and |
got Shaughnessey upon my shoulders
and he got In over the tranSom. He
found the store full Of gas, and being
afraid to strike light, he began an
examination by the light coming
through the windows and that coming
from a gas tip which was dimly burn
ing, at some distance from the door. l
directed him to open the door, and he
succeeded in doing so, and then we
went over the premises. We found
that with the exception OF the gas jet
which was burning, every jet in
| the store, including those in the show
windows, had been turned on, and that
| the gas was escaping with full force. In
addition, one Of the chandeliers in the
store room had been unscrewed from
the ceiling, except about half a turn,
and the slightest jar or conclusion
would have knocked it down, and al
| lowed the full force of the gas from a
half-inch pipe to escape into the room.
l gave the chandelier four turns, and
| then held a match up to the ceiling,
where the gas was still escaping so
| strong il caught fire. | then screwed
the pipe clear up. We had turned of
all the jets, and the open doors had i'm
proved the atmosphere. If the discOv-
| cry had not not been made when IL was
! there would very soon have been
en- explosion from the gas jet which
was left burning little, and with the
immense volume OF gas in the store
| room, the result would have been fire,
the wreckage of the building, and very
| likely loss Of life upstairs, where / am
told about fifteen people sleep. The
woman who keeps the boarding house
SAYS this is the second time gas has been
strongly smelled about the place. That
the deliberate purpose OF some one was
to fire the building through gas eX-
plosion, cannot be doubted. After we
had looked around upstairs, / sent
Shaughnessey down in the cellar, where
he found loose paper, ETC., up to his
waist"
Fireman Shaughnessey was seen, and
he said
"When I went in the smell Of gas was
awful strong. Everything was locked
up tight, none of the doors being I'M
locked. l opened the front door from
the inside, after got over the trarsOm,
and let the Chief In"
A REGISTER reporter saw clerk who
sleeps in Lashs jewelry store, next door
to Jacobs e. Harburger's. He said:
There is only board partition be-
tween the room where sleep and the
dry goods store, and If the gas had ig-
nited it might have been bad for me, as
| would have been asleep. It's a fortu-
nate thing it was discovered"
Neither Mr.. Jacobs nor Mr.. Harbur-
ger could be found last night, neither
| the firemen nor the reporters being able
to find them about the store.