Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1893-07-24
A STARTLING THEORY
Comes From Chicago Regarding the
Cold Storage Fire.
WAS IT INCENDIARY WORK !?
The Structure Said to Have Been
Burned to Cover Up Crime.
Concessions Controlled By a
Combination Whose Object Is
Plunder-Charged That Thou
sands ofDollars Worth of q oods
Were Carted Away and Sold.

CHICAGO, July %. The Dispatch says:
Was the fire in the cold storage ware
house at the Worlds Fair grounds, by
which nearly score of brave fremen
lost their lives, the work Of an incen-
diary?
Was the building deliberately set on
FIRE to avoid an inevitable exposure Of
gigantic thefts by gang of human
fnends.
These inquiries suggest q crime
awful, horrible, almost beyond concep-
tion or belief; crime which by COM
parison would make Cessre Borgia q
saint and DIR. Meyer an ordinary Grim
inal. That such was the terrible fact the
Dispatch is not prepared to assert, but
Is it possible truth? Startling state
ments OF this character have been made
to this paper In seeming sincerity.
More than this the alleged details of
sickening plot to rob, steal and burn
have been unfolded. The story COM
prehends in its ramifications notori-
Gus "ixer" for crooks and thugs. 1t is
given by the Dispatch for what 1t is
worth, names of course being omitted.
1t is given, too, with the suggestion
that a rigid and searching investiga-
tion by the authorities might not be
| amiss.
HOW THE STORY GOES.
To begin with, it Is stated that be-
| fore q nail was driven at the fair
grounds ring or gang, composed OF =
| half dozen or more men more or less
prominent In politics, was formed for
the purpose OF making an honest (?)
dollar out Of the fair.
BY means OF extraordinary "puls" as
well as by the judlcious use Of money
the ring succeeded In getting control
of many OF the minor concessions.
Everything was done under cover. Be-
fore the building was constructed
we'll defined plan OF robbery was laid
out.
! The scheme, in brief, was to COM
pletely fill the cold storage building
with wines, meats and other perishable
exhibits, the property Of various exhi-
bitors. Once iled with hundreds OF
thousands OF dollars worth OF stuff. the
buileng was to be surreptitIously
| cleaned out from top to bottom, the
stuff sold and the proceeds "whacked
! up" among the members OF the ring.
This plan, 1t is said. was carried out to
the letter. The exhibits, however,
stored in the building would soon have
had to be taken out and placed for ex-
animation by the judges Of award. The
steal wonld then be exposed and to
avoid this the building was burned.
Earlyin June there were open charges
that the guards had been stealing. This
was hushed up, but about June 25 the
work of cleaning out the building was
begun and prosecuted day and night.
The informant Of the Dispatch said:
about June 25th the ring secured
wagons and teams and began the whole
sale removal. The wagons were backed
| up to the rear OF the building, quickly
loaded with wines, hams and other
articles, and drawn away. The guards
did not interfere, for they were told
that such and such wagons were all
right and they were allowed to pass out.
BOUGHT LOAD HIMSELF.
"Several loads of this stuff / followed
myself and know just where 1t was dis
posed Of; In fact /, myself. got load
the hams. To facilitate the removal OF
goods the sprinkling wagons were
brought into requisition. The
sprinklers were loaded with cham
pagne cases and carted away. One
day wagon contained such
ponderous load that 1t got stuck In the
gate and over 100 people were interested
spectators, while an extra team was
procured and the load extricated. On
the day before the fatal fire there was
s., 900 worth Of stuff in that building.
After the fire the only man that might
have told something could not be found.
1t was given out that he had perished in
the fire, and it was several days before
he turned up.
vestigation Is made IL will be found that
two out Of every three places along
Stony Island avenue and other streets
are supplied with electricity from the
Worlds Fair plant. This little scheme
was easily and safely accomplished By
tapping the wires. The ring, of course,
gets paid for these lights at the expense
Of the exposition.
San investigation would prove also
that this ring has its grasp on many
minor concessions which are commonly
supposed to be operated by others, but
who are only fRureheads. 1t would
also not be amiss for the fair directors
to inquire regarding the construction
OF the temporary buildings which are
outside Of the Worlds Fair grounds.
There are a great number OF these tenn
porary structures surrounding the fair
and many Of them were built out Of
lumber which should have been used In
the construction OF Worlds Fair build
ings."
As stated before, the story is given
for what 1t is worth. The plot out
lined Is one that could easily be worked.
With the guards under their control
the despoiling OF the cold storage build
ing would have been an easy matter.
Two fires had started In the cold storage
building before the fatal one and no
plausible theory of the origin Of them
has been advanced.
RiD Ra~arstown wire.