The evening world., 1894-08-11
NEARLY MOBBED her.
Excited Women Threatened Aged
Mrs Mary Leddy.
Accused Her Of Firing Her Store
and Endangering Their Lives.
Policeman Heeney Interfered In
Time to Save Her from Harm.

As the result of the fire which broke
out shortly before Il o'clock last night
in the four-story brick tenement 600
West Forty-second street, there was a
good -siz I'd riot. The greater number of
the twenty people in the house were on
one side, and on the other was sixty
year-old Mrs. Mary Teddy, who keeps
the little candy store on the ground
floor, where the flames originated.
The woman was accused of setting
fire to the house, and the timely arrival
of Policeman Robert Heeney alone pre-
vented violent assault upon her
At 11.30 o'clock the policeman passed
the house and there was no sign Of fire.
Ten minutes later a man walking
through the street heard woman
scream and saw a bright flash light up
the hallway Of the tenement. He ran
into the hall, saw through an open door
r that the room In the rear of the little
sop was on fire, then hurried away and
sent in an alarm, crying loudly as he
ran.
His cries and those Of the woman who
had shouted first aroused the tenants.
The woman was Mrs. Leddy, who stood
in the hack yard wringing her hands,
while the people In the house, Thou a
moments hesitation, ran down the stairs
IN their night clothes and out into the
street and yard.
When Policeman Heeney arrived Mrs.
Leddy stood on the front sidewalk sur
women; Who shook their g slen ssi% fists
"she moved her things QUIT" cried the
lars insurance! She set fire to the
house and almost roasted US aliuev..,,
f hs tss ms%en r snsTe
Leddy ciung, e The policeman for pro-
1sss sss hyu., T Before sSs
eh,sTaed with ali manner Of thinss.
The aremen came out. put out the
before Heeney understood what Mrs.
Leddy was accused of.
Then he heard q disconnected story of
how the woman had moved all her fur
niture out OF the house, also part Of her
candy stock. and then fired the house.
It lookedlike a serious matter, and he
wanted to place the woman under arrest;
or four OF the complaining women to go
with him to the station house.
But that was different matter, and
them D wscd 70 20 quiet to m aGwn the Not ons
and when the policeman began to ques.
ton them separately he found that they
hadn't the slightest ground for suspi-
cion Of incendiarism.
Fire Chief Giquel made a careful ex-
animation Of the place. The fire had
started In the rear room. and Quilted
that as well as the candy store in front.
III found not the slightest sign Of any.
thing suspicious, and said the fire could
easily have been caused, as Mrs. Leddy
said, by the overturning Of a lamp.
Mrs; Leddy acknowledged that she had
moved some OF her furniture out. for she
had hired basement at 545 West Forty
second street, and was going to live
there In the future. AS there was nc
cne to make the complaint, she was moi
arrested. The fremarshal was not even
Asked. TO investigate. as the fire chief
did not think 1t necessary.
Mrs. Leddy has lived in that same
nouse TOT thirty years. When her hus-
oand died, eight years ago, there was
candy store and soda water stand. In
the neighborhood she is highly spoken
o. 81, but recently she has qnarreled with
not consider that there Is any truth
IN the story told by the tenants.