The Newtown bee., 1895-01-04

STREET.-FIRE SET IN MANY PLACES. |
 Certainly in the history of quiet old the history of the county, has such bold been attempted as that of last week Saturday afternoon, when the comfortable farm house of E. $. Lowell, more familiarly known as the Turney place on Queen street, was set on fire during the afternoon and evening in eight different places. MT Lowell was away from home visiting relations in Ellsworth and Amenia Union, N. Y., and Mrs Lowell, her three children and the hired help were all that were about the place. John Breslin, MT Lovell's head man, was away with the team at work, and his German helper, John, was at the barns. Excitement was quite intense and reports were rife in the Street that the house was totally destroyed, but these accounts were greatly exaggerated above the truth, which was substantially as follows: It was about 3 o'clock in the af- ternoon when John Steingart, German of good appearance, recently hired by Mir Lowell, discovered that the wood house, a small building situated at the south end of the ell to the house and about a foot away from the house, was on fire and a roaring mass of flames in the in side. He was at the barn foddering the cattle at the time aud rushed to the house to give the alarm. The hired girl, Kate Hurley, heard him and went in to the room where Mrs Lowell was lying down to rest and told her that the woodhouse was on fire and not to be scared, and ad- vised her to get the things out of the house. Mrs Lowell told her to run up to MT Shermau's for more help, but she said she couldn't go and so Flora, Mrs Lov- en's little daughter, was sent for more help to put out the flames. Mir Sher mans people responded promptly and w.. c. Johnson and men also saw the trou- ble and were soon at the scene and all went to work with will to extinguish the flames. More help kept arriving and after about an hours hard work, the fire, which had been kept confined to the wood house, was under control. Some of the men then thought they discovered smoke issuing from the ell to the house and an investigation proved that it was so. In the room where the German slept the bed had been set on fire and was fast making headway at catching fire to the floor when it was discovered and pitched out the window and what little fire there was on the floor was exiting uished in short time. By this time it was past o'clock and everything was thought to be safe and so it stayed till few min- utes past when Mrs Lowell saw flash of light on the house reflected from some where, and sent to the barn for the men, who were milking. About the same time Mir McNamara, coming up the road saw the fire and bursting in the front door rushed up stairs to find that the bed in an unoccupied room in the ell, next to the room occupied by the German where the fire was in the afternoon, was all ablaze. It took but few moments to extinguish it as there was plenty of water handy and all hands came back down stairs. Still again they thought they smelled smoke very strongly and started out to see if all was we'll. This time it was discovered that closet in spare room, in the main portion of the house, which was filled with clothing, had had a fire set in it which gained fearful headway. It was feared for a time that the house must go, but quick hard work and plenty of wa tion was then continued and in another spare room closet it was found fire had been started and burned up silk dress and then gone out of itself after burning a small hole in the floor. Later two piles of paper ashes were found in cellar, one under the stairway. which had been sprinkled with kerosene, and one under the meat bench. The last discovery was g paper partly burned between the straw and feather beds In the room occupied by Kate Hurley. This was found by Con- stable John Blackman on his visit to the house. Mrs Lowell was slow to believe that any one was base enough to set fire
 
 to her home, but the town was aroused and Messrs John Blackman, W. A. Leon ard and Charles Northrop visited the house about 10 o'clock in the evening and suggested that Miss Hurley be sent away, to which Mrs Lowell consented. A watch was kept all night but no more at tempts at burning were discovered.
 These dastardly acts were very evident ly the work of some one perfectly famil- far with the house and suspicion has pointed very strongly at the hired girl, who is said to have not always been right in her mind since shock by lightning received last summer.
 There was but small amount of in- surance, $1200, on the house held by the Continental Insurance Company of New York.
 AN OLD SOLDIERS RECOMMENDATION.
 In the late war was 9 soldier in the First Maryland Volunteers, Company o. Durir,g my term of service contracted