The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-04-10
FELL WORK OF FIREBUGS.
ATTEMPTS To BURN THE sCHwARz
AND WHITFIELD BUILDINGS.

The Method of Firing the Sehwar1
building the Same as That of the
Savannah Grocery Co. Building-A
window in the HOyIe Grocery
Broken and n Lard Barrel Stuffed
With Paper and IEnited-A Pile of
Waste Against n Closet Door over
the PostoHice in the Whitfield
Building Set Fire and in n Blaze
when IL Was DiscOvered-The Au-
thoritics BaGled-A Queer Acting
Stranger Arrested, Hut Released.
Incendiary attempts were made yester-
day morning to burn the Schwarz build
ing. occupied by the Hoyle Grocery Com
pany and Ludden q Bates Southern Music
House. and the Whitfield building, in which
the postoffice is situated.
The evidence of both attempts is so con-
elusive as 10 forbid any other theory than
that Of incendiarism.
Following Immediately upon the Savan-
nah Grocery Company fire with remarka-
bic similar circumstances as to the Hoyle
Grocery fire, the result was to confirm
the belief of incendiarism as to that fire.
and to force the conclusion that a DELHI
crate effort is in progress to destroy the
finest buildings in the city.
OF the incendiarism there can hardly be
doubt. The question is only as to the
motive, whether one of revenge or simply
the desire to see property go up in smoke.
About $50 o'clock yesterday morning Mr..
+. p. Willard was opening up the store of
Andrew Hanley on Whitaker street when
he noticed a reflection on the windows of
the second story of the Whitfield building.
He went out in the street to get a better
view and saw that there was fire in the
building. He ran into the pOstofiice and
gave the alarm. The employees who were
just beginning their days work dropped
everything and rushed up stairs. The fire
was in the large room on the south side
of the building just under the stairway and
was burning brightly
The rooms on the second floor of the post
Office building are vacant, with the eXcep-
ton of a small office which has been par
titioned off for the postmaster in the rear.
The stairway leading to the third floor pro-
Jects into this room and under the stair
was locked. The fire was just at the door
of this closet and had gotten hold upon the
flooring and the closet room.
The postofice employees set to work
with buckets, brOOms and whatever else
came handy to eXtnguish the fire. They
would probably have been successful, but
in the meantime an alarm had been turn
ed in from Hanley's, and Foreman Jerry
Murphy, with the chemical engine and
crew, arrived in time TO take the credit
A small hole had been burned in the
floor, and the firemen chopped up the
flooring to get at the sparks underneath,
and also pried open the closet door Tor
the same purpose.
There is a difference of opinion as TO
the material with which the fire was
started. Foreman Murphy, VINO IS re-
garded as an expert in such matters, is
OF the opinion that the thin cinder fiakes
which were all that were left Of the ori-
8 ~.
of the letter carriers, who was first TO
arrive on the scene, told Postmaster
Haines that there was bundle OF burn
ing waste at the closet door. Ihe post
master is inclined to the be-
lief that there was a bundle
of cotton waste, saturated with OIL
placed at the closet door. He is inclined
TO this belief because none Of the papers
and books which had been left on a table
in the room, had been touched, as would
have been the case had the incendiary
desired to start a blaze with paper
There was no difficulty in OBJ
tanning access access to the the room iSCR:d The
night, on account of the night school
on the top floor, and one of the doors TO
missing. These rooms are not rented by
the postofiice.
The front end Of the south room was
formerly occupied by the Georgia Busi-
ness College, having been partitioned of
for the purpose, and the firebug could
have found plenty of paper there with
quantity scattered on the floor.
There was no chance for fire to origi-
nate on the floor without human assist
ance. There was nothing there from which
1t could have caught. The postmaster had
not arrived and none of the employees of
the postoffice had any business on the
floor at that hour and IL is pretty positive
that none of them did go there. The only
way IN which the fire could have started
was by some one who had no business
there setting the match TO pile or papers,
and 1t was necessary for him to have first
gathered the bundle of papers and placed
them at the closet door.
Mr.. X. F. Hoyle was just about to open
the door of his store in the Schwarz build
ing at Bull and York streets when he
heard the fire engines coming down Bun
street on their way to the postoff1ce. He
watched them pass and then turned to
enter his store. He was surprised to find
the heavy plate glass of one of the Bull
street doors smashed in. His first idea
was that the place had been robbed. OPP
ening the door he found the glass scat
tered about on the floor and heavy brick,
which had evidently been used to break
the glass. Standing against the broken
door was a box, which the intruder had
evidently placed there to help him in max
ing his exit.
Mr. Hoyle at once telephoned the po-
lice barracks, requesting that the detec-
tiVes be sent down to make an inVesti-
cation. He then examined his cash draw
er and found, to his surprise, that the 81
left there the night before was un-
might have o1eriooked this in his hurry
He examined the cigar and liquor cases
but they did not appear to havei beer
touched
Chief McDermott and the detectives hat
arrived by this time and it at once occur
red to them that the manner of entering
the store by breaking in the glass dool
was very similar to the supposed entry in
TO the Savannah Grocery Company's build
ing. With this idea in view Fire Chief Ma
guire, who was then al the postoffice fire
was requested to make an investigation
which he did, assisted by Foreman Muir
ply of the chemical company and And,
Herman of hook and ladder No. l. NJ
signs of fire were discovered.
Mr.. Hoyle returned to the theory of rob
berry and thought he missed some hams
The detectives asked him to carefully ex
anime his stock while they paid a visit /,
an old woman who has been known L
buy stolen groceries. Mr.. Hoyle found la
ter that the hams had been sold
The detectives had returned to the stor
about $3.50 o'clock, when a colored porter
who had gone to the rear TO fill an orde
for lard, made discovery. When he lift
ed the top of the lard barrel he saw some
thing black there, and a second Loo
showed it TO be burned paper. Mr. Hoyl
nd dc ives xFyora cal