The Roanoke times. (Roanoke, Va.) 1897-1977, 1897-09-08

Made to Explode ut Il Certain Timc-Its
Ingredients IL Conun,irum For Chemists.
Strange Discoveries of II Chicago Fro
Inspector.
With simple looking glass bulb. con-
taining an unknown chemical mixture. a
bold band of Chicago flrcbugs hayo been
conducting operations on big scale for
over four years. In this tisno they hayo
dcfraudcd insurance companies out of n
large amount of money in risks and re-
wards. Three of tho mon implicated arc
now under ponitcntiary sentences, and a
fourth is trying to cvade capture by the
police. Inspector NJ. W. Conway of tho
Chicago fire department is confident tho
gang has been cffectunlly broken up, but
ho will not be entirely satisfied with his
work until no masters tho mystery of tho
glass bulb and its contents This is n task
in which insurance companies have en-
gagged tho services of expert chemists. but
thus far no progress has been made
Last spring Il man giving his namo as
William Eaton opened an agency in
Wheeling, w Va, for tho distribution of
toys, willowware and similar goods Later
ho took out $40, 600 insurance on his stock,
and following this there was fire In
the meantime the suspicious of the insur-
ancc men had been aroused, and there
WAS an investigation, which resulted i'm
the arrest of Eaton and his subsequent
conviction When no was arrniencd for
trial, Chicago attorney Appeared To do
fend him. 1t developed that Eaton him
self was from Chicago, and that another
Chicago man had been there and had IA
conference with him about the time of his
arrest. On tho trial negro named Gran
Olson, who had worked for Eaton. told OF
seeing somo suspicious glass bulbs about
tho store, which his employer had eau
TONED him against handling.
Inspector Conway heard of all these
things and made UP his mind that tho
fircbug gang which had boon operating in
Chicago had transferred themselves To
other parts of the country, still using that
city rs II base 1t was in 1893 that inccn-
diary fires were Mt their worst here Tho
band was then composed of Fred Smith
William Eaton, William Alexander. Henry
Schucck, and, so Conway asserts. Of Fred
u. Cowio. The method of operation, US
shown in sworn confessions now in posses
sion of the authorities, was this:
One of tho band would rent store,
which would DO fitted up under Smiths
directions. tho shelving in every instance
being painted with black asphaltum, TO
make it more iniammablc. y dummy
would next be found tn pose ms proprietor,
and Il stock of unstable goods brought in
from Schueck's factory. Bogus billheads,
bearing the names of reputable business
firms, were printed and filed in To show
the purchase of large quantities OF valu-
able goods. Insurance TO the amount of
$4,000. S25, 900, and in some instances
SiO,OOO was taken out and the premiums
promptly paid. Suddenly there would he
"a fire. Proof of value of stock was mado
by striking balance between the amount
shown by bogus invoices and tho sales
book, and in nearly every case the insur-
anco companies had to settle Paul Loc-
wcnmoyer, i'll confession under oath.
says tho band ran "A regular school of in
struction and had every danger point we'll
covered
FINALLY, after numerous disastrous fires
in Chicago the band was c0rnercd and
convicted. Smith turned out to he the
same man who was sent To Joliet for brib-
ing Cronin jurors, and aftcrward posed us
an evangelist at u West Madison street
mission Alexander made Il confession
Schueck got his prison sentence commuted
to a 81 1000 fine. Eaton had to face the
music What worried Inspector Conway
was that he could not detect the means of
starting the fires. In one case Alexander
SAID no ignitcd the blaze by throwing "a
burning match into u barrel of dry excel
sior, but subsequent developments make it
possible that this was merely Il blind 10
draw attention from the glass bulb which
Is now known to have been used in many
Of their jobs.
This bulb looks something like an cleo
trio light globe, but is little larger than
those nSpn N fhn pr1i inr r. tt
lights. 1t has u screw cap ut one end and
is pear shaped. Tiny fragments of these
bulbs have been f.Ind at Ncnia, O..
Wheeling and Hunt. 1ton W. Va. and in
other places where .nccndiary fires have
occurred. No trace their contents can
be had, but tho theory is that they are filed
with some chemical mixture which can be
so proportoDed MS To burst the glass and
break out into flame at any given time.
smith locked his store at Nenia on Satur-
Gay night and went To Columbus. Whilo
nc was away Il lire broke out, and under
ordinary circumstances no would have had
II complete abb from charge of arson.
Claim for the insurance money was not
pressed, however, when it became known
that the authorities had evidence of OK
rcriments with mysterious glass bulbs of
midnight miXings of chemicals and of
hchJ tests IN u stove The fires in Wheel
ing and Huntington were SGT in the snme
way
Locwenmeyer, who was to have man.
aged tho fro in the Eclipse store nt Leavitt
and Harrison streets. Chicago says his in
s'ructions wcro to watch for the breaking
out of tho blaze and thon throw plenty of
water on tho surrounding goods before no
gave an alarm. With this as Glow tho
chemists AFRO working on tho idea that tho
bulbs arc filed with some material tho
ignition of which Is heightened by coming
in contact with water 1t was at first
thought the bulbs We're operated by cleo
tricity, us tho witness Grandson in tho
wheeling trial said D. noticed wires ut ono
On! Of than In uouo of tho ctoroc W horo