The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1897-07-24

VIC ldsG low montnS as near as she could
learn, but that she did not believe him
guilty, and knew that he could prove his
innocence OF all of the charges. She said
Gnat he was accused of starting the fire in
Ihompson's store On Monument square
last Saturday night, but tsat she could
swear that he was at home and in bed
when that fire occurred and she did not
uhlnk ne was outside of the yard for the
evening, She remembered several other
nres which she had read of in the papers
as having been of 1ncendiary origin, and
SAID that on at least two or three occa-
slons she could swear that her husband
was 1876 miles from Portland.
. Waite is very fine looking and fine au-
pearlng young man and has been in Port
land for some years. He is photographer
by trade and has the reputation of being
one of the best in the city. Some of the
work that he has done in this line has
given him good reputation and his SER
vices have been much in demand. He was
fairly well educated and a very clever con-
versationalist and is well informed on
many subjects. When be first came to
Portland some years ago he was con-
ductor on the Portland and Cape Eliza
beth railroad. He has an excellent repu-
tation and has never before been accused
of any crime in this city. Some time
during the winter Waite originated the
idea in Portland of Starting Protective
Patrol system similar to those in the
larger cities 1t was his idea to have a
wagon filled with rubber blankets and
other material and go to fires to protect
goods from water with them. He also
had about twenty or thirty places in the
city, including large business blocks,
stores and office buildings, which he
visited twice or three times a night and
went through to make sure that there
was no fire or anything out of the way
about them. His subscribers paid the
sum of fifty cents a week for this service
and Waite was fast building up quite
business. He wanted permission to drive
to fires and to act in conjunction with
the police in protecting the property of his
subscribers. For this purpose he pre-
sented a petition at the April meeting of
the city government and there occurred d
most sensational scene which at once
ruined Waite's business, and set the
tongues of half the city to wagging.
Alderman kehoe produced letter written
by the chief of police of Lynn in which
Wilbur M. Waite was identified as the
man who had once been arrested in Lynn
on the charge of poisoning a dog and had
been convicted on the charge and had
been obliged to pay fine of $50 and costs.
The Lynn officials also said that Waite
had been suspected of setting fire to the
Methodist church in Lynn, but had never
been arrested on the charge. The letter
stated that Waite had been arrested for
ringing in false alarms.
This affair in the city government meet
ing paralyzed the Portland Protective
Patrol and Waite gave it up. He told a
PRESS reporter at the time the whole
story of the Lynn affair and said that he
had been wrongfully accused of setting
fire to the church and that two boys after
wards confessed to having caused the fire
and were punished for it, He intimated
hot tbar inin ctO Orrin inh ha6
circulated about him in Lynn had caused
him to remove to this city.
AS soon as the letter from the Lynn
police charging Waite with these things
became known many people began to say
that the police suspected him of being the
incendiary who was creating so much ex-
citement in the city. These people pointed
out the fact that just previous to the
starting of the Portland Protective Patrol
company by Waite these fires began to
break out, and that they continued until
little while before the patrol went into
operation when they suddenly ceased,
only to begin once more shortly after the
patrol was a thing of the past. 1t is
known to be a positive fact that the police
did suspect Waite of having caused these
fires, and that they watched him con-
stantly for some weeks.
Now that Waite is under arrest charged
with arson many people are bringing for
ward all kinds of tales and rumors but
none of them are tangible and the most
of them are undoubtedly the creations of
their own imaginations. Some say that
he has been seen with his camera at
many of these incendiary fires and on one
or two occasions these fires have oc-
Cured very early in the morning. Many
descriptions have been given of the sup
posed fire bug but none of them seem to
correspond very well with Waite's appear
ance.
Waite has two children and wife de-
pendent upon him for support. He is said
to be in very poor circumstances and his
neighbors express great sympathy for his
wife and his children. The most of them
say that they believe some mistake has
been made and that the accused is inno-
cent.
1t was stated by the police officials to
Mrs. Waite last night that her husbands
bail would probably be as heavy as $1,000.
The accused made no attempt to secure
bail last night nor did he make any effort
to secure counsel. 1t is understood from
Mrs Waite that her husband told her last
night that the detectives who are to ap-
pear against him in this case represented
themselves to be agents for the firm of
Whitehead and Hoegg of New Jersey,
which firm manufactures buttons and
badges.
Never before in the history of Portland
has the city been terrorized by fire bug
SO persistently as it has since December
IS, 1896, when the first incendiary blaze
was discovered. Nearly all of the fires
have been set in Railways, nearly all of
them have been discovered before they
had time to do much damage and the
strangest part of the whole business has
been the boldness and the bare faced
manner in which these fires have been
started In almost every instance an