Evening star., 1897-07-29
Reason for Doubt.


II examined the place attentively, and IT
seemed to me almost incredible that a full
grown woman could have forced her body
through an opening made at the point
shown me- / found, however that loose
dirt had been filled in on the outside, and
there having been heavy rain since the
escape, and before my examination could
come to no positive conclusion as to wheth-
er this opening had really furnished a
means of escape or not. There was ample
opportunity for the girls to get away from
the company on the lawn during the excite
ment and commotion attending the fire and
the removal of furniture from the front
part of the building; and in fact, several
did leave unobserved, but returned volun-
tarily and were present at roll call.
whether the opening under the fence
was used as a means of escape from the
fact that, if so, preparation beforehand
would strengthen the suppostion of a con-
spiracy to burn the building, and would
raise the question of how opportunity was
found for it's preparation, unobserved by
the officers of the school, Whether SO used
or not, some work had no doubt been done
on 1t.
Prior Visit.
IT called at the school the afternoon of
the Goth, before the fire. l was admitted at
the front door by one of the inmates ]
inquired for the superintendent, and, learn
Ing that she was absent, asked for the
matron. I waited at the office while the
girl conveyed my request to some one with
in. Presently one OF the teachers came to
the office and reported that the matron
was upstairs and did not wish to come
down unless my business was urgent.
did my errand with the teacher and de-
parted.
Rule IA of the general regulations of the
institution is as follows: All locking and
unlocking must be done by the proper off,
GERS of the school, and under no circum-
stances must the girls be allowed to carry
or handle the keys
Rules 3, and 8, under RULES for the
Matron, seem to place the laundry specifi-
cally under her charge, and particularly
provides that doors going into the yards
must be always kept locked
Sought an Opportunity.
'It seems to me impossible to avoid the
conclusion that the girls working in the
laundry. having in mind the purpose to fire
the building, waited for an occasion upon
which the superintendent should be alb
sent. when they had more or less free ac-
cess to the yard, and when, the work for
the day being completed, no one might be
expected to visit the laundry and so dis
cover an incipient conflagration, and when
the roori being filed with dry Clothes
would be more apt to place the fire beyond
control in q short time.
Having these favorable conditions. the
one thing necessary. in order to perfect the
opportunity for the commission of the
crime contemplated, was the absence of
any officer of the school whose duty it was
to see the close of the laundry work for the
day, lock the laundry and conduct the
girls to another part of the building, This
seems to have also been furnished, and the
failure of the attempt to destroy the school
is due to several fortunate circumstances.
such as the availability of the little hose.
well-filled water tanks. and the possibility
of instant response by the men to calls for
assistance.
'"The fire did not reach any part OF the
building outside the room in which H vas