The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1897-04-09

William Eaton, charged with the burn
ing OF his stock OF goods in the Turner
building. on Main street. for the pur-
pose Of defraudlng the insurance COM
panles. began yesterday afternoon. be-
fore Squire Fitzpatrick, in the criminal
court room. there was a large attend
ance OF curious spectators.
Eaton was brought In from the coun-
" fall by the sheriff. Beside him sat
Attorney Sam o. Boyce, and a Chicago
lawyer. L. Il. Hllles. who were the
prisoners counsel. At the other end of
tho table were Acting Prosecuting At
torneys sommerville and Nesbitt, while
back OF them was Captain Robert Nc
Nichol, chief Of the West Virginia Sc
cret service bureau. through whom tho
arrest of Eaton in Chicago, was made
q few days ago.
Four witnesses were examined, In
Guiding Mr.. W. D. Johnson. Fire Chief
Klleves and insurance Agents Rodgers
and Mathlson. A number OF others
were present who viii testify during
the course Of the hearing which was
not completed yesterday. Not much
was adduced at the first session, and IN
fact the damaging evidence that Is said
to have been collected by Captain Nc
Niehol, Is not yet brought out. II VIII
come out at this mornings hearing.
W. D. Johnson. agent OF the Turner
estate. was the first witnes& He hrst
saw Eaton early In February. when he
rented the room. 1902 Main street. A
written contrnCt was made which the
witness submitted. The understanding
was ne represented man named
Smith. and was to be distributing agent
for wrapping papers The room was
occupied In February by Eaton. who put
IN a mixed stock. OF fy paper. tinners'
supplies, fishing tackle. etc. The fly pa
per was made up OF q sticky substance,
FoSin The witness said there was no
wrapping paper to be seen after the
IRE. Witness had been In the store SOW
eFhi times before the fire, and had con-
vefsed with Eaton. both at the latteFB
place and at his Own place OF business
f(irther up Main street. Eaton had told
him on more than one occasion the use
10 which he would put the building.
Goods went into the building about
February Is. but no shipments were
n1ade. Shortly after this the IRE occur
red on Thursday mornlng,near tho close
OF February. EatOn'S stock was partly
destroyed and the building was damaB-
ed. He had talked with the defendent
the day after the FIRE in his own store
room This was In the forenoon. Eaton
remarked he had had firc. He accom-
panied the defendenS TO the Turner
building. and they went up TO the sec
ond door, and Eaton remarked: We'll,
my Insurance don't cover my loss.
TO Mr.. Boyce. the witness explained
why the short term lease had been
made, that the building would probably
be sold very soon. He had never be-
fore seen fiy paper prepared Ike E.a-
toms. To Nj Hilles. the witness ad-
nittcd he might not havA seen oil the
goods.
Fire Chief Klleves was the second
witness. He detailed the circumstances
OF the FIRE on the morning OF February
IS in the Turner building. The fire oc-
CURED at a. m. He went to the place
at once. and found FIRE on the second
floor, about midway between the size
walls, There was no Gre on the lower
floor, and but little IRE on the upper
floor, which had worked its way up
through the sky-llght His judgment
was the FIRE originated among the goods
6IQEeQ OIl lllH htNuA1 AtNGhf NtAN $3.50
which was fly dishes. There was quite
q lot OF the tiy paper packed
in little crates. The fishing tackle was
stored on shelves in paper boxes. There
were some empty shipping cases at the
front oi the building A tier had been
stacke,. up six or eight feet from the
windows, and another tier was piled at
the rear end OF the second floor room
The boxes were piled TO form n barri-
oade. obstructing the firemen's progress
in entering the building, and also ob.
etructed the light from the fire. Around
the stairway on the second floor were
piled cases of the fly paper He had
first entered the building both on the
first and second floors The witness
could not say what proportion OF the
stock waE burned.
10 Mr.. BoYce the witness said the
tier OF boxes was six feet high at the
front Of the building. The barricade
had prevented the water from striking
the IRE. No boxes were piled around
the stairs. Witness had made his eX-
animation Of the goods, on the morning
Of the fire. Goods were piled all around
the Fsy-llEht. He did not know how
tho IRE originated When his men en-
tered the building the fire was burning
all around tho sky-light.
To Mr.. SommeTVille the chief said ne
was with several others when he exam
med the goods One OF his men, John
Ritter, Insurance Agent Morgan ana
two strange men who were members OF
the board Of underwriters, were with
him. He had noticed marks on the
boxes. A stove was on the first floor.
hut he did not know whether It had
been there before the fire. There had
been no stove on the second floor, so
far as he had observed.
j. v. L. Rodgers. insurance agent,
was called. He had met Eaton, first at
MS place OF business, 1902 Main street,
on February H. Eaton had told Rodg-
ers' clerk before that he desired TO
take out some IRE insurance. He had Is
sued $4,000 Insurance, the amount he
asked for. He had added he would
probably need more Insurance later.
The policies were In the Continental, OF
New York. and the Fire Association OF
Philadelphia. Eaton had told him MS
stock was worth $500 Including goods
vet in the railroad freight stations Wit
ness had seen n stock Of goods in the
store, IN boxes ard crates, Eaton had
said the place was 20 he used as store
house, Eaton himself would be on the
road most OF the time. The witness had
made r closer examination OF the goods
after the flre. The witness then describ-
cd the stock, much as Mr. Klieyes had
testified. The cones were unfinished,
having no fcFruIes. Some Of the pack
ing cases had Huntington" mark on
them, others had the inscription: The
Hub Wheeling" on them. One box that
was opened contained nothing but eK-
ceisior; this was not a Hub" box; 1t
had O Chicago" mark on II. Another
box contained waste paper. tclcgrnDs,
old letters. etc. from the house of q.
w Shlppay & CO.. 6s South Water
street. Chicago. The Indications were
49, .ag,tr..r l., ts,ta t,1uana Ot bo