The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1898-09-12
WAS THE WORK
OF A FIREBUG
Destruction Of Property at
Sacramento Due to
EnCendidriSm.
Police Arrest an Ex-Convict Who
Recently Served Time In
Folsom Prison.

SACRAMENTO, Sept. 11.-Chief Of
Police Dwyer this evening granted The
Call an interview with George H. Bit
ner, arrested on suspicion Of having
started the fires which at 2 o'clock this
morning threatened to destroy the val
liable block bounded by Fifth anG
Sixth, K and L streets. At the time
the dispatch published in this morn
ing's Call was being sent the flames
were having a mad race over a large
section Of the block, and the entire Fire
Department was at work, suffering
great disadvantage through lack Of
water. At 2:30 O'Clock the rear part OF
the Sixth-street Methodist Church was
ablaze, and 1t seemed that the splen-
did edifice would meet the fate Of Schad
Bros wagon and hay barn and Fra
zers branch lumber-yard. However
the church was saved, although before
the fire was subdued about $50, 00C
worth Of property on the block had
been destroyed.
Bittner, the suspected f1rebug, was
arrested during the fire by Chief Dwyer
and Detective Maley while he was in
Schads barn taking great interest In
the conf1agration. His account Of him
self differs from that which the police
have traced, and they believe they have
the right man.
Yes, it is true" said Bittner to The
Call correspondent, that I have been
out of Folsom prison only short time,
and that l have served two years for
arson, In having set fire to a restaurant
on street, between Third and Fourth,
this city, where / was employed as
cook. They accused me of having
tried to set the fire thirteen different
times. But that was lie. I only tried
to set the restaurant afire ten times
why did 1 do it?" repeating the
question asked him.
"Oh, 1 don't Know" said Bittner, ner-
viously twitching his fingers along his
face and coloring up. Il did it; just
did it, that's all, and I don't deny it.
But I didn't set fire to the undergrad
or barn this morning. / can prove an
alibi."
But whatever else Bittner may be
able to prove he cannot establish an
alibi. Many witnesses will swear that
soon after the discovery Of the flames,
and there are witnesses, too, who will
testify that they saw him at another
equally as mysterious fire occurring
earlier in the night about half a block
away from the location Of the big
blaze.
Firemen say that when they got into
Frazer's lumber-yard, whence the blaze
communicated to Schad's stable, they
smelled coal oil as 1t assembled in fiery
vapor from the stacks of lumber. There
can be no question that the fire was Of
incendiary origin.
Bittner says he has been cooking for
a crew of Western Union linemen for
some months. He is boyish in appear
ance and ped "a VaarS
Schad Bros loss will be: Barn, $1,000;
hay, $1,000; rigs, not belonging to sable,
but kept there, uninsured, for which
owners are responsible, $4,000; insur-
ance, $3.50 on building, $3.50 on hay. The
main loss was that sustained by w. F.
Frazer, the branch yard containing
picked lumber. 1t amounts to $4,000;
insurance $4,000. A brick tenement
house and other losses of smaller pro-
portions make up the balance of the
estimated total. Smaller buildings,
three in number, were insured.