The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1898-03-28

Fred Ccons, the King of the Hoboes,
was landed in the station house last
evening by Special officer John Coslett
and opposite his name and sobriquet
was placed the charge of setting fire to
timber landE.
Ever since the spell of early spring
weather set in the Lackawanna Iron
and Coal company's timbermen have
been greatly annoyed and caused no
end of extra labor by repeated fires in
various places on the company's East
mountain tract.
The nature of these fires led to the
suspicion that they were not of acci-
dental origin and Investigations proved
that the suspicion was well founded.
Special officer Coslett after diligent
waiting, watching and Inquiries dis
covered. so he AYERS, that the famous
hermit-vagrant, Coons, was the incen-
diary. A vigil was kept at the vaga-
bonds hut over on the mountain from
Nay Aug falls all of Saturday but
he was on one of his frequent tramps
through the brush and the watchers
had to give up hopes of capturing him
that way.
COONS PLACED UNDER ARREST.
Early yesterday morning Officer Cos
| lett, who knows COon's habits as well
as he does the mountain, started out
| to track him down. After a day of
| weary hunting the officer was reward
| ed by coming upon his man in one of
| the woodchoppers' shelter huts near the
sumrit of the mountain, back Of No 5.
! Handwriting him securely he marched
| him into the city and at o'clock land
| ed him in a cell at police headquar-
| ters.
Coons talked in a rambling manner
that evidenced Enthusiastically q NELL
! tai weakness. Instead of the air of
| bravado and carelessness which was
| characteristic of him during his last
enforced sojourn in civilization he was
last night in an abject and despondert
mood and spoke of being imposed upon
| and made a victim of cruel corporations
| and the like.
| The most pronounced evidence of his
| mental arrangement was his assertion
| that he had been defrauded out Of
| wages. The Gas and Water company,
| he said, was the offending party. He
had worked for the company and it
refused TO pay him his hire. He
brought suit to recover but was cheat
| ed and so on.
| officer Coslte says he is satisfied and
| hopes to be able to establish that it
| was COons who set fire to Connell &
| Co.'S Meadow Brook breaker and at
| tempted, two nights later to burn down
the company's mule barn. He also has
| a suspicion that the recent incendiary
fires at the Donnelly, Mock and Gilmore
barns on the South Side were the work
of the demented tramp.
HIS FORMER HOME.
Coons formerly lived in Petersburg,
but for years has divorced himself
from civilization and made the noun
tain side his home. His headquarters
| We're for a time along Roaring Brook
| in the neighborhood of No. 6. but last
summer he and a gang of typical
tramps which he had gathered about
him made themselves so obnoxious that
the residents of the place made de-
scent on the vagrants and after driv-
ing them off, demolished their hut and
| scattered their household parapher-
MALTA to the winds.
This had the effect of ridding the
place of the gang, but the leader was
not to be so readily disposed Of. He
hung about the neighborhood, terror
izing the women folks with gruff and
threatening demands for food robbing
cellars and hen-coops and committing
such other depredations as might be
expected of a daring and desperate
hobo like him.
Sporadic attempts were made to cor
rail- him, but like the bold, bad bandit
of the nickel novel he would avoid the
traps set for his capture, warly elude
pursuit and when hard pressed retreat
to the seclusion of one of his many
mountain Businesses, to where it was
next to impossible to track him. FIRE.
quently he would re-appear at some of
the houses skirting the edge of the
lumber lands, but he was always eau
tious in these sorties and made it a
point not to make himself apparent eX-
cept when the men would be at work
OF late he has not been seen much
at the Dunmore side of the mountain
and il now is believed that he has
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