The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1898-10-13
ALARM FlEND CAUGHT
it Was His Work Which Allows
ed Murderer Williams
to Escape.

The Jersey City police have at last cap
tured one Of the scamps who send in false
alarms of fire. Ever since the new sys-
fem of fire alarm signals, with a key on
each box has been in operation, false
ala rms have been sent in at the rate Of
\ three or more each week. Each time the
| Fire Department and the Police are called
out uselessly, hundreds of dollars are lost
| and great danger is run. One night when
| the fremen were on a wild goose chase
a fire broke out in the building adjoining
| the m avenue Engine House and
a big c~onlagration was narrowly averted.
On October / a murderer escaped because
of a false alarm of fire which was sent
In just at the time the murder was
| committed. s
II is the man who sent in that alarm
who has been caught by the police He IS
Edward Green. twenty-three years old. OF
| No 30 Mallory avenue. He was arrested
| last night by Detective Hottie and Police
man Costello. of the Communipaw ave
nue. station. Green is well known to the
police. He has been in jail a number of
times for assault and other crimes. He
has a grudge against the police, and, it
is believed, sent in the alarm to annoy
them. He did not know of the murder
when he did so, so there is no possibility
that he was an accomplice of the muir
derer. The murder occurred late Satur-
day night. October /, in the saloon OF
Patrick Connolly, C~ommunipaW avenue,
opposite jackson avenue. The proprietor
was stabbed to death. in the doorway of
the saloon, by Tobias Williams, a negro
cook. with whom he had quarreled over
a bill which Williams owed. Williams
fed after the murder to Harrison avenue,
and thence 10 West Side avenue where he
took a car to the Pennsylvania Railroad
ferry, and escaped to New York. Just
about as the murder was committed a
false alarm of fire was sent IN from box
No. 165. at C-ommunfpaw and West SIDE
avenues. The fire engines responded and
Police Captain McKaig turned out with
all his reserve men. They went to the
scene of the supposed fire in the patrol
wagon. going by way of Harrison ave-
nue.. The wagon must ave passed VIII
liams as he was running down Harrison
avenue. but the policemen did not notice
him as everybody was running to the fire.
Patrolman Bracken was early at the
scene of the murder and quickly reported
it at the police station, which is less than
a block distant from the saloon. but all
the policemen being at the fire there was
none to send out to hunt for the murder
er. Had the men been n the station it
is doubtful if Williams would have es-
capped. The failure to get Williams be-
cause of the false alarm angered the po-
lice, and Captain McKaig has had his en-
tire force at work since that day looking
for the mar who was responsible for the
work. Detective Hottie soon IA a man
who saw the alarm sent in, ard got a de-
scription of the man who sent It. He and
Policeman. Costello then searched all
through West Bergen for a man answer
ing the description. They found him in
Green, and last night they arrested him..
nue. police station with a dozen men of
his height and build, and William Stoner,
of No. 21S West Side avenue. the man who
saw the alarm sent identified him.
He was arraigned before Police Justice
Nevin, this morning. and was held for
trial. The penalty for sending in a false
alarm of fire is two years Imprisonment
at hard labor. An example will be made
of Green.