The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-03-19
ATTEMPT AT ARSON
DAsTARDLY PURPOSE OF MID
NIGHT MIsCREASTs THWARTED
BY THE FIRE DEPARTMENT
WOULD HAVE BURNED LIVING

TO Have Robbed the Dead-Rumor
hat John Lntinah Had Hidden
treasures Believed to Have
Aroused the Covetousness of Tn
principIed RascnIx
round in the Snow
There Is every indication that das-
'aiu'y attempt was made yesterday
ii"i liis ABOUT daylight to burn house
Of 400 Hatch street, near the cordage
WORKS In which an old bachelor, reputed
TO nave money occupied an upstafrs
room German family occupy rooms
In the rear, on the first floor. Whether
further criminal action was contemplat-
ed Is matter of conjecture. but there
can be no doubt but that the incendia rios
were willing to sacrifice the lives of those
IN the house in accomplishing their pur-
pose, whether it be murder of the old
man 10 gain possession of his money. or
simple robbery of the premises
John Latinah, the bachelor, who occu-
pies a room in the upper story of the
mousse Is German Jew, fifty-three years
OLD. His neighbors know little or MOTH
10 nave saved considerable n,onav from,
ms WORK asa laborer, and that he never
goes out but to his employment His
room, though poorly furnished, contain
ed everything necessary in the line Of
cooking utensils and conveniences. and
ne mas peen In the habit of acting as his
own restaurateur.
he retired early Friday night and knew
hothing OF the fire until awakened by the
smoke. Jumping out of bed, he found
the entire side of his room next the out
side wall, In a blaze the smoke pouring
INTO the room through several large holes
burned IN the floor. His neighbors and
the family living in the rear of the house
were reused about the same time, and
an alarm of fire was turned in, while
they made every effort to check the
progress of the blaze. Pals of water
were brought from neighboring well.
and with the timely assistance of the
ire department the house was saved
but not until one side had been badly
burned and holes eaten through the floors
and walls
An investigation of the fire showed that
1t had been set by unknown parties. One
of the f1remen discovered two large auger
holes on the west side of the house and
Kerosene stains covering several SQUARE
yards about the holes told the rest Of the
story. The holes were bored directly be-
purpose being evidently to carry the fire
directly into his bedroom On the same
SIDE or the house were tracks in the
snow, indicating that two persons at
least had been concerned in the deed
An examination of the clapboarding
showed five more places where the mis-
creants had attempted to bore holes but
failed through striking obstacles
In the rear of the house, which is en-
tfrely of frame construction, Is small
shed, the roof of which leads up to the
windows on the second story Against
this shed was a short ladder, and tracks
in the snow showed that two men had
climbed up there and had set their kero-
Sene beside the window, while they tried
to pry 1T open.
1t Is thought that the discovery of the
fire came earlier than expected by the
parties who set 1t. and that they intend
ed to start blaze in the rear and an
other on the same side as the first but
We're prevented through the miscarriage
Of their plans ..
There is absolutely no clue to the ident-
ity of the .f1rebugs. They were not seen
by those who discovered the fire, and
Latinah is unable TO give any light on the
subject He said yesterday that he did
ed, In broken English, that he had no
idea why one would wish to burn him
out.
The ROndo street patrol wagon re-
sponded to the alarm sent In, and Off
GERS from that station investigated the
affair. No action has yet been taken By
the police, and they are almost as much
in the dark as is Latinah regarding the
responsibility for the occurrence.