Los Angeles herald., 1905-07-26
ACCUSED OF SETTING
FIRE TO BOOMING HOUSE
MRS. GRACE eETz OF LONG
BEACH IN TROUBLE
Former Lodeer Makes Confession, Al
leglne That He and the Woman
Started the Blaze to Secure the
Insurance on Furniture

Special to The Herald.
LONG BEACH, July 25.-Mrs. Grace
Getz was arrested here this evening
charged with having conspired to
burn her rooming house, the Casa
Palma, on the night of July 10. The
fire started in an upper room of the
building and almost completely de-
stroyed the building.
After the fire the police had their
suspicious directed at Leroy E. An
drews, a roomer in the building, who
disappeared after the fire. Last Sat
urday Policeman Phillips arrested An
drews on q charge of stealing bathing
suit. Andrews seemed much frightened
when arrested and offered to clear out
of the state If given a short sentence.
This was refused and Andrews was
sent to the county Jail. This week
Marshal Conklin and Phillips have paid
the man several visits and urged him
to tell what he knew of the Casa
Palma fire. Today the man broke
down and declared that he fired the
building at the instigation Of Mrs.
Getz. He said she had her furniture in
sured for $500 and offered him 500 IL
he would fire the place. Mrs. Getz,
he says, filled his room with papers
ana saturated them with oil. Andrews
says Mrs. Getz sent most of her oe-
longings to Los Angeles and the fire
would have taken place on Monday
night but for the fact that Mrs. Gets'
husband and niece came down unex-
want the fire when they were in the
house. Her father is Captain Felz Of
the Los Angeles chain gang.
When the husband returned to Los
Angeles Mrs Getz went with him, An
drews says, to divert suspicion from
her and Andrews was to fire the
building during her absence. Thurs
day night was the time set. A man
named Towers had the room above
Andrews and to save Towers Andrews
called him downstairs about the time
he touched off the papers, and these
two were the first to discover the
fire.
Andrews signed the following state
ment:
This is to certify that 1, Leroy An
drews, on the instance of Mrs. Getz
of Long Beach, Cal, set fire to the
rooming house known as Casa Palma
on the night of July 13, 1905, and that
the said Mrs. Getz applied the oil and
had everything fixed for the starting
of the fire.
LEROY E. ANDREWS
Andrews told Marshal Conklin that
he was an all-round crook and that his
true name is Roy Sagendorf. In 1901,
he said, he and a gang of firebugs
set fire to the Mahaiee block at Great
harrington, Mass He was arrested
and sentenced to six years in the state
prison. Part of the gang escaped and
set fire to the Great harrington hotel
and the residence of William Stanley.
Andrews offered to turn states evil
dence on the gang and upon doing so
was released.
After obtaining this confession Mar
shal Conklin returned to Long Beach
and arrested Mrs. Getz at the house
at American avenue and Fourth street,
where she is stopping. She denied the
charge against her in it's entirety. She
gave bail of $1,000.
Andrews said that Mrs Getz goods
were shipped to Los Angeles on the
Salt Lake road in the name of Fred
H. Peabody. The Salt Lakes books
corroborate this. After the fire An
drews stole a Sunset telephone from
the Casa Palma and hid it on a ranch
near Long Beach. The phone was
found today.
The police believe that there were
others implicated and are on a still
hunt for them. The night before the
Casa. Palma burned the Riviera hotel,
the largest In the place, was set or
fire, but the blaze was soon extin-
guished, and so far there is no clue
to the incendiaries. Andrews and some
of his pals have been in other scrapes
with the police here and have been
under surveillance for some time. Fur