Middletown transcript., 1905-11-15

which he was gazing up at one OF In
houses in the row. was walking aioni
Massachusetts, Avenue, in Washington
one morning in the early Summer, whei
I came upon him standing by tree nea
the curb.
naturally followed the direction o
his gaze, but could see nothing unusua
about the house. Itwas one OF the many
handsome residences on that fashionable
thoroughfare, standing back from tin
sidewalk and fronted with an open lawn
saw that the blinds were all tightly
closed, indicating that it had been va
Gated for the Summer, like most OF it'
neighbors. There was surely nothing
strange about this, and evidently mus
have shown that l was puzzled TO know
what was attracting the mans attention
for as was about to pass on he said:
''Do you see that house there-nun'bel
1892"
eyes" I answered, with that irqulr
ing infection that invites further infor'
nation.
"Well, sir, if you have little time tc
spare you will see that house catch hre III
the next two or three minutes.
"How do you know that! J | asked,
taking up my stand by the tree and look
ing at the house with renewed interest.
"By past experience, he answered,
again leveling his gaze upon the malsard
roof Of the building
f'Do you mean to say that 1t catches
fire at regular intervals p
'fYes, sir. Regularly-once year, on
this particular day, between the hours Of
ten-thirty and eleven A. NJ
"Is that so? What's the cause OF it p
"That's what l am try ing to find ont. }"
''Is there anybody in the house ?"
Hasn't been soul inside the door for
a month";
"Then you mean to say the house
catches fire of itself?"
"That's apparently what it does.
"But why don't you turn in al alarm,
if you know that fire is going to break
out, and have the fremen OH hand to
prevent it and discover the cause OF it Y
The man smiled serenely. 81 have
learned not to meddle in other peoples
affairs. It's not my house and it's moth
ing to me if it catches fire or burns down.
Two years ago 1 called the attention OF
the police to the regularity OF the fire in
this house and they told me it was only
a coincidence, and intimated that l mind
my own business, and the man chuckled
softly to himself.
''Strange il hasn't burned down" re-
marked, continuing to stare at the house
with increasing curiosity and expectancy
eNo; each year the tiremen have ar
rived in time to put out the blaze before
it has done any damage, thanks to the
fact that l always turn in an alarm as
soon as the smoke appears. All, there it
is now p he exclaimed suddenly, and the
next instant he was hurrying across the
street to the fre-alarm box on the corner.
1t was moment before l could see the
smoke. Then caught sight Of small
cloud Of it issuing from the cracks OF one
of the attic windows Oh the side OF the
house. l instinctively shouted "Fire u
for / have a habit OF giving way to my
emotions, and as consequence | was
surrounded in less than minute by a
swarm OF breathless men and boys, who
insisted that point out the fire and en-
tighten them on various matters connected
with it, under the assumption that was
in charge OF the affairs.
Having performed his mission Of turn
ing in the alarm my companion rejoined
me and smiingly awaited the arrival OF
the fremen. They appeared in short
order and SO promptly did they do their
work that hand extinguisher was all
that was necessary to put out the fire.
policeman on the beat, supplied with
a key to the house, had appeared on the
scene a moment or two after the alarm
was raised and had opened side door,
by which the firemen entered. Impelled
by an eager curiosity to investigate the
cause Of the conhagration | attempted to
enter also, but was summarly repulsed
by the command of policeman to "get
out p
"All right" answered. 81 am SIM
ply looking for information. Perhaps
you can tell me the cause OF the fire."
II don't know nothin' about it," was
the surly response.
"But isn't it rather strange" l pur-
sued, "that an empty house should catch
fire ?"
"'Taint the first one l seen. There's
plenty OF em does it."
With this as my only satisfaction |
withdrew; but with determination
nevertheless TO probe the matter to the
bottom in one way or another, and dis
cover, if possible, the meaning of this
evident mystery.
| began by consulting the records of
the fire department and was not a little
surprised to find that, with only two ex-
ceptions, an alarm had been turned in
for house No. 1882 Massachusetts Avenue
on the same day each year, and at about
the same hour, for the past eight or nine
years. This was certainly remarkable,
and corroborated what my curbstone
acquaintance had told me for l am free
to confess that l did not altogether be-
lieve him when he confded this strange
fact to me.
discovered also that on each occasion
of the fire the house was unoccupied, the
owner being out of the city and that not
only was the building securely fastened,
but was also connected by an electric
burglar alarm system with police head
quarters, SO that had anyone entered the
premises the fact would at once have
been known. 1t was evident that moth
ing Of this sort had occurred, for the
records of the department contained after
each entry Of the fire in this house the
tECopco Of 6ra