The Lake County times. [volume] (Hammond, Ind.) 1906-1933, 1908-08-04
PROPERTY OWNERS
EMPLOY WATCHMEN
Theory Is Circulated That Some
One Is Waging War on Disrepu-
table Women, as Some of the
Buildings Burned Housed Females
of That Character.

Are two fire fiends responsible for the
four confiagratiOns In Gary that have
startled the entire regioD.
The circumstances which surrounded
the disastrous fire yesterday afternoon
which destroyed the twO-stOry build
Ing owned by Zigman FIeishman of
HeGeWisch and occupied by A. e. Jack
son. saloon, and John HeikIa, proprIe-
tor of the Hotel Finland, tends to JUS
tify the suspicion that has been arous-
ed. The fire yesterday afternoon, like
those preceding it, left the frame struc-
turne burned clean to the ground. The
loss on the building was $4,000 and
was covered to the extent of $4,000 In
a firm represented by Homer AnsIey.
Property Owners Aroused.
Owners of property in the south end
have been wrought to a state of CON
sternation by the series of fires, the
origin of which no one has the slight
est conception aAs a result mans prop
erty owners throughout the city have
employed special watchmen to prevent
the destruction of their property by
what is supposed to be a firebug of
the most rabid character. The city is
almost in a state of chaos. No one
knows whose building will be the next.
SO intently are the people Of Gary
watching the south end that every
cloud of smoke surging across Broad
way starts another cry of fire. People
in the south end who have no insurance
find it impossible to get any and many
of them are terror-stricken.
War on DisreputabIes:
gin of the blazes is that it is the
work of some one attempting to rid
the city of disreputable saloons. 1t is
a well-known fact that women of dis
reputable character were inmates Of
the Broadway hotel where one fire
started Mike Dansch at Twelfth and
Washington, kept number of ques-
tionable women, and the reputation
of the Hotel Finland was no better
than the others. Although they were
not operated as open resorts. immoral
ity was rampant in all of the three
places.
The fire yesterday afternoon started
in a clothes closet in the rear of the
building. A strange story is told by
the proprietor of the saloon, A. f. Jack
son, of an incident preceding the fire
which might tend to prove the theory
of incendiarism. Two men, both
strangers, were seen to enter the place
shortly before the fire started Two
of the boarders of the place, suspect
ing that all was not right, followed
them upstairs soon after and met them
as they were coming down AS it did
not seem likely that they had robbed
the rooms they were not stopped, and
the men soon disappeared down the
street
Woman Gives the Alarm.
Five minutes later Mrs. Julie Jack
son, while passing through the hallway
upstairs, saw the smoke and spread the
alarm. The fire made small headway
for the first half hour and it seemed
as if they would surely be able to ex.
tinguish the flames. Water, however
was too much of scarcity and the
efforts were directed to getting the
furniture out rather than to save the
building. The helplessness of the fire
fighters was appalling. With any kint
of a chemical apparatus there would
have been difficulty in extingufsh.
ing the flames.
For some time the fire made but
slow progress. but as soon as the flame.
gripped Al either side of the house the
remainder of the structure was at once
transformed into roaring, seethins
furnace AS in the fires of the previou.
day the efforts to save the building,
in the vicinity was a picture OF des.
peration itself. Experience had taught
them that the method to prevent the
spread of the flames was with wet
blankets, and these were used witt
complete success. With one excep.
tion none Of the buildings were char.
red to any great extent.
Saved By Desperate Efforts.
The flames became so hot at ont
time. however, that a building 800 fee,
away was saved only by desperate
methods. Those across the street wer,
covered with blankets from top to HOT.