Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1908-10-22
GANG OF FIRE BUGS AND
THIEVES ROUNDED UP
Six Young Boys all Under is
Years of age are now Board
ing at the County Jail as a
Result of Sunday Nights Fire
and Theft and the 8 Previous
Mysterious Fires.


Mysterious Fires.
The same cause, whether incendiary
or accidental, that fired the E. Roeni-
us barn and foundry buildings re-
Gently, is the same that fired the
Wood Pulp Company mill on Sunday
night. About eight O'Clock the fire
alarm was sounded and this entire
mill was completely enveloped 10
flames at one time, from one extreme
end to the other, testifying to the use
Of gasoline or kerosene which had pre-
pared the way for the flames.
The Fire Company turned out
promptly and did excellent work in
keeping the fire from spreading and
under control, and allowed the ouild-
ing to be enJirely consumed. The
origin of these three fires which have
occurred in such close succession, are
being Investigated and of course are
the cause of great deal of discussion
and surmise, and many theories are
advanced. none of which have so far
been established.
1t is generally conceded by those
who have been watching things close
ly that at least three boys not over
sixteen years of age are guilty of set
ting the four last fires in this CITY,
We believe we could name three of
the boys. These same boys entered
d. M. Huntington,s gun store last
night during the fire or after by taking
out pane of glass and crawling
through the opening. They stole
revolvers one of 81 calibre and one
3S calibre and also took about 1000
cartridges. The number of revolvers
indicate the number of boys in the
gang. The value of material taken
S25 or $50. 1t will be remembered
that when the PodawiltZ barn burned
several hundred cartridges were dis
charged. This fact shed some light
upon other thefts. The fire originat-
ed by the same party or parties and
they have followed up the practice of
setting fires since. These boys are
the dime novel readers and have
desire to be followers of Jesse James
and Younger Brothers. We expect
that the Sheriff will pick up all three
of these offenders before long. 1t is
our opinion that it is the work Of
boys who do their work of firing early
in the evenings. The setting of the
last four fires have all occurred before
8 O'Clock in the evening.
LATER.-Since writing the above
Sheriff Julian WEIGH has arrested the
following four boys who are charged
with setting fire to the Pioneer Wood
Co.'s mill, Grand Rapids Foundry
Co. S building and E. Roenius' large
barn, they are Henry Podawiltz, Earl
Helms, Leo Caine, each Is years of age
and Francis Sell, IA years of age, and
also for breaking into and robbing d.
NJ. Huntington's gun store of revol-
vers and ammunition. They are now
all in the county Jail awaiting their ex
animation. These boys were organized
into what they call 'Camp of Long
Island" with headquarters on said
Long Island just above the Green Bay
& Western railroad bridge. They
have all plead guilty to the parts they
each had in the burning of the build
ings and burglary.
In the burning of the Roenius barn
Earl Helms set fire to the hay with
matches and the eleven-year-old, Del
bert Bliss, boy was with him and saw
him touch the match which started
that fire. After setting it they both
ran up to the Green Bay depot.
In the Grand Rapids Foundry Co. s
fire Earl Helms, Henry Podawiltz and
Leslie Bliss set that fire by procuring
some gasoline at the Bliss home and
threw this into the lower part of the
elevator in the mill and then threw d
match through knot hole which
ignited the gasoline.
In the burning of the Pioneer Pulp
Co.'S. mill Earl Hien, Henry Poda-
wiltz and Francis Sell were together
when they prepared torch of dry
pulp and paper and with this fired the
west end of the building and then
came down the river bank to D. M
Huntington'S gun store and entered
the building from the rear end through
a window pane which they removed.
The fire setting in each case was
done by Earl Hines and he is the one
who told US the above facts and they
were endorsed by the other boys and
told in their presence.
We asked them what object they
had in the burning and they said
they wanted to get rid of the old
buildings. They robbed Mr.. Hunting
toms store so as to secure guns, am
munitions, etc, so that they woulc
nave something to use and defend
themselves on their camp on Long
Island, These boys are certainly de-
serving of severe punishment to bring
them to full realization of the crime
they have committed. They speak
lightly of the offense and think they
have done something smart and cute.
The Helms boy appears to have been
the leader.
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