The evening world., 1912-04-24
AL WATERBURY,
MFEAR@ TORCH,
HUNTS F|REBUcS
Aldermen and Citizens Offer
Rewards, Following -Four.
teen Fires in a Day.
SUSPECT is
Police, Burned Out of Head
quarters, Say Blazes Are
Work of a Maniac.
SUSPECT IS
,sp.e.i 20 TIL. E-en,ss wslsl

1f ~ NP'h
way OF fretux scarcs. the n that
now holds Waterbury In rs grip mus,
take first rank. and the prospects are
that 1t will hold the record Tor a long
time. The ono tlilng that overshadows
everything else here ls the epidemic Of
hrcs. Every citizen i,as turned himself
into n detective. IA many OF the police
as can lie kept out 81 their uniforms
are securing along the streets and AZ
icys. iook!ns for suspicious characters.
At the temporary police headquarters
In the Court Iioise building "A squad
If picked men 10 licpt In readiness 10
jump cut the minute u fire alarm comes
In. The police ihemseives are she fire.
l,uG's victims. for the grand climax
was reached IN the firing Of the his
tosic City Hal. A new headquarters
had to be found.
Fourteen fres IN ono day set the city
IN a state OF Wild alarm. y fticse II is
asserted that all but one were OF in
cendlary origin. Oi!-soaked rags have
boon found In some places. where tho
blaze was started. A. others the origin
OF The IRE was evidently In carefully
placed kindiing wood. All OF the nres
were In cellars or closets or under
stairways.
Already the Board Of Aldermen has
offered . reward OF 900 for tho de,ec.
ton and arrest OF the miscrcant. Fri.
vatc citizens have subscribed II much
more There 10 talk that the reward
viii be further Increased In tho hope
that some clue may b turned up. In
factory buildings and In large places Of
buslncss guards are being kept on DUTY
all the time.
The Hoard Of Public 0sts&y 10 In al.
,most continuous service lts nembers
wSre talking over the situation With
Francis J.. Reeves unttl nearly mid.
night. When they ssft Tor ths@s homes
It wss SAID that Trey haA osass1sesd
every possible plan Of guarding the city
from further menace.
POLICE kGgpiNo oLoog WATCH
ON FiRgOVo oUopecr.
There were only thrss Hrss during
yesterday. W. Of then Of Suspicious
origin. and II was the bsliss that the
nrsbug. or crank. or eut-anA-out luna.
tic. Rad been satisfled with the Job
already done ana was resting. But
this did not cause the withdrawal Of
any OF the precautionary measures.
Mayor Reeves said early this morning
I, an Evening World reporter.
Enthusiastically the fires Of Monday
and yesterday were laid by an incsn-
nary. The similarity that 10 seen In
all Of them put aside q other thought.
When they began We believed that Il
was simply a matter OF nrss coming In
\ bunch. but when we game TO look
int Thorn we wsro led to tho one con-
clusion. On Monday night whiie the
hrs In thu old City Hall was at it,
hsight there were three nrss within
twenty minutes In about one city block
~ Bank street.
There u = suspect whom the police
are after. but % far nothing definite has
booa laid to him. He 10 said q have
3esa seen acting strapgsly. alone and
~ other times companions have been
With him. lie -hAe the look OF Q Tor.
cigner, II - said. ana II about twenty.
nvs ysSfs Old. since the police have
been informed Of him he has KEEP,
mighty low. however. Likely he think
taxt the hunt IL too brisk for him.
Our investigation shows that the nrS
IN The CITY Hall was undoubtedly OF In
cendiary origin. Easy access 10 whsrv
II started IN the basement could be had
by way oe tho comfort station. No on,
a DO found who was near that part o,
the basement during the day n Their,
vas nothing In tho basement that woult
make spontaneous combustion . plsus
iblo explanation"
Chief OF Police George NJ. Beach ad,
vanced the theory that the nrcJoug Wis
ited all tho places and laid his PLAN
before actually setting the fires.
evtogNTLY the WORK or A
MANIAC, SAYS CHEF.
"somc OF the frcs.'' said Chief Beach
wore within such = small area ant
we're started 90 close together that thil
70 about tho only explanation ! zee
To me Il looks ~ II the man who hai
tssn making ali this trouble is . man
Lap There have been no threats mad,
preceding any OF tho fires. There ha
been nothing that savors IN the slightes
dcgree or ~biackinail. Wa are A. muci
wy w the air about It as We were tw,
scars ago when We had another out