Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1913-07-17
FIFTEEN FIRES IN
MONTH LAID TO
HAND OF F|REBUG
All Occur In Tenth Ward.
Charred Ruins Mark Work
of Destruction.

The fifteenth fire supposed to have
| been set by an incendiary in the
Tenth ward section of the city dur
ing the last month was discovered
early today in a vacant frame build
Ing at 20 Avenue C. No arrests have
been made, although the police and
inspectors from Captain Gasser's Of
fee have questioned several suspects
and followed several clues that prom
ised results.
The blaze this morning in the I'M
occupied building is the second with
in a week only last Saturday an
alarm being turned in for fire that
started in exactly the spot on the
second floor that 1t did today. Prompt
work by the f1remen prevented a
large loss at the first blaze, but to-
day the flames had better start be-
fore the alarm was sounded and the
damage was estimated at $500.
A walk through the district in
tested by the pyromaniacs shows the
ruins in almost every block. Black
charred buildings are being RACED
and preparations made for new struc-
lures. AT some points several Of the
blackened, fire-swept buildings are
visible at one glance. The merchants
are appealing to the police for more
police protection, and are even guard
ing their property themselves at
night.
Captain G. Albert Gasser furnished
Captain Christie with a list Of the
| fires that have been the work of the
| firebugs, and the latter assigned De-
tective Brex to stop the work of de-
struction and capture the culprits.
| 1t is the belief of Captain Gasser
| and the police that all of the blazes
| have been set maliciously either by
a degenerate or gang of excitement
loving boys.
| Every one of the fifteen blazes with
suspicious origins has been within a
| half-mile radius. To strengthen the
police in their theory of incendiarism
| it is noted that each fire has started
| about the same time at night, 2:30
| and a. M, and in almost every
case traces of the amateurish work
| of the bugs" have been left behind.
| On June q a shed at 211 Thomas
street was set afire and the very next
night chicken coop, just around
! the corner on Dawson street, was
! found ablaze. Both were extinguished
without the firemen being summoned.
Another fence in the neighborhood,
which is filled with frame dwelling
houses, bore marks two days later
of an attempt to burn 1t. Charred
newspapers were found stuffed In the
cracks between the boards.
Blaze Sweeps Factory.
The most serious of the fifteen fires
| was in the TAYLOR Barrel Companys
plant, on Thomas street, the night
of July 8, when the whole factory
was swept by the blaze. starting at
a side window where the netting had
been torn off and lighted papers
thrust in. Practically the same meth
cd of pushing paper through broken
windows was in evidence in the other
cases. In one instance fire was
built against the doorway of the
Riordan leather factory on South
street
The date and places visited by the
| torch are as follows:
! June Is, Main and Kossuth streets,
Stengel & Rothchild; 49, Railroad and
| Albert avenues, Newark Charcoal
Company; IS, II Hermon street. H.
Magel; 22, 1877 New York avenue, j..
Dougksis; 20. Main and Kossuth
streets, Stengel & Rothchild 81. I'll
Thomas street. one-story frame shed;
%, II Dawson street, chicken coop
80. 100 Thomas street, Zion Baptist
Church.
July 3, Adams and Thomas streets,
w. F. Taylor; s, South and Jefferson
streets, Riordan Leather Company; 5,
365 Chestnut street, grocery; g. Muir
ray street, Essex foundry; u, 20 Ave-
nue. C, unoccupied factory; 16, South
Street School; IT, 20 Avenue c, unoc-
cupied factory, two-story frame.