The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1913-01-21
ARSON TRUST is
The LATEST FIND
HideOuS Form Of Crime In New
York City.
.FIREBUGS WORK FOR S. FEE

District Attorney Unearths consplr'
acy by Which Insurance Adjuster, In
League With Incendiaries, Robs Com :
panies of Great Sums on False
Ciaims-Lives Sacrificed.
"a tirebug can be bought for five
dollar bill and 10 per cent of the in
surance collected TO set fire to furni-
ture, with no regard for human life
whatever" was one of the allegations
in a statement issued at the district at
torney's office. in New York city. a
! short time ago, following the arrest OF
an insurance agent, who was arTaigned
in the Harlem court on charge of ar
son in the second degree and locked up
in default of $4,000 bail.
The arrest was one Of the develop
ments of the confession of Samuel
Gold, who pleaded guilty to arson be-
fore Judge Grain in the court of gen
eral sessions. After his plea Gold made
statement to Assistant District At
torney Weller, in which it is stated he
laid bare the most astounding reveal
lions with reference to crooked insur-
ance brokers and adjusters."
Evidence reached the district attor-
ney's office that lives have been lost
through the operations Of the gang OF
frebugs besides the money losses OF
insurance companies in the last two or
three years
Inexperience of the fatal velocity
with which excelsior and kerosene can
work destruction has entrapped the IN
cendiaries several times. In these in
stances the ones to suffer have been the
Youngest in large families of children
The flames burst out with too sudden
strength, and in the scramble some one
occasionally was left behind
Agent Helps Potters.
The charge to which Gold pleaded
guilty was that of hiring one lsidor
Stein, better known as ''lzzy the Paint
en-" to set fire to his furniture in an
apartment upon which Gold had $1,000
insurance. Stein was tried last month
Sing Sing prison, serving a sentence
of from twelve to twenty four years.
1t was learned also that on Dec. /.
1910 Gold had another fire in which
his insured furniture was slightly
burned. At that time Gold lived at
574 East One Hundred and Thirty
eighth street, in the Bronx
From the investigation of the office
Of District Attorney Whitman it APP
pears that an agent posing as life as
we'll as a fire insurance broker has
figured in the adjustment of many fire
losses. 1t is stated that he was able
to go to one or two fire insurance COM
panieS with which he transacted most
Of his business and after filing a sched-
ule for a total loss. say, of S1,OOO Tor
damages to furniture by fire would Of
fer and was able to effect settle
ment on so or 60 per cent basis In
these cases, it is charged, the compa-
MES representative would make an ex-
animation and ascertain that the hre
was of a suspicious origin, report the
matter to Fire Marshal John 7. Pr1al,
take less than the schedule called for,
would be quick to procure a settle
ment and take up and cancel the pol
icy of insurance and call 1t a good set
tlement
Human life was held cheap The
fras are most numerous in the thickly
congested tenement houses on the east
side, where there are six to eight fam
lilies living on one floor. 1t is not in
tended that the incendiary should do
ANYBODY else the favor Of starting
fire except to make a fire of the furni-
ture Of the man who employs him.
District Attorneys Statement.
The formal report is as follows:
'Investigation by the fire marshais
office show that a great many of these
fires are confined to the rooms of one
apartment; that $100 worth of damage
to furniture, clothing and bedding Is
swelled into u $500 or II $1,000 claim.
The insurance companies do not con
slider that this claim is large enough to
fight through the courts, either to take
the matter up with the authorities or
to contest the claim in the civil courts.
Not infrequently is life lost, but the
firebug never thinks Of others He
touches a match to a clothes closet fill
ed with rags and old clothing saturated
with benzine or gasoline, opens one or
the windows slightly from the top,
slips ont OF the apartment quietly and
ouickIv and then crosses over to the
other side of the street, lights a ciga-
rette and waits to see the horses of the
fire department come racing down the
street"