Norwich bulletin., 1914-03-17

1 o 1 for holding Nathan Pumerantz of that | city for trial in the superior court | on complaint charging in two counts | arson to defraud and common law ar 1 son in setting fire to a dwelling. | Pumerantz's bail was increased from $3,000, the amount fixed when the case I was continued, to $5,000, and he was | released on surety.
 The fire which destroyed the store
 of N. Pumerantz & Co, was on Dec 13, 1913. It is charged in one count 1 that Pumerantz set fire to the store to | defraud the insurance companies and | in the second count that the occu- | pants of the apartments above were | threatened. Attorneys Geary, Hankey 1 and Burrows are counsel for the de l fense.
 l Building Owner Testifies. James P. Shea, owner of the build | ing at 45 Bank street, testified Pum-
 erantz was a tenant of his on the day l of the fire. He was excused after de- | scribing the stock in the store William H. Bowker. who on Dec.
 Is resided in the Lawrence R. Shea
 building, said that in his apartments
 were F roomers, Mrs. Bowker and | himself. The fire, he said, was after
 F o'clock on Saturday night. Mrs. | Bowller awoke witness, who saw the l smoke. He got on pants and slippers | and went downstairs to see where the l fire was. Mrs. Bowker called firemen | leading to the second floor, was burned l The front stairway was not burned. 1 In nine years in which the Bowkers l lived in the Shea building there had Told of Other Fires.
 1 Attorney Geary raised an objection | on the ground of irrelevancy Prose | cutting Attorney Cronin claimed the | question as tending to show intent. | The question was allowed and witness | said there were two other fires pre- l viously; that they happened so often | he could not keep trace of them. In | the fall of 1911 between the hours of l 10 and Il and in the spring of 1912 l at about the same hours there were l fires. Both times the Bowkers had to | hustle to get out and call the fire | men,"
 Fire Adjuster Testifies. Alfred H. Murphy of Hartford, fire | insurance adjuster for 14 years and | in the business g years. testified that | he adjusted losses in the San Fran l cisco earthquake fires approximating | S4,000000. Pumerantz was insured | with company witness represented and | a proof of loss or a paper which wit 1 ness insisted "purported to be a proof 1 of loss. was shown. The document
 was offered as Exhibit A. The defense 1 admitted that Pumerantz was insured | in 13 companies. Witness said Pum- | erantz was insured for $15,000. The claim on stock was s11,255.2S and on l fixtures S2}386. The proof of loss, l witness said, showed inventory of l stock and fixtures on Jan. 1, 1913, stock l sent back and stock on hand.
 Made Claim for $11,255.
 Adjuster Murphy compiled a state l ment from Pumerantz's statement of 1 his loss. This covered two years pur-
 chases, return of goods, expenses and
 sales. Witness showed that by null
 tiplication, addition and subtraction | Pumerantzs own proof of loss showed | that on Dec. 13, 1913 his stock and | fixture value was approximately l $5,207.54 His claim of loss against 1 this is $11, ,255.2S
 1 Witness Murphy said Pumerantz 1 made a statement in his presence to 1 the effect that Pumerantz closed his 1 store from to 15 minutes before 12 with his mother. sister and brother | Ben and leaving them about a block 1 from his store, got on a trolley car and rode to his home. At that time | Pumerantz said he had two other fires. l one for which he collected $50 or s60 1 insurance and the other about $200. l Pumerantz told witness that on the 1 occasion of the last fire he was awak- ened by his brother, Ben, who told
 him of the fire.
 1 Pumerantz Claimed Large Profits. l Witness said Pumerantz said his l mother went doWIf@ stairs before the | store closed Pumerantz told witness he made more money in 1913 than in l any previous year: sales and purchaS- es were larger that year than any, To Attorney Geary the witness said his company had not paid it's propor- tion of the fire loss: the company was not loaning his assistance to the state. He Iunched with state policemen on 1 Tuesday; paid for his own lunch and l did not know who paid for the police 1 mems lunch. Discussion of a non l waiver agreement was engag ged in for the announced purpose of showing ami mostly of witness toward the defend 1 ant. He claimed the state policemen 1 acted on their own initiative.
 Discussed Ratio of Profit.
 Witness explained that he made his | compilation of figures from Pumer- | antzs figures just as though they | were honest figures" There was a
 discussion of profits in the clothing
 was told his estimate of 43 per cent profit was unreasonable and he him
 self said 30 per cent. was all that l could be figured for a profit. It was
 shown that 43 per cent. was the profit
 on the purchase price and 30 per cent
 was the profit and the selling price.
 Testimony of State Policeman.
 Theodore F. Downing. state police
 man, said Pumerantz in December told him that he closed the store about
 1115 on Dec. 13 and left on the 12
 o'clock car for his home. His brother,
 Benny, telephoned him and he got up
 and came to the fire. In regard to the
 other fire Pumerantz told witness he
 collected $500 smoke damage" Wit
 ness made inspections of the burned
 store. On the first inspection the
 store had not been cleaned The rear
 of the building was blackened but not
 burned. A table beside the boiler was
 blistered, not burned. In front of the
 boiler for p or 30 feet from the side
 walk line the timbers were burned the
 worst
 Janitor Found Boiler All Right.
 John Mccarthy. janitor of the Shea
 building, testified he was in the build
 ing at 10.45 and banked the fire. The
 boiler was all right then. It was
 tested in October. After looking at the
 fire he went through the building The
 day previous to the fire he cleaned up
 the cellar. There was a carload of
 boxes in the centre of the cellar Pum-
 eranty wanted to save the boxes. he
 told Mccarthy. until after Christmas. After the fire Mccarthy examined the fire and found it had burned where | the boxes had been piled. An elevator ! at the sidewalk entrance was left by Mccarthy about two and one-half feet | from the floor with a barrel on it. Af-
 ter the fire Mccarthy found the ele- Vator up and even with the sidewalk | Jeremiah Twomey, saloon keeper at | B Bank street on the night of the | eff hi nTa of