New Britain herald., 1915-01-26
EARNEST SUSPICION
 OVER CAUSE OF FIRE
Blaze Starts Under Counter in
 Storc- c--Danlge Is $2,000.
PROPRIETOR INSURED FOR $4,oO0
Fire Alarm Bell Is Repaired and Is Once More in COmmissiOn.-NOOn time Fire Looks Like Incen- diariSm.

diarism.
 Gravest suspicion is attached to the origin of the fire which started at about 12:3O o'clock this afternoon in the Bargain Clothing company store at No. 24 Lafayette street, of which J. Caslowitz is the proprietor, and which did damages of upwards of S2,0OO to the stock and building. Cas- lowitz states that he had over $7,00O worth of stock in his place but that he had it insured for only 4,OOO. The insurance is carried by E. H. Munson and Louis Edelson.
 Origin Looks Suspicious.
 Everything about the fire looks sus- picious, although the storekeeper and his wife stoutly maintain that they know nothing of it's origin. Chief Robert M. Dame and Assistant Chief William Noble conducted a careful ex animation of the store after the fire but could find no traces of wax or oil to substantiate their theories of in- cendiarism but nevertheless the facts in the case are curious.
 When the fire department arrived the entire interior of the store was a seething mass of flames and great clouds of heavy yellow smoke were pouring from the windows, both on the ground floor and also from the upper windows, and so hot was the store that the firemen were una ble to enter more than three or four feet with their lines of hose. The heavy glass windows in front were cracked by the intense heat and almost everything in the line of stock was either burned to a cinder or so badly charred and smoked as to be almost a total loss. However, there will be a considerable amount of the small stock that lay in boxes on the shelves in the front and rear of the store that will be salvaged.
 Fire Starts Under Counter.
 The fire started in the center of the store and under the counter, on which was piled quantities of clothing and behind which was large clothes ca binet. Mrs. Caslowitz states that her husband went home to dinner at 12.30 o'clock and after she had waited on a customer who purchased a pair of overalls she went 10 the front of the store and watched the people pass. After standing there a half hour her attention was attracted back into the store. She was terrified to see it in flames, the red tongues of fire Tapping their way across the room and eating through the ceiling into the upstairs tenement, which is occupied by Luke Meehan and family, owners of the block Officer Patrick Meehan lives in the adjoining block and was asleep at the time. He was aroused by the suffocating smoke entering his apart ments and the entire block from Meehan's to the Boys club, several doors beyond was permeated with smoke. ..
 When the fire department arrived on the scene Mrs. Caslowitz was shouting hysterically that her little boy was inside the store, but he was subsequently, discovered standing across the street watching the ex- citement When Caslowitz arrived he too, struggled to enter the store but was restrained by the firemen.
 By vigorous work the firemen pre- vented the fire from eating into the upstairs tenement so as to do any ap- preciable damage. Under the cloth- ing counter where the fire found it's origin there seems to be no natural way for a fire to start. It is fully ten feet or more from the stove which stands at the rear of the stove ana there is no gas or electric light near at hand. The stove was not damaged, showing that it was impossible TOT an explosion to have started the trouble. The wollen and cotton garments made a good place for the fire to get smoul- dering start and aven after the recall had been sounded Chief Dame kept couple of men behind to extinguish the last spark.
 While they attempt to make no ex- planation of how the fire did start, saving that they don't know, and the first they saw of it the entire place was ablaze Mrs. CasloWitz said that her last customer bought his over alls across the counter where the fire started She could not say whether or not he had been. smoking. but her husband said: Sure, they all smoke. I smoke too, around here'' Even then he was pulling on cigarette.
 Chief Makes Test.
 After the fire Chief Dame and As sistant Chief Noble examined the woodwork where the fire got it's start and with penknife blade the former stuck it deep into the charred wood, showing that it was subjected to the flames for some time longer than the rest of the wood work. as, he ex- plained: "the longer piece of wood burns the deeper i'll it is charred.'
 It was fortunate that the alarm came i'll at the time it did for most of the callmen were home to dinner and were notified of the fire by the sounding of the alarms in their homes. The clanper on the alarm in the Bap-
 tcontinucd on Eleventh Pagc.)