New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-08-29
SUGAR PIRATES
PLACED BOMBS
ON ALLIES SHIPS
Mystery of Fires on YES
sells Loaded with Sup
plies Solved.
5 GERMANS AMONG
7 MEN ARRESTED
Peculiar Move of Lighter Gave
CleW-May Involve the
Kaiser's Agents.

The mystery of fires on ships laden
with sugar and other supplies for the
/ Allies. and the presence on board such
vessels of bombs. was in part ex-
planned Yesterday. when Central Office
men. acting under Deputy Commits
sioner Guy Scull made seven arrests.
or the prisoners five Germans and one
Belgian are charged with grand lar
ceny. The other prisoner is an Aus
train. who stands charged with receiv
inc stolen goods.
Two of the men under arrest have,
according to the police. confessed that
the bombs and fires were set TO cover
up the wholesale theft of sugar, and
have involved others. whose arrest is
expected tonight and tomorrow.
/ Whether or not the evidence now in
| hand involves any agent of the Ger
man government could not be learned
at Police Headquarters last night.
Bombs Similar to Ones Holt Used.
The bombs used were of TIE type
Frank Holt, who exploded bomb in
the Capitol at Washington and COM
mitted suicide after trying to murder
j. p. Morgan, used, exeept that instead
Of a receptacle for sulphuric acid,
which. eating its way through a cork.
exploded dynamite, the acid was al
/ lowed to fall on a substance which
would Immediately burst into flames.
The men under arrest at Headquar-
ters are:
/ Kahn. Frederick, forty-four. 357 Sew
enteenth Street, Brooklyn. German
American. captain of the lighter John
| F. Rymer.
/ Kachelink, Abraham. twenty-four. 80
| Monroe Street. Austrian, charged with
receiving stolen goods.
Metzet. Micnael, fifty-four. 672 Forty
eight Street. Brooklyn. German, cap
tain of the lighter S. f. S.
Mithoffer. Richard, thirty-siY. 6l9i
Fourteenth Avenue, Brooklyn, captain
of the lighter Trial.
Peterson. John. fiftythree. German
American. 2S Buena Vista Avenue, Yon-
kers. mate of the lighter S. F. S.
Siuvsen. Sigmund. thirty-ive. Ger
man-American. 511 Sixth Avenue
Brooklyn. captain of the lighter Dixie.
/ Stvrms, Jean, twentv-four, Belgian,
/ col Tenth Avenue, tally man on the
/ French Line pier. ,
The charges OF grand larceny and OF
receiving stolen goods against the men
under arrest are based upon the re-
moyal from lighters and ships Of large
ouantities OF sugar. Thus far no
/ charge of incendiarism has been pre-
] ferred.
{ The arrests are the result OF sew
eral months work on the part of Head
quarters men, who early in May began
| looking into the causes Of fires on
I ships loading for ports of the Allies.
Gradually il developed that in every
case the shps were sugar laden. the
sugar III each case coming from the
/ rlart of the Federal Sugar Rehning
/ Gonna in Yonkers. which has large
/ contracts with the French and BRUSH
governments.
Solves Fires on Sugar Ships.
It was then the theory of the police
that the fires had been set by German
! svmDathizers. theory that was
| strengthened when bombs were found
/ On sugar ships arriving at Nurseries:
II gradually developed, however, that
in each fire sugar disappeared, and 1t
] became clear that whatever other mo-
| tives there might be the fires were
used as a cloak for wholesale thetts,
/ though the steamship companies had
made no complaints of losses. FRIDAY
night matters came to a climax, wnen
/ l40 bags of sugar, valued at nearly
/ 81 900, were seized in the second-hahu
store of Kachelink, and he was arrested
J on the charge of receiving stolen goods
Subsequently MatZet and the others
were brought in, and after Delng put
/ through the third degree were locked
up.
/ According to the evidence collected
independently and the confessions
made by the prisoners, the practice OF
stealing a few bags OF sugar mas I1t.ei Deeh
common among lighterage men. Wlth
the breaking out of hostilities and the
/ large increase in shipments the steal
/ ings increased. 1t was then, the ponce
saw, that some of the prisoners decided
upon the use of fire bombs to make
wholesale thefts safer. The fact that
ship with a bomb in her hold might
not reach her port safely was not con-
/ sidered an argument against the prac-
tice ...,
The first fire TO attract the attention
Of the police was on the Devon Iity'
which caught fire at the trench Line
pier on April %. One week lster mere
vas fire on the steamship hrhe' ahu
early in May the kirkswald' sugar iau'
Continued on page I. column