The weekly soliphone., 1915-10-08

Not since Faragould woke up one day nearly two years ago and found a full-grown opium den in opera tion in the business section of the city has such intense excitement prevailed as was produced last night Mhen Frank Threlkeld, J. w. Eaton and his son, Lynn Eaton, well known painters and paperhangers who have resided in Paragould for a number of years, were arrested on charges of being members of an ar son squad. The arrests were made following five attempts to set fire to as many buildings between seven thirty and nine o'clock last night.
 The first effort to start con- flagration was made in the McHa
 ney building in the hallway on the second floor. The wallpaper and canvas was fired in three places on tnsAyest wall, one place on the east wall and again in the sideroom used for the storage of coal. This fire had hardly been eXtinguished when flames were discovered in the rear of the Bleier building on West Court street occupied by J. o. Langdon's paint and wallpaper store. In the rear of the store is sort of balcony where dimension glass stock is carried The firebugs ig- nited a quantity of excelsior and other inflammable material, and when they came down the steps to thesground floor they broke gal lon- bottle of oil and poured 1t on the floor. This fire was discovered within a few minutes after 1t had been started and was extinguished before serious damage was done.
 About eight o'clock the fiends went to the two-story building on South Pruet and Main streets, own ed by A. P Mack and started conflagration. The lower floor is occupied by the Clyde Mack Mer- cantile Company, and the second floor is used as lodge hall. Last night the Rebeccas and members of the two Odd Fellows lodges were holding a joint meeting, entertain ing Eugene Torbett of Little Rock, custodian of the unwritten work. There were about three hundred men, women and children assembled I@lr sneaked up the stairway to the en- trance to the lodge room, entered plunder room and set fire to quantity of trash and waste Mrs w. J. Wood who was late in reach ing the lodge hall discovered the fire as she went up the stairway She knocked on the door of the lodge room and was answered by JinH Mather who proceeded to ex- tinguish the flames. Tom Tread way, who was leaving the lodge room to meet train assisted MT. Mather. No alarm was given as a precaution against stampede.
 III Jue IueduIlIlS lhS OAiASSAS AA'N been watching the movements or Frank Threlkeld, J. w. Eaton and Lynn Eaton, particularly Threlkeld who is alleged to have actually ap- piled the matches to the buildings, About nine o'clock Threlkeld was seen going up the stairway that leads to the second floor of the building on Court and Pruet streets, ocEApied by J. B. Mime. Threlkeld remained upstairs not longer than one minute, witnesses testify. He was observed coming down on Pruet street. City Attorney Cecil Shane, Walter Potter and Ben De- Bopes who had been watching Thry,keld from behind telephone poles on the east side of Pruet street, ran to the second floor of the Mime building, hurriedly put the fire out that was consuming the paper and canvas on the walls of the hall, and this done they ran up the street and overlook Threlkeld near Fishers drug store. City At torNey Shane, who reached Threlk-