Evening capital and Maryland gazette., 1915-10-25
ARSON CONSPIRACY
CONFESSED BY TRIO
Admit Firing Baltimore Plant, But
Deny Other Activities.
INSURANCE AGENTS INFORMATION
lip Leads to Arrest Of Accused, State
Fire Marshal Loses Eye in Ex-
change of Shots.

A statewide investigation will fol-
ow the arrest of three men who are
charged with conspiring TO set fire 10
ne canning house of Charles NJ Muir
ay & Son, at odenton. this county. ac-
eording TO Assistant States Attorney
larry w. Nice. of Baltimore.
Mr.. Nice expects that this probe will
how that the trio under arrest had
organized an elaborate system to make
loney by firing buildings He believes
hat they have operated in the greater
number OF the counties of the State.
and says the States Attorneys office
aas information telling specifically of
llaces fired in the counties.
The men. according to Mr. Nice. were
not mere low-brows, but were famil-
Jar with the insurance business. and
had associates who, knew how to get
insurance on places to be fired Mr.
Nice suggests that others may be in
volved in the future investigations
Gottlieb Freud says Mr.. Nice,is regard
ed as the brains of the trio. He was at
one time employed as an insurance ad-
iuster He claims. by the way, to be
the son of the president of the Univer-
sity OF Prague, Bohemia and TO be him
self a graduate of that institution
Before Justice Supplee yesterday
morning the accused waived a hearing
The magistrate postponed their hear
ing until this afternoon Bail was fix
ed at $4,000 in each case. The men
we're held a. police headquarters The
trio confessed that they had been in
conspiracy TO fire the Murray plant.
Although Assistant States Attorney
Harry w. Nice thinks that they have
been working in the city of Baltimore
FOR two years and that eight or ten
cases of arson can be proved against
them, they would not admit anything
but the attempt TO fire the Murray
plant at Odentcn
The State Fire Marshal. who was
shot in the eye during the raid. is eX-
pected to recover but will lose the sight
Of his eve. The bullet lodged in his
head. but has not penetrated the brain
No effort has been made TO remove IT,
The men under arrest are Gottlieb
Freud. 80 years old Harry Miller. AZ
years old. and Harry Friedman, 35
years old All are charged with con
spring to commit arson. The conspi-
racy, II is alleged, was Matched in Bal
timore. though put in effect at Odenton.
Miller and Friedman are charged with
asaulting and shooting the state Fire
Marshal, Mr.. Myers.
William Bokel. a Baltimore insur-
ance agent. is said by Assistant States
Attorney Nice to have been party TO
the conspiracy. No charge has been
preferred against him. Mr. Nice would
not say whether a charge would be
brought against him
Mr. Broening called all the men Of
his Office into consultation, and It was
decided that il would be well 20 have
someone who was not known to make
the deal for catching the men. JOS
eph Broening, nephew of the States
Attorney was selected He arranged
with Bolel to issue the fake policy on
the Murray plant and to get in touch
with the three firebugs"
It Is said that Bokel made signed
confessions to States Attorney Broen-
ing in which he admitted his partici-
patton in the scheme. Young Broening
met Freud. Miller and Friedman last
Tuesday in a restaurant at st. Paul
and Fayette streets, Baltimore and
there arranged the details for firing the
Murrayplant. The agreement. accord
ft,s, -, ,F
that they were to receive 20 per cent.
of the $4,000 policy which had been
taken out on the plant The money.
it was understood, would be placed
when the place was burned.
Freud objected to a clause IN the
policy saying there should be no gaso-
line on the place. Gasoline was to be
used in the fire. Broening said that he
would have that fixed Again the four
men met at Gay and Front streets.pre-
pared to carry out the plot The trio
are said to have demanded SIS with
which to buy the material to start the
flames. Broening gave him S35, it is
said, and went out and bought the ma
terial-a iishbowl, two candles, twogal-
Ions of gasoline, two pasteboard boxes
some moving picture films, which was
to beu sed as fuse.
On the way to Odenton the men de-
manded more money Broening gave
them $40, all carefully marked. Fire
Marshal Myers. with ten detectives
and plain-clothes men, were waiting
for the conspirators. The charge of
shooting the Fire Marshal was made
against Friedman and Miller because
they were together when the shots
we're exchanged with the police and
detectives. One chamber of Miller's
revolver was found empty. Al the
men are said to have had revolvers.
Young Broening is reported to have
drawn his own weapon early in the
fight and covered Freud
a. -