The midland journal., 1916-08-18
CHEsTERTOwN FIRE BUG DIS
COVERED.

Slight Fire Unearths Arson Fiend.
The Chestertown Transcript of last
week tells of the discovery of the
fire fiend believed to be responsible
for the burning of the College build
ings in Chestertown, and other recent
fires in Kent county and elsewhere.
The Transcript says:
To States Attorney Harrison w.
Vickers should be given the credit
for unearthing the fire fiend who has
been at work in Chestertown and
Kent county for the past year and
q half.
The slight fire at the strawboard
mill early Tuesday morning which
did no damage, but created a lot of
excitement, was the means of arrest,
and Arthur Johnson, strange negro
AS years old, who came to Chester
town from Texas about two years
ago, is the fiend. Ever since the
fires at J. e. Loud's and VIM. A.
Bells farms in the spring, Mr.. Wick
ers has "had his eye on" Johnson.
In fact, VIM. A. Bell stated the morn
ing after his fire that he believed
johnson is the man who fired his
buildings, because he tracked foot
prints from his stable toJ. q. Loud's
home, where Johnson lived, the
morning after the fire. AS soon as
Mr.. Vickers and Deputy Sheriff Mark
A. Perkins learned that Johnson was
employed at the paper mill, an in
vestigatiOn was ordered. Johnson
confessed to having discovered the
fire in an empty barrel in the hay
loft of the big mill stable, and his
statements regarding the manner of
his discovery were so incoherent
that he was arrested, against the
protests of the mill authorities who
had learned to look upon Johnson
as an Industrious and polite laborer.
For two hours Immediately following
the fire Mr. Vickers and Sheriff Had
away grilled Johnson, and the only
thing they could get from him was
that he had discovered seven fires
since coming to Kent about a year
and half ago. These were-John
p. Cochran's fire near Galena, where
Johnson was employed for a time;
B. F. Rash, w. C. Grow, w. F. Jar
rell's Showick outbuildings on the
farms Of Messrs. J. Edward Loud and
VIM. A. Bell, and the fire at the
strawboard mill on Tuesday morning.
The authorities telephoned to Balti-
more for Johnson's record. Detec-
tive Kratz came to Chestertown on
Tuesday evening. and on Wednesday
morning, accompanied by the local
authorities, he went to the Jail and
put johnson through severe grill
ing. The detective secured from
Johnson confession to having fired
the outbuildings on the Loud
farm, the large strawstack on w.
Frank Jarell's farm and the fire at
the paper mill on Tuesday morning.
When asked about the frs at Wash
ington College, johnson said that he
could not have done that because
the doors were locked. Asked how
he knew they locked, he said, "Oh,
don't ask me any more" This led
the detective and States Attorney to
believe that Johnson also fired the
Washington College buildings, and
that he started all the other fires
mentioned above. According to
Detective Kratz, Johnson is one of
the most desperate fire fiends. He
was employed on the steamer Emma
A. Ford when she burned at her
wharf at Love Point some years ago;
he was employed on the steamer
Cambridge plying between Baltimore
and Claiborne when she caught fire
in the Chesapeake bay last year, and
he was employed on several other
boats upon which fires occurred, and
the situation had become such that
he was refused employment in Balti--
more and he came to Kent county,
Johnson is light complexion negro,
as years old. He has served two
terms of two years each in the pen
itentiary for burglary, and six
months in Jail for other offences.
There is no question in the minds of
the authorities but that Johnson is
desperate arson fiend, and the COM
munity should feel greatly relieved
that he has been apprehended. He
has been held for the action of the
grand jury at the October term of
court. and has employed VIM.
Frazier Russell, Jr,, as his counsel.
--Ot-
Railroad Signal Lights.
The PENNSYLVANIA Railroad is con-