New Britain herald., 1916-03-28
WHITE SLAVERS
 MAY HAVE SET FIRE
Waitress Believed to Be Im-
 plicated - Several Are . Killed, Many Injured.

Cleveland, O., March 28.-Fire which swept through an apartment house in Prospect Avenue carly today, causing the death of two persons and injury to more than a score of others, was of incendiary origin, according to police and detectives.
 Police early today were holding three men and one woman at head | quarters and had established a police l guard at the bedside of Bessie Reimer 1 at Huron Road Hospital.
 "The Reimer girl is as much under arrest as any of the other four,' said Detective Farrell. We are con- vinced that she knows who started las5 nights fire as well as the fire yester- day morning in her room"
 Nearly all of the five were involved in a white slave investigation a few days ago, following which one woman was sent to the workhouse. In this case the Reimer girl was the alleged Victim
 The dead man identified as J. B. Lewis, AZ, who is said to have a wife i and three children in New York. He was employed as a solicitor on the Cleveland City Directory.
 1 The woman was identified as Mrs. Elizabeth Simpkins 50, saleswoman in a Euclid avenue store.
 Bremen Fall From Windows.
 Most of those injured were hurt 1 by jumping from the third floor windows. Of these three, Mrs Albert Melchoir, Dwight Emptage and an unidentified man are fatally injured 1 Fireman Ross and Lieutenant Thom- | as Nestor also were injured so badly in attempting to rescue occupants of the building that they may die. Both fell from third floor windows.
 The apartment contained twenty 1 five suites and more than a hundred persons were in the building at the time the fire started. The majority | of them were rescued by means of i ladders and nets.
 Suspicious Fire Monday.
 Fire started in the building on | Monday morning in a closet in Miss l Reimers room, and she was rescued | by fremen and taken to hospital The fire was easily extinguished but | Miss Reimer was nearly suffocateG She revived in the hospital, however, and last night returned to her room According to the story she told the police today a masked man entered ] her room shortly after 1:30 8. m. gagged her and bound her hands and feet after which he started a fire in the room with paper.
 | She managed to get to her feet and hobble out of the room, but not before the fire had spread and other occupants of the building had become alarmed. She hobbled down the hall and entered the apartment of Mir. and Mrs. A. J. Melchoir. Mrs. Mel choir had just jumped from the win dow, and MeIchoir was hanging onto the sill from the outside ready to drop when Miss Reimer hobbled over to the window. The crow outside yelled to Melchoir not to jump and he clam bered back into the room and cut Miss Reimer's bonds. He then lift ed her out of the window and both the girl and himself were carried down. an extension ladder raised by f1renen. Miss Reimer was burned about the right shoulder and was taken to the hospital which she had quit on the previous day. Police are hunting for the masked man. Miss Reimer could give no reason why the man should attack her.
 The fire was placed under control before the entire building was de- stroyed. The loss has not been es- timated.