Rogue River courier. (Grants Pass, Or.) 19??-1918, 1916-12-17
CAUSE
.l0SANGE[ES
FIRE LOSS
Plant Of the ueweIIyn Iron
Company Is Destroyed By
Blaze Supposed To Have
Been Of Incendiary Origin

Los Angeles. Dec. i6.---Fire. said
by tho police and fire department to
have been OF incendlary origin. early
this morning practically destroyed tho
plant OF the ldeweliyh Iron works.
causing 100000 damage to the
plant.
The plant OF the Lacey Manufacture
tng company. nearby. TO which the
flames later spread. was damaged
40 the extent of $4,000.
Two explosions preceded the nre.
according TO the employees aud 80
men barely escaped from the burn.
ing building. so rapidly did the flames
spread.
The Llewellyn plant was partially
wrecked by u bomb explosion In 1919,
The liewellyn plant employd 500
nm. II manufactured steel girdcrs
and other steel fabrications. The
auildings were all frame structures.
and the machinery Of tho plant Is be-
iieved TO be nearly all destroyed.
Investigators today learned that
the fire started In the once OF the
plant and spread with great rapidity
10 all parts OF the plant In one In
stnnt. and before the firc department
arrived. the entire plant OF the COM
pany was In flames. cutting on for
n few minutes the escape OF so men
employed In the machine shop.
Deadly electric wires broke around
these men and for a time II was
feared they would not be saved.
The bomb which caused the explo-
sion In the plant In 1910 was placed
hut n short distance from where the
hrst flames we're observed this morn
Ing. w. o. Williams. night watch
man at the plant. who turned In the
alarm, informed the police that he
heard two distinct explosions In diff
ferent parts aof the plant
Robert Lacey, mechanic In the
machine shop. also heard the ex-
plosl0na and told Chief OF Police
Butler he was confident they were
caused by bombs. Lacey asserted he
hrst saw the flames In the ONCE and
at once turned In nm alarm.
Two alarms we're sent In, but for
some reason there was delay In get
ting apparatus to the scene and for
"a short time one engine worked alone.
Dynamite was not used In the ex-
plosions preceding the burning OF the
plant, says Malcolm McLaren. dyna-
mite expert, who is making an inves-
fIgation. He believes acid bombs
were used,
David Caplan. convicted OF man
'slaughter In connection with tho l.os
Angeles Times dynamiting Just ~
hours before the Llewellyn explosion,
declared no associates OF his were
In any way connected with the ex-
ploslon, which some ascribc to n DEM
onstration against Caplan's convIc-
zion. He declares any such move
would cause lrreparable injury,
Today the boilers OF the ruined
plant were found to be intact, This
dlsposes OF tho theory that The fire
started from n boiler explosion,
I'VE havc positively established
the fact that the Are at the Llcwellyn
Iron works started In the pattern
room and was incendiary. We think
that gasoline was spread about the
plant. judging by the rapidlty with
which the flames spread, We do not
think that either dynamite or glyc-
erlne was used,' said Fire Chief Ely,
Deputy District Attorney Wollmlne
fs working with tho police In their
efforts to ascertain the ones rcspons-
able for the explosion,
In 1910. shortly after the Los
isnsslss Times building was destroy