Free trader-journal. (Ottawa, Ill.) 1916-1920, 1917-03-07
IS CLEAR CUT CASE
lNcENDiARY LEFT RAGS SOAKED
IN KEROSENE AFTER APPLYING
TORCH TO VACANT DWELLING
DEPARTMENT SAVES BUILD.
ING.

Arson fiends are believed to have
been responsible for the fire which
seriously damaged the house owned
by Mrs Clara French, near the Fed
eral Plate Glass Works in West Otta-
wa last evening at o'clock. Oil
soaked rags were fould near a rear
porch, where the blaze originated. A
sweeping investigation into the inceh-
diary cOntlagration was launched this
morning by Chief OF Police Zurich and
Angus Stevenson, of the fire depart.
ment. No arrests have been made.
The damage to the house which was
q two story frame building, will be In
the neighborhood Of 5000.
Had No Tenants.
The house had not been occupied
for the past three weeks, altho several
PARTIES had made application to rent
II, but when Mrs. French told them
the amount of the rental, they consit'
cred the price too high and nothing
further was done towards leasing the
building
The sounding OF the alarm came
rather mysteriously last evening. The
phone rang at the French residence
Ia East Ottawa and an Italian woman
exclaimed, Your house is on fre'
Mrs French at first thought that some
one was notifying her that her East
: Ottawa home was ablaze ald started
an Investigation. In the meantime Il
telephone operator picked up the mes
sage and informed Mrs. French that
the call came from the Federal Plate
and that the message was intended 10
warn her of fire il that portion OF
the city.
Operator Sends Alarm.
The telephone operator realized the
danger and notified the fire depart
ment. In spite of the fact that the
house Is located outside OF the city
limits Foreman stevenson and his AIDS
responded with the fire truck. Ehec'
tive work was accomplished with
chemicals before the blaze caused any
serious damage.
Search for cause showed that the
blaze had originated by torch being
applied to rags saturated win on
The fact that the flames smoldered toi
some time before burning the wood
wood is all that kept the house IRON
being completely destroyed.
The loss sustained by Mrs. frehcf
Is covered by insurance. Chiei Eurlcl
and Officer Stevenson visited the FED
eral Plate this morniag in an endeaVo
to get some trace Of the guilty parties
responsible for the fire.
May BE Fire Bug.
With the absolving from all blam
of Sylvester 4 Augustine for the hr
which destroyed their North La Sail
street store week ago, the police ar
beginning to work upon the theor
that somewhere in Ottawa there
hiding fire bug. The grocery confif
grafton bears all the ear marks OF a
incendiary's work, and the fact tina
roomers above the place say the
heard someone walking around dowl
stairs just before smoke drove the'
into the streets, indicates that tn
torch fiend may have worked In Mort
Ottawa, and after biding his tim
went to the vicility of the Feder'
Plate factory to destroy Mrs French
house.
The crime is not thought to hay
been perpetrated by boys. The pre-
ence OF the oiled rags and other cor
bustibles indicates that the confiagr
ton was planned and executed
grown-ups. Every possible theory wi
be worked out by the police IN Il
ho,a of bringing the fire bug to bay