Arizona republican., 1917-12-20
OFFICERS WORKING HARD ID STOP ACTS
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One more incendiary fire was added to the long list of depredations in the Salt River Valley which have resulted in the destruction of thousands of doI- lars worth of foodstuffs and supplies, when the general store of Mrs. William Bell at St. Johns, fifteen miles west of this city, was burned early yesterday morning. That the blaze was the re- suit of the application of an incendiary torch is not only the opinion of Mrs. Bell, but also of sheriff w. H. Wilky and party of deputies who began an investigation yesterday.
 Rewards aggregating sS50 are now offered for the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the many incendiary fires in this county. Following close on the heels of the proclamation of a reward of S250. offered by Governor Thomas k. Campbell. as reported exclusively in The Republican yesterday morning. and another reward of $500 offered by Levi Young of the Hoosier Land and Stock company for the apprehension of the person or persons who set fire to $40 tons of baled alfalfa which had been contracted for by the government and was stored in a warehouse on the Judge Wells ranch near Laveen. Sheriff Wilky yesterday announced that Mari copa county would pay a reward of $500 for the arrest and conviction of the parties responsible for incendiary fires in Maricopa county.
 Four arrests were made yesterday in an effort to round up the persons responsible for these fires. Two men were brought in from the Buckeye section and taken before federal off cers where they were closely ques- toned It is understood that they were able to give a satisfactory ac- count of themselves and were later turned loose.
 Late yesterday afternoon two more suspects were brought in from the southside by Deputy Sheriff Charles Nafzinger. They gave the names of Roy O'Donnell and Eugene Brown They were booked at the county jail under technical vagrancy charges but it is understood that they have been identified as the men who have visited numerous Southside ranches recently and making inquiries regarding the whereabouts of the men of the ranch They are reported to have visited one ranch late Tuesday evening and tC | have been insistent in their demands for information regarding how many men there were about the place. The presence of these men was i'm mediately reported to the sheriffs of l flee and deputies made an almost al night search for them without result Deputy Nafzinger picked them up yes. | terday afternoon after an all da! search. They will be given a thor ough questioning today.
 The men who were brought in iron | the Buckeye country are said to hay, been found in a car partly loaded witt hay, the property of the Southwes Hay and Grain company, which hat interests in the two most recent ha! fires and which is shipping larg quantities of hay to the various arm! posts. It is said they had started ; fire in the car but claimed they hat done this to keep warm.
 In the destruction of the store 0 1 Mrs. Bells at St. Johns, large quantitie of sugar flour and beans were de stroyed. She had a fairly large stocl of these commodities and she believe that two men who visited her plac the day before and made inquiries re lating to her stock were respOnsibl for the fire that followed. Her home which adjoined the store was de stroyed by the fire which started il the store structure. Her loss will ex ceed 5000.
 In offering a reward of s300 for tn l apprehension of the firebugs, Sherif Wilky yesterday stated that he an his deputies would leave nothing un done in their efforts to. rid this sectio of this highly undesirable element H said the reward was offered only a an incentive for cooperation on tn part of the citizens and ranchers gen erally with the deputies from his of flee. He believed that matters are S shaping themselves that it will be bu short time before the perpetrator of these outrages will be apprehende or they will have disappeared from tn county.