New Britain herald., 1918-01-02
NORFOLK, VA, HAS
 $2,OOO,OOO FIRE
Persons Thought to Have Started
 It Are Under Arrest

jured Tn SefleS Of explosions and fires which both the police and naval authorities believe were incendiary. The fire had been checked last night, but still was burning fercely in the ruins. The loss was roughly estimat- ed at more than $2,O0O,OOO.
 Camp Stuart, on the outskirts of Newport News, where 5000 soldiers are stationed, was reported threatened by fire raging nearby. All available fire fighting apparatus in that city was sent to the scene.
 Three distinct explosions here in as many buildings, one after the fire vir- tually had been got under control, led to the general belief that enemy agents were at work. Mayor Mayo practical ly placed the city under martial law by turning the situation over to naval officers, and some 2,500 marines and bluejackets from nearby naval sta tions assisted the police and Home Guards in maintaining order and pre- venting footing.
 Naval patrols rounded up sus- pected persons throughout the after noon, and five men were arrested as suspects Two of these Hugo Schmidt and H. K. Leasing, said to be Ger mans, were turned over to depart ment of justice agents Then there were reports that two Germans had been shot by sailors, but neither the police nor the naval authorities would confirm them.
 The fire started before dawn in the old Granby theater in Granby street, and gained headway rapidly, as the firemen were greatly handicapped by frozen fire hydrants, low water pressure, and near-zero temperature. It quickly spread to the Monticello hotel and other buildings in the block. It was got under control late in the day, but started anew early last night, leaped across Granby street, and leveled half of the block there before being checked.
 Falling floors and walls took toll of firemen and naval guards. One fire man, Charles Mccoy, was killed and seven others were hurt in the col lapse of an upper floor of the Monti- cello hotel in the day, and last night two firemen and several sailors were caught by a falling wall of the LenoX building. Three were taken out badly hurt, but the others were left in the debris.
 Bremen of Norfolk, Portsm outh, and Suffolk with organized sailor fire brigades, fought heroically amid ice and binding smoke, and bluejackets led the rescue work when the fighters were trapped. Several of the fremen caught in the hotel were taken out alive through the daring of a score of sailors.
 Reports as to the number of ex- ,,;o five hot the fire in the Granby theater had followed an explosion, but Fire Chief Mclaughlin and naval investigators announced last night that this was not the case. They said, however, that there had been three separate and distinct explosions. The first was in cloak and hat shop near the Monticello. The second was on the sixth floor of that hotel after the first fire was practically under con- trol, and the third in the Lenox build ing, which later was destroyed.
 Guests from the Monticello, who were forced to flee in the biting cold of the dawn after they had watched the theater burn, were taken care of in nearby homes and hotels. As building after building went down, including an apartment house, scores were made homeless, and the Ma tional Guard armory in City hall ave- nue was thrown open to them.
 There during the late day Red Cross workers and other volunteers looked after the refugees, and also supplied coffee and sandwiches for the naval patrols and firemen who were forced to seek rest from their exhausting work against the flames.
 When the firemen responded to the alarm for the theater fire they found all hydrants in the vicinity frozen. Fires had to be built to thaw them out Meantime the fremen looked on helpless while the big theater build ing burned. When water finally ran, the pressure was so low that streams would not reach to the upper stories of the building, and the fire soon was beyond control.
 Portsmouth, across the Elizabeth River, was called on for aid, and the fire was checked until falling sparks fired the Monticello, where many of the guests had gone back to bed in the belief that the fire was con- trolled. They were soon forced to turn out again.
 The combined departments ap- parently were making good headway against the flames when the explosion occurred in the cloak shop and an other blaze started. Suffolk then was asked for aid and rushed appar- atus to the city by train. Meantime the naval authorities at the Navy Yard and naval base offered aid and fire brigades were soon on the scene.
 When the second explosion oc- cured, this time in the Monticello, Mayor Mayo put the naval authori- ties in charge. They placed patrols throu ghout the business district, threw a cordon of Marines and Bluejackets around the fire district and began picking up persons unable to ac- count for themselves.
 Dena rtInent of IuStice agents joined