Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1919-09-07
The Temple
Gong
~ YELL Brownlow," said In
w. spector Gubbins of the
" Shanghai police to his
,htae CT Mt HWhat do


rActions at the same time, doesn't it?"
replied the captain as he proceeded to
take off his rubber coat and cap cover
and brush the cinders and dust Off
them, land they can't work off the
old.fa shioned excuse about careless
ness this time. either. ] know these
chaps are awfully careless about fire.
but even Chinese carelessness doesn't
burst out in four distinct spots at ex-
actly the same time does 1T, now?"
mo, that's true. There might have
been one or two careless coolies
smoking in the goodwin (warehouse)
when the Waterman wasn't look
ing" ''."
"Or just as likely" interrupted the
captain, 1.-The Waterman himself when
the English quartermaster wasn't
looking" '.'
-"Yes, but hardly four of them in
four different parts Of the building,
eh?" 80 g.. 49, 49,.
Hardly. No. sir. you can be sure
that thing was all carefully planned
ont beforeha and and those four fires
started by some kind of slow match
concealed in the cotton and arranged
so as to get good old Roadway on
before we could get an alarm turned
in. It's incendiarism pure and simple,
that's what 1t Is, sir, and now l sup
pose it's up to us and the department,
as usual. to find out who the fire.
brand was"
The confiagration to which our two
officers were referring had taken
place about II o'clock in the evening
in the old goodwin of Macmillan
Co. near the lower Australian wharf.
and before the alarm had been given
and the foreign engines and firemen
had been able to respond thousands
of taels' worth of valuable goods had
been destroyed. The curious circum-
stance, as the captain said, was that
it seemed to break out in four differ
ent places at almost the same moment
Of time. The first alarm was given
by the native Waterman at the go
down of the Australian mail adjoin-
Ing MacMiYlan's on the north; the sec
Ond by jin-rik- sha coolie, who was
passing up the street on the south
and saw smoke curling out from
under the caves; the third by two old
women who We're having their good
night tea on the second-story veranda
Of the house across the way on the
west, and the fourth by the deck
watch OF the Ningo-Po steamer lying
in the stream almost directly east.
When the police and firemen arrived
they found the iron doors and shut.
ters to the windows all intact and
apparently securely locked, so that
they were abliged to break a passage
in for the hose with axes, and this it
was that made them conclude at once
that the fire had been started some
hours before and must have been
actually smoldering when the 60
down was closed and fastened up for
the night at sunset. 1t was no very
strange occurrence for a fire caused
by carelessness to smolder on for
several hours and finally burst out
into fame later in the night; indeed,
the Chinese dropping Of hot ashes
from their pipes in between the cot
ton bales generally produced this re-
suit: but for four different Ares to
burst out simultaneously in four diff
ferent parts Of q building looked to
every one as If something far more Sc
SAOuS th0h ndO Oeen at
work, and the entire foreign COM
munity on reading the account in the
papers next morning agreed at once
with Capt. Brownlow in his conclu-
sion.
The agents Of the English and
French insurance companies, with q
promptness and courtesy character
istic Of the far east, at once set their
appraisers and adjusters to work, and
in very few days Messrs. Macmillan
& Co. received from them checks to
cover their loss in full, and arrange
ments were made to rebuild the
burned-out goodwin. So far so good,
but Inspector Gubbins had not vet
been able to report to the British con-
sui that either he or any member Of
his force had laid hands upon the in.
csndiary, nor had they chen able to
solve the mysterious question as to
what purpose he had in committing
the deed. The Chinese detectives on
tho force very naturally concluded
that 1t must be q case of hatred or
revenge, and SO, after due consulta-
tion with their chief. they started q
very careful inquiry among all the
employees and attaches Of Macmillan
= @. ~ to any possible cause or mo-