The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1921-07-17

l the Cnurcn was set 2uTe anu OH
no clues which might lead to til,
have been found.
without letting either know the rsa-
son for my Questioning.
Called Queer Woman.
n. she s.,, .Ssn y: ana s y%sss ~0nsS S
|oil. We uses gas at dis hotel. but
she keeps. a big coal oil can In her
room all de time"
Having Identified the firebug and
located her, besides securing suffi-
cient evidence to convict the wo.
man. beat Il" to The Times news
rooms and wrote the story. leaving
for the lead" or introduction Mary
Delaney's arrest, which / started out
to arrange for. and feeling certain
was to score one of the greatest
scoops" on record. But i had to
proceed cautiously as the reporters
on the rival newspapers were on the
alert. They had missed me from
my accustomed haunts. including po-
lice headquarters and No. 1 police
station, and were making inquiries
as to my whereabouts. Having spent
~ AliuCu ciIOIl anu tlIIlC vi BGtlluB
the data. made up my mind tho
story should be exclusive.
It was past midnight when I drove
up to the home of Detective Gallaher
on X street. near Sixth. and rang
his doorbell. The venerable sleuth
stuck his night-capped head out Of
the second-story window and asked
what was wanted.
THE woman who has been trying
to burn the churches has been found
and identified-come down." re-
piled.
Times Solved Mystery.
He came down lin a fifty, and to.
gether we drove to tho home of uis
partner. veteran Joe Carter, on Sew
enth street. near the then boundary
of the city. informed them I did
not desire any credit for the detec.
tive work had put In play in run
ming down the woman. but ] insist
ed that the story should be published
exclusively In The Washington
Times, which Newspaper, with It's
usual enterprise. solved the mystery
that had puzzled the police and pub
lie for more than q week.
IT want you detectives to have any
glory there may be in running down
the woman and procuring the evidence
to convict her." I said. "All I want 10
the story exclusively"
They agreed to seal the fact 20 they
would not leak until The Times story
was published, and we drove to the
Elsmere. II was 4 o'clock a. m. when
we reached that hotel, and being satis-
fled they had "copped their game" as
Carter expressed It. they proceeded to
camp at the Elsmere until daylight.
when the arrest was to be made. So
that Mary Delaney might not elude
them, the detectives occupied chairs
In the hallway at the door OF her room.
The reason l insisted that the arrest
should not be made until daylight,
which came about z o'clock. was to
ting the matter as last-minute story.
we'll knowing their editions would be
off the press by that hour. In the
meantime 1 FASTENED TO The Times
office and wrote the introduction to
my story, telling of the arrest of the
woman and her incarceration at No.
police station. 1 could not, Of course,
foresee the lively scrap she put up
when the detectives placed her under
arrest. The Times of March -. 1895,
the day following her arrest, says
Wnen lltUTnfcu NH0 WAC a PiASohoi
charged with arson:
THE frenzied woman sprang ut the
officers, slapped them In the face and
clawed as viciously as a wildcat. BY
sheer force the officers finally sue
ceeded in getting her out to the side
walk And In a cab"
She was taken to No. and placed
In charge of Matron Lewis, to whom
she said:
81 was billed at my concert We'd
nesday night to sing The Gate Ajar.
on me-"
Rival Was Waiting.
When I returned to The Times
office to complete my story. found
my rival police reporter, now Con-
gresham johnson, of Washington.
awaiting my coming. He asked me II
tional attempts to destroy the Cath
yclic churches, and explained he Ind n
story Of woman In black" suspect
whose homo was under surveillsnce
of the south Washington police. The
Newspaper he represented was on the
street by that time. I replied that I
had q story along new angles" in
The Times then just going to press.
A few minutes later q messenger
brought to the editorial rooms first
copies Of The Times. Reporter John
son glimpsed the first page quickly
and his gaze became riveted on the
prominent headlines, eight banks deep
ond four columns wide, announcing
that Mary Delaney had been arrested
and identified as the firebug and the
police had absolute evidence against
her, thus closing the reigning mystery
OF moro than two weeks.
This scoop will cause me to lose
my job" was his only comment AZ he
left the editorial rooms OF The Times.
Detectives Carter and Gallaher were
the lions OF the hour. Their arrest
OF the firebug was acclaimed as
great piece Of detective work. They
were commended by their superior
officers as rivals OF Sherlock Holmes.
All went well until the hearing was
held In the police court several days
later. Then, too. tho woman's motive
for firing the churches was disclosed.