Smyrna times., 1923-08-22
Hl1I[GGfRS FIRE Parsonage E.
'II IPIjIIN0EE CITY ME-. CHURCH
,,p MCDOWELL, FORMERLY
= SMYRNA, NARROWLY ESCAPE
..,dlv Act Was an Attempt to ST.
Das'".'p ,s".a Pastor Bicking Because OF
'lSs u;. warfare Against Booze

DI 80 Pastor Bichng Because Oh
'ISt n. warfare Against Booze
,.rod because of his continued
,..aap ans nnlpit warfare against boot
'ars n.'a in Worcester County, Nd,
f',DI a5ont POcomoke City, band Of
anu @ ao aoyIv Saturday morning, it is be-
men ! I", b,,rned the home of Rev. j. K.
1s,sr' D:,ting formerly of Wilmington, who
D'nu9I Hnw pastOr of the POcomOke N. Z.
S.,v.b nvg The house, at the time, was
'n-lr .rniod bv Mr.. Bicking and his wife,
v.sF w. Elsie Bicking, who is at the
'.;o+ ni1, of death; their two sons, Paul
Ud Od'' willard; u Mr.. Bicking's mother,
,lu ~. Jobn W. Bicking, and Mrs. Bick-
w.. 49,, sister, Mrs. Annie Carver, OF
F;15tb r. and Madison streets, Whining
- Mrs. Bicking, wife of the
"as.or. ~. was a former Smyrna girl,
k.;ng Ea known in her maiden days
:. Hf Miss Elsie Mcdowell. All of
= =. occuuants escaped from the
hrrDing ,n home without injury, with
~ oveeption of the youngest son,
panl who was seriously burned
rbsn he dashed through a pool OF
Tazing T gasoline while fleeing from
tbs house. Mrs. Bicking was taken
- tbe home of a neighbor. The burn
mo Of the Bicking home came as the
climax of a series of outrages which
have occurred during the last few
months. following the discovery Of a
Oroup of school boys in an intoxlcat-
ID condition. At that time, Mr.. Bick-
inc who has always been bitter foe
of the liouor traffic, began an attack
on prevailing conditions, which SEEM
sd To be conducive to boOtleggers. Be
eause of his bitter denunciatiOn OF
those engaged in liquor traffic, two
efforts were made some time ago to
sink Mr.Bicking's yacht, ELSIE M,"but
each time the boat was raised, and il
was found that holes had been boreC
through the bottom of the hull. Foil
ed in their attempts to scuttle the
craft. the outlaws finally determined
to make sure of its destruction an'
pulled it up on the shore, where the!
set fire to it. This, however, did no
deter the fighting pastor" in his cru
sade against the illegal liquor trade
and the group of men, becoming des
perate, turned their attention to tn
parsonage, at the corner of Secon
and Walnut streets, POcomOke Cit!
Officers are working on the case an
citizens are up in arms, many Offer
ing big rewards.
Three Boys Arrested Following FIJI
The arrest of Adam King, Is,
PoeomOke City and Wallace Dorse
%, at his home in Baltimore yeste
DAY, following the locking up of Ma
TN Wilkinson, II, of Pocomoke,
the Snow Hill jail, is expected
worehester county authorities
clean up the mystery of the burnir
oi the parsonage. The arrests
PocomOke were made by a private d
'ectiye, Joseph H. Dougherty, w
was sent by Insurance Commission
harvey L. Cooper, at the request
Mayor E. James Tull. States A
0lney William G. Kerbin last mig
refused to confirm a report tn
young Wilkinson has confessed
having played a part in the burni
N July Of the boat Of Rev. ]. r. Bic
lg' and to have implicated the t
DINERS. He declared a policy of ;
enee was necessary to the success
,ne investigation Upon his advi
however, Magistrate William A. \
Alien' Of Snow Hill, refused to acc,
jail offered by the Wilkinson bo
parents. 1t was intimated by
Asfoln that important developme
Would come to-day.
Wilkinson Makes Complete Confess
Martin Wilkinson, one of the b
arrested who broke down and conf
sea- Is reported to have told a strai
~, S;Ory Of how the gasoline launch
ui' bieking end the Methodist 7
sOhage were burned. He is said
nave nave informed the police where a
sseu 70 pour oil on the launch
1le mousse, could be found. A sea
was made and the can was found
: SAD. It is said Wilkinson Q
us!alls and the names of men
t Eaiu MN for burning the boat.
Eo E.s would not make these names ]
w,.Ss i. last night, promising that the
P;.l. PS1lu De arrested early to-day.
LI LS.OAlng I, is reported to be sinking /
~ y. nlness having been aggravate,
~ae Snock sustained when the h,
as Ouined and the need for carr
5.,.l 5sr % the temporary parsonage.
~ are suffering from the Sc
MN. rs..s Which they sustained, and
pastor pastor himself is reported on
&c 0i nervous collapse.