Evening star., 1942-01-28
Stadium Icemaker
Found Bound, AbIaze
In Barred Room
Tells Story Of Seeing
Two Men Fleeing Through
Window After Setting Fire

SCREAMING for aid j. Gordon
Oster.. 40-year- master icemaker,
was found IN his quarters at River
side Stadium early this morning with
his night clothing in flames and his
hands and feet tightly bound with
rope. He was rushed to Emergency
Hospital, where physicians told S. G..
Leoffler, stadium owner, that Mr..
OSter has a chance to survive.
Homicide detectives began mves-
tigation of case which was battling,
both as to motive and the method
of the savage attack. Robbery was
discounted as motive because SALT
was found in a pillowcase on which
the victims head had been resting
and two diamond rings were left un-
touched with other valuables on his
dressing table.
Mr.. OSter'S shouts were heard at
Sis o'clock by the stadium night
guard. James L. Fowler, "a. The
only entrance to Mr.. Oster's second
floor room is up flight OF stairs
and through trapdoor in the floor
of the room. When Mr.. Fowler tried
to open the trap door he found it
so heavily barred from the opposite
side that he had to use sledge
hammer to open it.
When the door flew open, out
tumbled the blazing victim. Mr..
Oster slid to the bottom of the
stairs, where Mr.. Fowler doused
the flames with water. Still con-
scious later at the hospital. Mr..
Oster was quoted by Mr.. Loeft1er
as telling this story:
He walked from a sound sleep
when he felt some liquid being sprin-
killed. over him. He found that his
hands were tied behind him, and
his feet were bound. Then he felt
soaring fire-and glimpsed two
dark-skinned men disappearing
through the single window OF his
room. He could give no explanation
of the attempt on his life.
The window through which his at
tackers disappeared is about Is feet
above the ground. 1t could scarcely
be reached from below except by
ladder and is too far under the roof
line to allow access from that direc-
ton. No ladder was found on the
scene, nor were footprints discov-
cred. Across Twenty-sixth street
two soldiers we're on sentry duty in
front of temporary War Depart
ment structures. Pvt. Bernard
Shapez, on duty from to 6 am,
said he saw nothing unusual before
fire engines arrived at the scene.
The soldier said he was positive he
would have seen any one taking a
ladder from the construction site
of another temporary building.
No Prints in Mud.
There were no prints in the mud
beneath Mr.. Oster's window that
would indicate a ladder had been
placed there, but these might have
been obscured when. the blazing
mattress and bed clothing from Mr..
Oster's iron cot were tossed out the
window.
Mr.. Fowler reported after a
checkup that he found every exit
door of the stadium locked. Mr.
Oster's window was partly open
when he came to the rescue. he said.
The liquid sprinkled on Mr.. Oster
might have been ether, according
to his employer. When Mr.. Leofner
arrived, he said. he smelled some
thing like that
Mr.. Oster is known to every skater
in the Eastern Hockey League
being recognized as perhaps the best
sharpener of skates in any of the
cities the teams touch. After last
nights game between the Wash
ington Eagles and the New York
Rovers-an infantile paralysis ben
efit-he worked on 10 pairs Of the
Rovers' skates, made a fresh supply
of ice for the rink, went out for
some supper and retired at about
midnight. He was apparently in
good spirits and unworried.
No one was seen to 60 TO his room