Three Hill School Buildings Afire at Once; All Set Ablaze, Police Belie re HARRISBURG SflSSilli TELEGRAPH LXXXV— No. 12 THREE SCHOOL BUILDINGS SET AFIRE ON Flames in Vernon, Shimmell and Forney Buildings Cause Property Loss of $15,000 and Leave Nearly 800 j Pupils Without Place to Study; State and City Police Trying to Run Down Incendary; 'lndisputa ble Evidence of Incendiarism Says Expert I Oil Poured Over Woodpile a t Shimmell; Think Firebug May Have Been Demented Person or Juveniles "Tired of Going to School"; Firemen's Leg Fractured in Fall; School Directors Planning to Assign Youngsters to Other Buildings Fires in three Allison Mill schoolhouscs thi> morning between 2 and 7 o'clock—the Shimmell. Vernon and Forney buildings—caus ed damage amounting to about $15,000. That all three tires were the work of an incendiary or incen diaries is the belief of the police. Every effort is being made to-day to learn the identity of the firebugs. Acting State Fire Marshal Charles 1). W olfe, co-operating with the city authorities, deputized two trained men to assist in running down the one whose hand started the fires. Nearly 800 pupils will have to be | assigned to other buildings. It is be-1 lieved the 400 youngsters in the Shim- ( mell building can be back at their j books within a short time. The 360 j boys and girls in the Vernon building • will likely have to be assigned to j some other building for the rest of the ; year. The damage at the Forney building will not interfere with thej studies there. One theory held by the city police , is that the three tires were started by j boys tired of going to school, who 1 imagined they would get a good long, vacation if they burned down the three big buildings nearest their homes. Juveniles of known criminal tendencies in the district where the fires occurred are few. but the au thorities will make a thorough inves tigation to learn if this theory might be correct. Another plausibility is that some de mented person committed the arsons. First Blaze in Shimmell Building The tirst Ore was discovered at the Shimmell building, Seventeenth and Catherine streets, shortly after 2 o'clock this morning. While this fire was underway, flames were discovered at the Vernon building, Fifteenth and Vernon streets. Shortly before 7 o'clock this morn ing, Edward Sheetz, janitor at the Forney building. Eighteenth and Chestnut streets, on returning from the Vernon building tire, noticed a blaze in the boys' toilet in the base ment of his building. He extinguished the tire with a small hose stream. Vernon Suffers Most The worst damage was at the Ver non building, which was gutted, and part of the roof fell in. The flames had gained considerable headway be fore they were discovered, and the fur niture is a total loss. At the Shimmell building the greatest damage was done to the floors and steam heat plant. The woodwork in the toilet at the Forney building was destroyed. All Three Fires Start in Basement The belief of the police that all tires were the work of an incendiary, is strengthened by the fact that the flames started in the basement of each building. At the Shimmell school the tire was discovered in a pile of lum ber in the rear of the basement. 30 feet away from the boilers. At the Vernon building also the llames started in a woodpile in the basement. At this building the glass in the front door was broken, allowing an opening large enough for a man to crawl through. The door is located in a different part of the building from that in which the fire was discovered. THE WEATHER For IlnrriMlitirß and vicinity: I n •flllcil, probably llwlit rain to night ninl Friday: Nomenhat «armor to-night, with loweat temperature about Stt degree*. For I-.axtoru l'emiMyl vanin i ltain 10-nluht and Fridays n armor to uicht: warmer Friday la eaitern portion: increasing Mouth wind*. River 'I bo >nK(|uehanna rl\er and all it* l»mnf*hon will probably rotnaln Kenerally icebound and nearly stationary. A Htaice of about ,"».0 feet la indicated tor Harrinbtirs; Friday morning (•moral Condition** The center of tho tventeru diNturb nnce Ihut nm located near Salt l.nke City, Wednesday mornlnis, haw moved northward to Alberta, I anada. and tho preaatire baa de i reonoii decidedly over the IMaiiiH %»t"te». the oentrai laliejn ami the Inke rearlon; It ha* iuoreaxed in tlte Atlantic state* nnd remained nearly Ktatlonari in the Kant Ijtalf State* and ICnxteru Teuiie*- *ee. I.ight rain* and inoim have fallen generally la the central and north diatrlctH from the Plain* state* eastward. except atonic the At lantic eoaat, where the weather in cloud). Scattered rain* and xnonx have occurred over tho Pa cific xlopc. % general rl*e of "i to :iO decree* ha* oeeorred in tlio temperature over praotically all the country alnce laat report, e*- • opt In Idaho, I tab. \evada anil California. where It is from '£ to •'M> degree* colder. 'I eniperature: S a. in.. 3!!. Sou: Hi*ex, 7:23 a. m.< neta, r.:(»0 p. in. Moon: Fall moon, to-day, at 3:20 River Stagei 5.1 feet above low- Mater mark. t o«terday"« Weather tllafcOHt temperature, X'J. temperature. Ml. Menn teinporatlire, '24. -■Normal temperature, S*. |The fire in the Forney building was | started in the basement toilets. 11 Wd Oil Cans j Discoveries made shortly before , noon to-day, further substantiates the ; theory that the tires were the work lof an incendiary. At the Shimmell I building t> cans of furniture and black ■ board oils were missed. Three of the ; cans, empty, were found near where | the fire started. A search is being] made for the third can in the vicinity! lof the Vernon and Forney buildings.) j It is the belief the oil was poured over! , the wood. ! At the Forney building, water con- i j nections leading to the tire service i ~ pipes running through the building I j were cut off. I . Begin Investigation , William L. Windsor, superintendent' the Bureau of Detectives, and Joint C. Klndler. tire chief, began an early j investigation to learn, if possible, who |set the three buildings afire. A. Carson Stamm. president of the i School Board, called a meeting of the board for 3.30 this afternoon, when provisions were made to take care of the pupils from the Vernon and Shim mell buildings. Plans for the imme diate reconstruction of the Vernon building and for repairs to the other two were also considered by the board of directors. State Export Says Firebug W . J. Lloyd, the State's new fire pre vention expert, who has made a spe cialty of investigations, to-day declared that he had found "indisputable evi dence of incendiarism" at the school buildings and in addition that entrance had been forced into the Forney building by the firebug. Mr. Lloyd's investigations, which were the first he has made for the State, were thorough. Ife came here a day or so ago fresh from a series of investigations in his home city of Pittsburgh and being thoroughly fam iliar with school house construction, was detailed at 4 a. m. to-dav to "get busy." In company with M. P. Fred ericks. factory Inspector for this dis trict, who had inspected the buildings for the State in its survey last Fail, he went into things carefully and reported 1 to Lew R. Palmer, chief factory in • spec-tor, this morning that there were '■ abundant evidence of incendiarism. Telephone M ires Cut? ! In addition to telling of the discov • erics Mr. Lloyd reported that he had 1 found lour residences near the Forney building where telephones were out of | order this morning and that he felt; ■ confident that they had been tamper | ed with. This was regarded as most > serious in the chain of developments! j and the facts will be communicated to! 1 the State Fire .Marshal and the citv 1 police. The firebug, said Mr. Lloyd, picked out the very worst places for a fire to start. In the cases of the Vernon and Shimmell buildings the tire was start ed among the fuel supply in additions to tho buildings. Undoubtedly the fireproof construction of tht* Shimmell building prevented very serious loss. The three empty oil cans were report ed on by Mr. Lloyd. A Trail of Matches in his investigations at the Forney building' Mr. Lloyd found a grating forced and burned matclies about the spaces where the man had gained ac cess to the building. A trail of burn ed nfatche; was found in the base ment. What makes the Forney condition very serious was that the fire had smouldered and that the janitor was starting to prepare for the day's ses sions when he discovered the "flames. In a few more hours the building would have been occupied by children. The report of Mr. Lloyd will be given to the proper authorities and he will co-operate in behalf of the De partment of Labor and Industry as much as possible and give the benefit of his experience. State Had Acted In connection with the fire Investi gations this morning it was learned [Continued on Page 5.] Fireman Crashes Through Vernon Building; His Left Leg Is Fractured While fighting the fire in the Vernon building early this morning Paul Shaff ner, aged 21. 328 South Fifteenth street, of the Allison company, crashed through to the first floor, sustaining a compound fracture of the left leg. He was taken to the Harrlsburg Hos pital. Shaffner had climbed to the top ! floor to help other members of his I company when the flames ale through ithe floor where he was standing, hhaffner crashed down with the burn ing wood. HARRISBURG, PA., THURSDAY EVENING, JANUARY 20, 1916 THREE OIL CANS VSED BY FIREBUG TO START FI I BUILDING AND YOUNGSTERS, The one photograph shows the corner of the Shimmell building basement where the fire was started after oil was poured over a wood pile. The three oil ians are within the black ring. The other picture shows a crowd o£ Vernon school youngsters who gathered for the ringing of the bell only to find there was "no school." CHILDREN SAVED FROM FLAMES; 3 FIREMEN INJURED Father in Excitement Rushed by Bedroom Where Chil dren Slept Two small children were rescued from a bed enveloped In flames and three firemen were injured during a blaze last night which destroyed three houses and a storeroom at 1113-15-17 North Seventh street causing a loss of at least SI,OOO. The children who were carried out of the burning houses were: John, aged 8. and Mary, aged 7, son and daughter of Peter Lechliter, of 1115 North Seventh street. The firemen who were injured: Michael Conway. Cumberland and Current streets, Shamrock Company, fractured left wrist in fall from lad der. Treated at Harrisburg Hospital. James Connors, 1820 North Fourth street, Reily Company, fractured [Continued on Page 9.] CAPITAL CITY REPUBLICAN CLUB "BOOSTER" RALLY Senator Beidleman's Campaign For Renomination Launched at Meeting Last Evening Harmony was the keynote of rally at the Capital City Republican Club last evening. James R. DeShong one of the oldest members of the club sent out invitations to a large number of well-known Republicans to attend a "booster meeting" of the organiza tion, but the gathering soon developed into a "get together" session at which the campaign of Senator E. E. Beidlo man for renomination and election was launched by DcShong and the (Continued on I'agc it. ] Decision of Umpire Is Disappointing to Miners By Associated Press Hazieton. Pa.. Jan. 20. —Certain con tract miners in the service of the Delaware and Hudson Coal Company were disappointed to-day in a decision by Charles P. Neill, umpire of the anthracite conciliation board, in tlieii. demands for 91 cents per lineal foot for rock yardage in the Dunmore vein of the White Oak colliery. Umpire Neill says that the language of the rale sheet was ambiguous, but that the evidence shows that the 91 -cent rate was never heretofore ap plied on the work in question. COFFEE SCAI.DS BABY John Boy, 18-month-old son of Mr. and Mrs. Peter Boyd, of 1008 Berryhill street, was seriously scalded last "night when he pulled a pot of boiling coffee from the stove, the contents spilling over his face. | THE DAY IN CONGRESS By Associated Press Washington, D. C., Jan. 20. Sen iate: Met at noon. Senator Smith, of I Georgia, attacked as illegal Great Britain's blockade of neutral com merce. Secretary of Agriculture sub j milted report on private owners of water power sites asked for by Sixty third Congress. House: Met at noon. Naval and military affairs committees continued j hearings on national defense. Heaping on literacy test section of Burnett immigration bill began by immigra tion committee. Began debate on "further urgent deficiency" bill. CLAIMS MURDERS "LOGICAL FRUIT" OF U. S. POLICY Representative Asserts Admin istration Has Lost Confi dence by Stand By Associated Press Washington, D. C\, Jan. 20.—The Santa Tsabel murders were declared to be the "logical fruit" of the ad ministrafton's Mexican policy in a speech in the House to-day by Repre sentative Mondell, of Wyoming, (Re- I publican) reviewing at length out ; rages committed against Americans in : Mexico since the overthrow of Ma dero. "By following, not a policy of 'watchful waiting' but of mischievous meddling." said Mr. Mondell, "coupled with base betrayal and calloused In difference to the welfare and safety of American citizens, has the admin istration lost the respect and confl , dence and earned the contempt of [Continued on Page 13.] ASHTOND. PEACE TO BE APPOINTED CLERK TO LYNCH Last President of Common Council Slated For Thomp son's Job. Is Report Ashton D. Peace, 121" Chestnut street, the last president of Common I'ouncil, under the old bicameral sys tem of government,-will be appointed to succeed James C. Thompson, as chief clerk in the department of streets and public improvements, ac [Continned on Page is.] Four Groups of Derby Recruits Called Out By Associated Press London, Jan. 20.—Grouus 2, 3, 4 and 3 of recruits who enlisted under the Earl of Derby's plan were formally called to the colors to-day, in accord ance with tliqfproclamation of Decem ber 13. These groups, the first Derby recruits to be called out, are composed of unmarried men from 19 to 22 years of age. In order to prevent congestion at the recruiting offices and to cause the smallest possible inconvenience to the men, only the first drafts will actually begin training at once. The other drafts will be summoned on succeed ing days. The men have been warned of the necessity of reporting for duty imme diately, the recruiting committee hav ing stated that anyone who is sum moned and does not appear will be treated as a deserter. The number of men in the first four groups, after subtracting and postponements of service, is esti mated roughly at 100,000. FIRE IN GARAGE The Washington Chemical Company shortly before noon to-day responded to a telephone call from 10 North Court street. The tire was at the Wil iard Servtce Station and Garage, own ed by the J. G. Duncan, Jr.. Company, and caused about $33 damage. It was caused by hot metal overflowing from a melting pot. DIES FROM INJURIES William Steely, aged 27. of Enola, brakeman of the Pennsylvania Rail road died this afternoon in the Har risburg Hospital from injuries he re ceived last night when he slipped and fell under a shifting engine. The locomotive passed over both of Steely's legs, which were amputated later at the hospital. ALLIES' ACTIONS ARE DENOUNCED BY GREEK KING In Interview Denies Necessity For Occupying Corfu and Blowing Bridges The King of Greece on last Thurs day summoned the Associated Press correspondent in Athens for the pur pose of making a protest through the I press of the United States which he ! said was the only forum of public | opinion open to him against the re icent actions of the allies in their operations at Salonild in blowing up the bridge at Demir Hissar, in occupy ing Corfu and other islands which Greece claims. He said the situation is as if a foreign power had occupied that part of the United States which had been won from Mexico after the Mexican war and that the plea of military necessity advanced by the allies was like that given by Germany for in [Continued on Page 9.] EAGER HUNDREDS AWAIT OPENING OF CHARITY BALL Finishing Touches of Detail For Big Social Event Added Today Hosts of people won't really care to-night whether the weatherman mis behaves or not. To-night's the night of the Charity Ball. i By early afternoon the decorators I will add the finishing touches to the | adornment of the smaller hall of the j Chestnut Street Auditorium. By the I time the workmen are ready to quit i for the afternoon, that little hall will j have blossomed into a %vistaria-trel [Continued on Page 5.] Police Charge Man With Assault Upon Woman in Hospital William Leo Lusard, aged 40 years, was arrested last night on a charge of felonious assault and battery with intent to kill. Lusard, it is said, was the last person seen with Lena Brennan, the young woman, who is in the Harrisburg Hospital with a frac tured skull. Lusard admits that he had been drinking with the woman, but says he has no knowledge of a quarrel. Sight Burning Steamer but Find No Survivors By Associated Press New York, Jan. 20. The British steamer Penistone arrived to-day froni Havre and reported having sighted on the night of January 2 a vessel on tire. The Peninstone steamed around the burning ship during the night in a vain search for lifeboats. Soon after daylight, the olllcers said, they made out the burning craft to be a sailing ship which hail a Norwegian flag painted o nher star board aide. The Peninstone again steamed around the vessel which had almost burned to the waters edge, but failed to find any trace of lifeboats or rafts. WARM Kit AND RAIN Warmer weather with the possibil ity of rain is forecasted for Harris burg for to-night. The thermometer at S o'clock this morning registered 32, degrees with the mercury rising jslowly all day. 1C PACES CITY EDITION One Killed, Four Hurt When Train Jumps Track By Associated Press Trenton, 110., .Tan. 20.—Louis Col lier. engineer, was Killed and four trainmen were injured near here early to-day when a double-header on the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific rail way. made up of the Golden State Limited and a Chicago passenger train, was derailed. AM the steel coaches left the track, but no passengers was injured. Coin ing into Trenton at forty-five miles an hour, the train, which had two en gines, was derailed in passing a curve. The second locomotive turned over and crushed Engineer Collier to death. The mail car. baggage car and smoker i also turned over. STILLWELL HEADS THIRD BRIGADE • Harrisburg. Colonel Frederick W. Stillwell, Scran ton, c • .t! - Th: 7-hr y ~L: d Brigade, wa ! t-vi'-. l : t " atbsug 1 "*: as Brigadier Gener* 1 -' » r. -e Thi;d Brigade, suc ceeding Brigadier General C. N. B. Clement, who recently was appointed Major General. The appointment was an- | nounced by Adjutant General Stewart. WOMAN CLEARED OF MURDER CHARGE Lancaster, Pa., Jan. 20.—Afttr b«4ng out almost forty- j five hours the jury in the case of Mrs. Annie Eisenberger, i charged with the murder of her husband, this afternoon, 1 ' ■ ■ . Harrisburg. Noah Maulfair, 1725 Fulton street, who *1 was struck recently by a jitney driven by Augustus Wild- i Harrisburg Hospital. A | post mortem was held late to-day to determine the cause of ' death. Coroner Eckir.ger is in* , the case. 4,000 MALCONTENTS THREATEN AMERICANS I El Paso, Tex., Jan. 20. —About 4,000 malcontents are operating near Torreon shouting for Felix Diaz and declar ing Carranra adherents and Americans are to be killed, and 1 all property r,to''er. according to reports of arrivals from i Torreon to-day. About 300 Carranra troops are centered at ' Torreon. A week ago they had not taken the field against the malcontents, it was said. * 9 BRITISH SUBMARINE GOES AGROUND London, Jan. 20, 4.30 P. M. A British submarine has ■ gone ashore off Holland according to an announcement by £ the official press bureau to-day. There was no loss of life. # SOLDIERS UNINJURED IN MEXICAN FIGHT J Washington, Jan. 20.—Major General Funston reported # to-day th2t in the fight between a detachment of United M States cavalrymen and Mexican bandits near Doyle's Wells, C N. M., none of the soldiers was injured although they were £ fired upon by Mexicans and one of their horses, was killed. » • MARRIAGE U/ A dure John Schaffer nnd Maricarrt Stefan, city, £ HOSTILITIES ARE AGAIN RESUMED BY MONTENEGRO Rejects Peace Terms Offered by Austria ami Is Again Fighting Along Front INTEREST IN GREECE Numerous Reports From Gor man Sources Say Allies Adopted Aggressive Action From Rome to-day comes (lie defi nite announcement tliat hostilities be tween Montenegro and Austria have been resumed, Montenegro having: otll cially notilied Italy to this effect, the dispatch stated. A note presented to the Italian L'or j eign office by the Montenegrin premier I declared that Montenegro hud rejected I the terms offered by Austria and that I hostilities had been resumed along the j whole front. King Nicholas remaining I with his army to organize his country's defenses. Greece avrain is a point of signal interest on the war map, although Iter territory lias not been the scene oC hostilities. There has been a paucity of direct news from Athens and other points in Greece during the past few days, but. there have been numerous reports from German sources of further ag gressive action on the part of the [Continued on Page 12.] Action of Blockade Will Be Rushed by British Special to I lie Telegraph London, Jan. -o.—lt may be taken as certain that the question of repeal ing the orders in council and estab lishing by declaration an actual block ade of Germany and Austria is now under consideration. The Government probably will give facilities for a debate in the House of Commons on the projected block ade of Germany and Austria before the prorogation of Parliament the first of next week. The declaration of the government policy is anxiously await ed.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers