Indianapolis Times, Volume 45, Number 96, Indianapolis, Marion County, 31 August 1933 — Page 8

PAGE 8

FOILS FIRE PLOT; FLAYED BY JUDGE Owner of Factory Leads ‘Torch Gang ' Into Police Trap

,• • *!•;• of *tor;* —5 ' . •<>'*ntur of the Sr* dF'-c'n-2SLA. ort ** -* r * hem record* in the PO*Mion of F:re Mtrh. Thom** p Bruce Bielukl. investigation !*{* •* M** national Board es F;re underwriter* and other ofTic.al eourcejs BY LOU WEDEMAR Tlmp Spffiil Writer NEW YORK. Aug. 31. —A man walked into the office of A Bruce Bielaski. investigative head of the national board of fire underwriters, in New York, on July *• 19.11. He was August W. Grebe of Wiikesbarre. Pa. "I am in a peculiar position." Grebe said. "An acquaintance of mine said to me th* other day, 'You need money and so do I. I can help you.’ I admitted I was afraid I would lose my warehouse. It was mortgaged heavily. And then he proposed burning it down and collecting insurance.*’ The visitor made his explanation in hushed tones, as if the temptation had something of awe about it. It was such an easy way to get money, it seemed. “All I had to do.” he continued, “was go along with arrangements he would makT He was to get 10 per cent, and the people who set the fire 10 per cent of the total insurance paid.” “Why did you come to me?” Bielaski asked. "I couldn’t sle*p I kept thinking of the possible loss of life, because more than one hundred persons are employed in a factory in the basement, and a lot of people liv® near by. “More than that, I got good and angry at the very’ idea—burning up good property to cheat an insurance company.” n n a *’T TOW much insurance have Jrt you on your building?" “One hundred thousand dollars.” “What did you say to your friend?” “I told him I would think it over, didn't dare refuse him outright, because he has political connections and was afraid he would get some of my creditors to descend on me in a bunch.” “Aren't you afraid to come to me?” “No. I want, it understood I will do everything I can. I’m not afraid of these gangsters. I’ll face them in court or anywhere else.” Bielaski was pleased at this unusual valor. “We’ll do what we can to help you.” he said. He pressed a button. “Send 67 to me, please. Miss Sinnott.” A heavy-set man appeared in a few minifies. Bielaski outlined the situation to him. “I want you to go to WilkesBarre with Mr. Grebe, see the state troopers and take care of this case We don’t want, them scared off; we want convictions. So go through it thoroughly." A few days later Agent 67 and state trooper arms were lying on the rafters of the warehouse, over a small office. In the office, through a stovepipe hole, they could see the owner and another man. whom he addressed as Mr. Weissberger. B B B “1 HAVE the entire plan outX lined.” Weissberger said. “Well make this a fire such as never has been seen before. Do you know what we re going to do?”

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Grebe, acting his part, shrugged | * \ Ifhis shoulders. Weissberger con- i : j M. "You have an automatic sprin- j I kler system in the building. I J j j V “Yes. When the fire begins * v! djj | •T* £lfrv'fl water will pour out all over it. ' • ‘.f \ % % jCj W%'% How will you get around that?” 1 \ Wvfe* “The system works from tanks i | on the upper floor, doesn't it? *\'e< •' '' 1 XL “Yes." *** WeLssberger smiled craftily. “I’ll tell you what we're going to Ar*. " coirl “WpVp cmincr to fill

“I hope you won't cause any loss of life.” "Probably not. But what do you care about that?” Grebe, acting his part, shrugged his shoulders. Weissberger continued : "You have an automatic sprinkler system in the building, I “Yes. When the fire begins water will pour out all over it. How will you get around that?" “The system works from tanks on the upper floor, doesn't it?" “Yes.” WeLssberger smiled craftily. “I’ll tell you what we’re going to do.” he said. “We're going to fill the sprinkler system with gasoline!” The owner’s face paled at the hideous idea. Instead of water, gasoline would pour on the flames! The warehouse would become a fuel-bed torch. There would probably be explosions. killing scores of neighbors. What if something should go wrong with Bielaski's plans? “I thought the building was fireproof, anyway,” he objected. Weissberger laughed. “We'll guarantee it,” he replied. “Well guarantee total destruction!” The owner considered a while before he said: “I suppose I must agree.” BBS AS soon as Weissberger had left, elated at prospects of wealth, the machinery of justice began to turn. Into a vacant building opposite several boxes were moved under cover of darkness. Unpacked they revealed a motion picture camera, which was set up to cover the warehouse. At the same time watchmen of other warhehouses in the vicinity were replaced quietly by policemen and firemen, and several new

. . . a dozen police rushed in on them . . -

boarders moved into adjoining houses. The auhorities could take no chances with such a devilish plot. Other men began to appear, however. They were furtive, for-eign-looking little men, who surveyed the interior of the warehouse, looked over the sprinkler system, and conferred at length with Grebe and Weissberger. “We must have a watchman we can trust,” Weissberger said. “Do you know any one who doesn’t live around here?” The owner had been instructed by Bielaski what to reply. “Yes,” he said. “I have a cousin who lives in Paterson, who would help us. I once did a favor for him. and he can keep his mouth shut.” “Send for him,” Weissberger directed. That night another agent of the National Board of Fire Underwriters’ Arson Bureau arrived, posing as Grebe's cousin. He was hired as watchman. B B B THE motion picture camera opposite was recording everything that happened in daylight. And so brazen were the firebugs that it was daylight when they drove up with a truck of gasoline in big cans. The film showed the unloading of hundreds of gallons of gasoline. The film was rushed to New York, where it was shown to Bielaski. When the unloading scene was reached he uttered an exclamation. “What's in those boxes?” he asked an agent who had brought the film. “I don't know. Weissberger didn’t say.” Bielaski was grave. “I recognized two of the men as professional torches, from these pictures,” he said. “One of them is Alex Zarick, one of the most dangerous arsonists in Pennsylvania. I have a hunch what is in those boxes. We mustn't wait any longer.” / He called the state troopers on i the telephone, and sent word to Agent 67. “Tell him to make arrests at ! once,” he said. “We have sufficient evidence to convict. And tell him to be damned careful of those square boxes taken in with the gasoline.” A fire station two blocks away i was warned to be on the qui-vive. | Agents sat on the porches of the adjoining houses, ready to spring | into action. B B B LATE that evening Weissberger and two other men arrived, and whispered to Grebe and the 1 new watchman. “Tonight's the night,” Weissberger said. “And I'm going to do Prompt Relief From Itching Eczema It's wonderful the way soothing, cooling Zemo brings prompt relief to itching, burning skin, even in severe cases. Itching stops the moment Zemo touches the tender and inflamed skin because of its rare ingredients. To clear away Hashes, Pimples. Eczema. Ringworm ind restore the skin to normal, always use l clean, soothing Zemo. Insist on genu- | ine Zemo: it's worth the price, because it brings relief. .'tV. fide and SI. All druggists'.—Advertisement.

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THE INDIANAPOLIS TIMES

what I promised. The building will be a total wreck!” "What do you mean?” “You'll find out. You go away now, and leave us alone.” He and his companions went over to the boxes that were beside the gasoline containers. At that moment Agent 67, Trooper Arms and a dozen police rushed in on them. Weissberger, Zarick, and John Hanncerwicz were arrested. Weissberger, however, seemed undisturbed. “You’ll never convict us,” he boasted. “Look what Grebe stores in his warehouse. This is a violation of the law, worse than ours!” He pointed to the boxes delivered with the fuel. Agent 67 looked at them. They contained enough dynamite to wreck two city blocks! A long court battle ensued. Firemen, police, troopers, and insurance companies united in piling up evidence of the plot. The jury brought in verdicts of guilty against the three prisoners. B B B BIELASKI. who was present in court, reached over and shook hands with the owner. “Fine -work.” he whispered. Judge B. R. Jones, presiding over the case, hammered with his gavel. "The verdict has been rendered and I must sentence the prisoners to jail,” he said. "But I have another comment to make. Mr. Grebe, you are a most dishonorable person! ” The spectators gasped. Bielaski arose to defend the owner, who had foiled a most diabolical plot, but he was not permitted to speak. “Mr. Grebe, you ought not to have taken the action you did—permitting these men to carry out the preliminaries of a crime, and then foiling them. You ought to have thrown them out the minute they proposed the crime!” Bielaski made himself heard. “But, your honor,” he said, “then we would have no evidence, and this conviction could not hale taken place.” “It is not the citizen’s business to do what Mr. Grebe did,” said the judge. “I can only condemn him for his action!” The public-spirited citizen looked at the police and secret agents who had so successfully co-oper-ated with him, a dazed expression on his face. The End.

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.AUG. 31, 1933