The Anaconda Standard

BUTTE News.

RESENTS THE CHARGES

Mr. Hoaglin Tells What He Knows of the Big Fire.

STOCK IS A TOTAL LOSS

He Insists That There Was Nothing Mysterious About His Movements That Night—He Will Resume Business.

It would be hard to imagine how a stock of goods could be more completely ruined than were the goods in the Boston store, which was gutted by fire Sunday evening. G. S. Hoaglin, proprietor of the store, was busy yesterday looking over the damaged goods to see what in the wreck was still saleable. There is little left that is marketable outside of the shoes, and some of them are spoiled by water. Mr. Hoaglin yesterday gave each member of the fire department a pair of shoes as the ones some of them wore at the fire were badly damaged.

Mr. Hoaglin expressed himself to a Standard reporter yesterday pretty strongly on the criticism that had been made regarding him and the charges of incendiarism.

"There is not the slightest ground for any such charge," said Mr. Hoaglin. "The police say my conduct was suspicious, but there has certainly been nothing mysterious about my actions or my movements. My trip to New York was planned several days ago. I have here a draft on a New York bank that I got Saturday to buy goods with."

Mr. Hoaglin showed a draft for $1,500 payable to himself in New York, and signed by Fayette Harrington of the Silver Bow National bank.

"I was going to New York on the 8:35 o'clock Northern Pacific train last evening," said Mr. Hoaglin, "and took a carriage from in front of the store about 9 o'clock. My wife, Mr. Webb and another gentleman accompanied me to the depot at my invitation. My wife was not going to New York with me, but accompanied me to the depot to see me start.

"It is charged that it is very strange I should leave more than $300 in my bed when I was going to New York. There is nothing strange or suspicious about it. The banks closed at noon Saturday and I could make no deposit of my sales during the afternoon and evening. I gave my wife the wallet with the money and just before I left I told her to deposit $250 when the bank opened and keep the rest for the store. We put the wallet in the bed, as my wife did not want to have so much money about her. When I reached the store after the alarm of fire, I told fireman of the money and he got it in the bed and gave it to me. The fireman also found the money drawer with about $5 in small change in it."

"Was there much of a fire in the stove when you left the store?"

"There was a fair fire. We had been sitting at the stove. Mr. Webb had been sitting there with us for about 15 minutes before we left. My wife was coming right back to the store, so I did not think it necessary to take any precautions in regard to the stove."

"Are you going to start in business again?"

"Yes, sir; just as soon as I can get this mess cleaned up. I shall remove my stock over here from Anaconda and resume business. Why should I want to burn out my store when I am making $1,500 a month? I have made $14,000 in the last eight months, and that is certainly too good a business to burn up."

Mr. Hoaglin said that the stock saved from the fire is not worth more than $500.

The police worked all day on the case, but no arrests have been made, and in fact there is no real evidence to justify arrests, the investigation being due to suspicion. The three clerks who were in the sweat box Sunday evening went to the police station again yesterday morning and inquired if they were wanted, but were told that there is no charge against them.

The most important thing that was learned by Detective Murphy was that two trunks and a valise were shipped from the Boston store to Anaconda on Sunday evening at 5 o'clock. Detective Murphy went to Anaconda at 5 o'clock yesterday and went to the Boston store there, which is a branch of Mr. Hoaglin's Butte store. Mr. Murphy ascertained that the two trunks and valise did arrive there from the Butte store, but they were empty when Mr. Murphy saw them.

The manager of the Anaconda store told him that they contained dress goods.

Mr. Murphy has not yet found the hackman who drove the party to the depot. Two young men were found who said that Hoaglin and party left the Boston store as they passed it going east, and by the time they reached the Library building the fire had broken out. The interval could not, in their opinion, have been more than three minutes.

Detective Murphy said last evening that the case is a peculiar one and he did not know whether to think that the fire was incendiary or not. He is of the opinion that there are men working on the case in the interest of the fire insurance companies.

Fire Chief Flannery said yesterday that when he first saw the fire it seemed to him to be about 20 feet from the stove. It did not seem around the stove at that time, but soon reached there.

Assistant Fire Chief Sanger is the man who got the wallet for Mr. Hoaglin from his bed. Sanger, however, did not look in the wallet to see how much money there was.

The following is the insurance on the stock of the store:

Aachen & Munich $2,000
Alliance 5,000
Fire Association of Philadelphia 2,000
Hanover 3,000
Lion 1,000
North British & Mercantile 2,000
Northern 1,000
Palatine 1,000
Phoenix of London 2,000
St. Paul 1,000
Thuringia 1,000
United States 3,000
Williamsburg City 1,000

Total $25,000

Mr. Hoaglin thinks that $2,000 of the insurance named has lately expired and that the insurance carried will foot up $23,000.

The following prominent fire insurance special agents and adjusters are in town: F. O. L. Buck, Charles B. Wilson of Denver, R. L. Luke of Helena, Edward Niles and J. D. Layng of San Francisco.