$3000 Man's Lure to Fire Building

Prisoner Confesses to Arson; Blames His Employer, Both Under Arrest

Boleslaw Ziemba, 1555 Mt. Ephraim Avenue, confessed today to Captain of Detectives Schregler that he set fire to the property at 1426 Broadway at the instigation of his employer, John Makel, so he could obtain $3000 he had put into the business. Makel conducted an automobile agency at the Broadway address. Both men are under arrest and will face charges of arson preferred by Fire Chief Peter B. Carter.

Ziemba told the detective chief in the presence of his aides, King and Painter, who investigated the case, that sometime ago he had loaned Makel $3000 and in turn had been given a job at the agency. He stated that he had asked Makel for his money and his employer then said that he, Ziemba, set fire to the building and that the insurance money would provide the means to erect a new and handsome building and he could have a better job and get his money back quicker.

Firemen saved the building from destruction after the first floor had been partly consumed by flames.

On an examination of the premises, Chief Carter said he found kindling wood saturated with gasoline and oil placed in piles between joists of the second floor. He also discovered that rags soaked in oil had been placed in cracks in the flooring. Even the driveway had been liberally dosed with gasoline and oil, the chief stated. The arrests followed the examination of the arson evidence at police headquarters.