Suspicion Falls on Youths After Ballard Arson
A vacant building owned by Fred E. Sander was destroyed by fire in Ballard; two local boys seen fleeing the scene are now suspects.
A small house in the northern part of Ballard was burned to the ground about 3 o'clock yesterday afternoon by a fire which seemed to be of incendiary origin. Just before the flames broke out two boys, both aged about 13 years, named Henry Benjamin and Charles Comfort, were seen to run from the building, and as they have a bad reputation and have only lately returned from the reform school, they are strongly suspected of starting the fire. The building was owned by Fred E. Sander and was unoccupied, except that a man named May had some furniture and lumber stored there. The loss is about $75, with no insurance.
“Just before the flames broke out two boys... were seen to run from the building, and as they have a bad reputation and have only lately returned from the reform school, they are strongly suspected of starting the fire.”
The neighborhood of Ballard has transformed from a standalone mill town prone to industrial-era fires into a dense urban district. Yet the anxiety over 'delinquent' youth and the vulnerability of vacant properties remains a consistent thread in Seattle's civic discourse.
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