(Five newspaper clippings)
1. From the New York Evening Sun, July 28th, byline Jacob Riis
Police Investigation into Chinatown Fires Continues as the District Burns!
Yet another raging fire broke out in Chinatown yesterday at 11:30 PM, destroying a cigar factory and a
laundry on Leonard Street. Occupants of the third floor apartment climbed down the fire escape after
being awoken by the heavy smoke and shouts from the nearby park. The building was a total loss.
Preliminary inspection of the smoking ruins this morning by fire officials suggest the fire started in the
ground floor laundry and was rapid. City officials are baffled. Clearly this is the work of an arsonist and a
madman. City officials discount the numerous sightings of a man, or dare I say ghost, on fire which have
been made for the last two months, as hallucinations or perhaps sightings of unfortunate victims of the
various fires. New York police maintain that they have definite leads to the culprit for the rash of fires and
the citizens are to remain calm and report any information to Sgt Thady O’Toole of the 5th Precinct
stationhouse on Elizabeth Street or to the Detective Bureau at New York Police Headquarters. My
informants on the street tell a different tale; that no human is responsible for these fires and that this is not
a case of gang warfare. All of the fires have occurred within the Five Points District, ironically speeding
the city demolishment of old tenement housing and making way for new construction, but the loss of life
has been tragic.
2. From the New York Evening Sun, July 23rd, byline Jacob Riis
Tenement Destroyed, 33 Lives Lost!
A fire in Chinatown destroyed a tenement building on the west side of Baxter Street yesterday late. The
alarm was raised by late night tavern patrons who claimed to see a man on fire floating through the air
and passing through the brick wall of the building, followed within a minute of a massive explosion of fire
that looked to be on the second floor. Windows were blown out followed by gouts of flame according to
on-lookers in the nearby Park which was dedicated last year. Thirty-three people died in that fire—men,
women and children. By my count this is the 12th suspicious fire in Five Points since May, mostly preying
on the Chinese immigrants. This reporter thinks it is high time that the New York Fire Department start
placing additional fire crews and engines in the District and police patrols be increased during the evening
and nighttime hours. As usual city official dismiss all reports of floating men, on fire or not, as either
confusion with seeing bodies blown out of the building upon the explosion. The Fire Department says
they suspect a massive gas leak occurred which was ignited when a resident returned home smoking a
cigar.
3. From the New York Evening Sun, July 8th, byline Jacob Riis
Immigrants flee from man on fire in Five Points Park.
Yet another fire yesterday destroyed a Chinese grocery store as well as the African-American Society for
Mutual Relief next door. But this disaster was the most bizarre of the lot. First, on-lookers in the Park
claimed to see a man, ash-colored with flames covering his body but not screaming in pain nor running,
but walking across the park from Mulberry Street. This man walks through the front door of the African-
American Society for Mutual Relief. Some on-lookers claimed he literally walked through the front door
but they were hysterical. Second, indigent residents of the Society claimed this burning figure of a man
walked through a wall, setting it on fire, looked at the Negroes present and asked “where are the
Chinese?” They shouted not here, and the figure turned without further comment, stepped through the
wall again, furthering the flames fanning across the room, and left. Apparently, although not witnessed,
the man of fire went to the grocery store next door, run by a Chinese merchant, and set it on fire. City
officials explained that when the Negro residents breathed escaping gas fumes, they began to imagine
they were seeing a man on fire. They suggested the witnesses in the park were drunk (and disorderly)
and could be more useful to the investigation if they would sober up. In all of my years as a reporter in
this City, this story is certainly the most bizarre I have ever covered.
4. From the New York Journal, June 5th, no byline, small article
What is Happening in Potters Field?
Potters Field caretaker, Mr. Hermann Grabel, has informed this newspaper that he has seen a burning figure rise up from a grave in the cemetery on Hart’s Island. Grabel swears this is the truth and not the product of too much drink. Grabel is not a religious man and does not hold with heathen spiritualism either, but he refuses to speculate on what he has seen. The Journal requested permission from the Department of Charity and Corrections for a permit to tour Potters Field and inspect the gravesite, but the department denied the permit. Department officials suggest privately that Mr. Grabel is in declining health and may be committed to the Workhouse on the island or the Insane Asylum on Ward Island if he has more delusions or does not lay off the bottle.
5. Personal advertisement from New York Times, June 25th.
Seeking White Rose Club. Help needed with evil spirit which sets fires. Friend of Elder Doctor.