100 years ago in The Record

Monday, Sept. 30, 1918

The proprietor of a Putnam Street garage is under arrest for setting a fire there that “for a time threatened to burn the entire block on the corner of Putnam and Phila streets,” The Saratogian reports.

The fire at 48 Putnam is “the biggest in the city since the destruction of the Lane storage warehouse last winter,” according to a frontpage report. Allen’s Garage is a total loss, while damage to the building as a whole and adjoining structures is estimated at more than $10,000.

Patrolman Eugene H. Higgins discovers the fire, and the apparent arsonist, shortly before 4 a.m. “He passed through the alley in the rear of the building [and] saw a man leave the shadow of the garage and start out of the alley,” a reporter writes. Moments later, Higgins sees smoke and “a tongue of flame coming from the garage.”

At the fire’s height, “Eleven streams of water were used and at one time it seemed as if all the buildings in the vicinity were doomed.” However, “the quick work of the fire department and the fact that there was no wind was all that prevented a much more serious fire.”

Higgins says that the man he saw leaving the garage was Carroll P. Allen, who is arrested this afternoon for second-degree arson. Allen claims that he was home sick all night and that “a boy named Harold Cook was taking care of the place.”

The building itself, owned by a Troy estate, is insured for $6,000. Allen’s property reportedly is insured for $1,500.

$8,000 Bond Sale at Skidmore School

Skidmore School of Arts is determined to surpass previous bond sale totals during the new Fourth Liberty Loan campaign, which kicks off on campus tonight with a program of songs and patriotic speeches at College Hall.

Students, faculty and workers bought $9,000 worth of Liberty Bonds for the war effort last year during the Second Liberty Loan. They just about match that tonight, signing up for over $8,000 in bonds that can be redeemed with interest after the war.

“Students are writing to their homes to ask permission to transfer money from new winter coats to Liberty bonds,” The Saratogian reports admiringly.

What’s Happening

Emmy Whelan stars in “The House of Gold” at the Broadway Theatre tonight, with a vintage Charlie Chaplin short, “The Roustabout,” as an added attraction.

At the Palace, opera star Geraldine Farrar stars as Joan of Arc in a re-release of Cecil B. DeMille’s “Joan the Woman.” At the Lyric, Bessie Love stars in “A Little Sister to Everybody” and the “Lion’s Claws” serial continues.

- Kevin Gilbert