The Wanganui Chronicle, AND PATRA-RANGITIKEI ADVERTISER. "NULLA DIES SINE LINEA." THURSDAY, MAY 28, 1891.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume XXXIII, Issue 11280, 29 May 1891, Page 2

The Wanganui Chronicle, AND PATRA-RANGITIKEI ADVERTISER. "NULLA DIES SINE LINEA." THURSDAY, MAY 28, 1891.

A."Fibe ring," for defrauding insurance companies, lias just been broken up in London — several of the members of the ring having been captured, tried, convicted, and sentenced to various terms of imprisonment. One of the gang, a woman — the most experienced and ingenious of the lot — escaped arrest, and dis- . guised and dressed as a man, took a steerage passage in a vessel bound for New Zealand in the early part of this year. It will be interesting to the public, and particularly tothe agents of insurance companies, to ' learn something about this woman (who is understood to be now in New Zealand) and her confederates, and the mode and magnitude of their operations. It was proved in evidence, at the trial of a half-dozen of the gang at the Old Bailey - in March last that during the 1 last twenty two years the " London Fire Ring" bad earned out no less than 800 fires, and had , succeeded in defrauding the insurance companies to the tune of s £90 000. At the time of the arrests i several of the gang had made I arrangements for striking fresh " ground in America and Australia, as 1 the London Insurance Companies, to quote the language of one of the r prisoners, " were getting a bit too fly " The original fire raiser was a certain George Cullmer, who, al- ' though bis methods were very crude andcommonplace/was certainly very 1 successful. For twenty-five years he pursued his "profession, and a, few days before His death he directed - the woman >vho was living with him

is his wife to total up tte various 3ums lie had received from the insurance companies. His record ambraced 500 fires, and a sum total Df £24.000. When Oullmer died, his "wife " and son and her mother went the pace. Theyextended operations, took other people into the business, and made things merry while they lasted. Old Oullmer's single plan had been to start a linen-draper's business, stocking the • shop with trashy goods and the salvage of other fires. Having effected an insurance, he lost no time in setting the place on fire. He used to soak sheets of paper in paraffin oil, strew them about the shop, set light to a piece nearest the door, then close it and walk calmly away. This was a very rough and ready way of doing the business, but when Cullmer took his " wife " into partnership she soon developed a much- superior . " system." This was her plan, as described by Police Inspector Dinnie, who unravelled the threads of the vile conspiracy: —"Two or three wicker baskets were placed on the floor bottom upwards so as -to allow the draught in, then a quantity of old clothing, rags, or sheeting well soaked in paraffin was laid on the top, other articles of wearing apparel were usually hung behind the doors, in the cupboards, and on the bed. Then a long piece of tape well soaked in paraffin'was first attached to a piece of candle and pinned to the clothing on the wicker baskets, then carried to the articles on the bed and pinned or fixed to several chairs or tables, well saturated, of course, with paraffin. The candle would be accurately measured and the tape fixed so as to allow half an hour or an hour to elapse; and having burnt down the tape would catch, and then the fire run along, and in- a few moments a most fierce fire breaks out. Old Oullmer was so delighted with the idea of the candle and tape that after the first experiment it is said he made his " wife " a present of a diamond ring. After a while matters got rather too "hot" for the couple, in a double sense, and the ready-witted female criminal suggested a further improvement in the ", System." It was that they should pay persons to represent themselves as the owners of the shops which were stocked, insured, and set on fire by Oullmer. Th c person who passed as the owner generally received £20 for his share, the balance of the insurance money being taken by the " Fire King and Queen." After a large number of fires had been carried out in this manner it was found necessary again to alter the method, and their next plan was to become acquainted with people who had shops of their own, and who were not" doing so well as they should like." The Fire King would carefully pave the way for the Fire Queen, who would, as a rule, succeed in getting them to consent to allow Cullmer to set the place on fire, he receiving sometimes as much as £50 for the job. After his father died, Cullmer, junior, acted as lieutenant to his mother until she married a man named Ingram, and initiated him into the- business. Then the field of operations extended —but several other people of shady reputations having joined the gang, they began to fall out amongst themselves, and at last got trapped, the Royal Insurance Company having invoked the aid of the police in investigating the circumstances attending a certain suspicious fire. To show how young Cullmer improved upon the rough-and-ready practice of his father, and the much more ingenious methods of his mother, we give below the particulars of what he termed " A Realistic Smoke," —but which although eminently successful,he found rather too dangerous to repeat: — In May last year Cullmer and another member of the " ring" took a house in Camber well and insured the contents for .£IOO. The furniture in tlfe house had actually done duty at four fires, but Cullmer carefully wrapped the goods up in canvas, and on a very dark night moved them in. The house was a small one, and the staircase, instead of being at the side, ran right up the centre of the building, and the interior was mostly composed of wood. Cullmer, under the name of " Frankworth," was supposed to be the landlord, whilst the person insured (Cullmer's confederate) was a lodger in the house about to get marriei,and who had, in anticipation of that event, invested his savings in getting together a nice little " home!" The "home "a wood merchant would not' have given 10s for. It was arranged that this should be the first experiment in what Cullmer called "realistic smokes." which were to take the place of the "smokes during absence from home." First the fire was to break out in the downstairs rooms, where Frankworth lived, who was not insured; secondly everyone concerned was to stay in the house until the outbreak, and then ■escape from the upper-floor windows; thirdly, the fire was to occur in the dead of the night, when'everyone was supposed to be in bed. " A nice report," said George," will get in the papers, of a serious fire and a narrow escape of the inmates, and we shall be able to show it to the Fire office people." Ten gallons of paraffin were used ; the staircase was ripped up, and egg-chests soaked in the oil were placed about the house. About 2 a.m. George set fire to the rags and egg chests in the ground-floor back room, and in loss than five minutes the whole of the stair case was one mass of flames. As luck would have it a man was passing, and iaiaed an alarm. The so-called lodger appeared at the window in his night dress, and in well-disguised, sleepy tones, inquired what on earth was tho matter. The man implored him to get out, and with the aid of some sheeting (prepared beforehand) the lodger reached the ground. To make matters look more lona fide, Cullmer and his wife got on to a cistern at the back, and commenced to shout; but discovering that he had left his hat and coat behind, Cullmer ventured into the house again, and whilst groping about he was overcome by the smoke. Finding matters were serious, Mrs Gullmer got in at the window, and but for her courageous conduct there is little doubt that Cullmer would never have left that house alive. Cullmer did not try the "realistic smokes" again. The claim for XIOO was promptly settled for £75. At the trial six prisoners were charged, under 20 indictments for felony and one for conspiracy, which included 20 counts. They were all convicted, Cullmer being sentenced to 12years' penal servitude, and the rest to terms varying from one to five years. Tho cleverest member of the gang —Mrs Ingram, formerly Oullmer —escaped capture, and is believed to be now in Wew Zealand, a piece of information which will doubtless possess anything but pleasurable interest for the managers and agents of the vai'ious insurance companies doing business in this colony.