1/16/2009:
In 1908 in Devils Lake, Christ Dahl, one of the owners of the I X L clothing store, and Ed Thompson, a painter, had come to a conclusion. They needed money. So, they came up with a plan to help make ready their road to riches. It was not exactly legal, but it was, apparently, the only way: they had to set fire to the store, and collect the insurance money.
The two men took out a $24,000-dollar insurance policy on the building, and then planned what they would do: they would smear gas all over the basement, light it up and let it go.
What they had not counted on, however, was John Houghton, a plumber with a natural sense of curiosity, who was working nearby.
Houghton had been hired to work on the plumbing in the new building next door. In the afternoon, he went into the basement to make sure all of his handiwork was in good repair. However, the basement was separated from the room next door by a very thin partition, and so he could hear the low susurration of voices from the neighboring basement. Being naturally curious, he looked through a crack in the partition and listened in.
He overheard Dahl and Thompson, the owner and the painter, discussing how best to spread gasoline over the walls. Then he overheard Dahl tell Thompson to move the stores' books to where they could be safely and easily gotten to.
So, the peeping plumber took matters into his own hands. First, he wandered over and down into the basement, interrupting the conversation and gaining no end of ill-will for doing so. And the next day, on this date, swore out a warrant for the arrest of the two plotters.
And lucky for anyone who may have been in the store, too, for it was generally thought that the fire would have been fatal. Who knows who Peeping John the plumber saved?
By Sarah Walker
Sources:
Bismarck Weekly Tribune, Friday, January 24, 1908