29 Mar 1888 - The Philadelphia Times (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
She is Charged With Having Set Fire to Her House
Mrs. Margaret Hopkins was given a final hearing yesterday at the Central Station on a charge of having set fire to her house, at 2840 Kensington avenue, on March 14, when the two adjoining premises were also destroyed. Mrs. Hopkins, who is said to be feeble-minded, fled to Camden after the fire, and she was found there in a hospital, where she was feigning sickness.
Fire Marshal Thompson and Detective Geyer both testified that they had made a thorough examination of the origin of the fire. They found that there was an insurance of $600 place on the household effects by Mrs. Hoffman, although all the furniture in the house was worth less than $100. Detective Geyer produced in evidence several pans and kettles filled with rags which had been saturated with coal oil and which, the detective explained, had been found among the ruins. The woman had given several contradictory statements concerning the cause of the blaze. She was committed to prison, without bail, to await trial for arson.