Holding a lighted candle in his
hand, Isaac Mintz, 58, went into the
basement of his tenement house at
507 Throop ave. this morning, accord-
ing to fire and police authorities, to
see how a batch of hooch he was
making on his own newly-discovered
formula was coming around. Police,
the Fire Department and a hospital
ambulance figured in what followed
and Mintz is in a critical condition in St.
John’s hospital from body burns.
The explosion, which occurred two
doors from P.S. 44, in which a panic
was narrowly averted by the presence
of mind of teachers, was heard a
block away by Patrolman Thomas |
Mullaney of the Gates ave.
station.
He called an ambulance and fire ap-
paratus and by a burst of smoke,
traced the explosion to Mintz’ cellar.
He found Mintz unconscious on the
floor, his clothing scattered around
the room in shreds and the woodwork
of the cellar in flames. Investigation by Deputy Fire Com-
missioner Weinstein revealed two
barrels of alleged alcohol in Mintz’
basement and the shattered acces-
sories off a still. A charge of having
caused a fire by storing a large quan-
tity of liquor in his basement without
a proper permit was lodged in the
Gates ave. station against Mintz and
his wife, Sadie, who is being detained
in the station house for arraignment
this afternoon. The fire was put out
without much damage. |