100 YEARS AGO
BUSINESS — In Nogotamura Toyotamagori fires have repeatedly occurred of late, the result being that many people of the district will often visit several temples of the neighbourhood to request the exemption of their property from fire. The police exerted their utmost to unravel the mysterious cause of the fires, and a few days ago caught a girl of about 16 years in the act of setting fire to a house in the place. On strict inquiry she was forced to confess that she was responsible for all the outbreaks in the neighbourhood but that she was acting upon the instruction of one named Kamesaburo Arai, a man in some way connected with the celebrated Fudo temple at Narita. Arai was arrested at once and confessed that since if fire frequently takes place the talismans issued from the temple would sell well and his commissions are correspondingly good, he thought of the capital idea of employing the girl to set fire to so much a night in order to increase his custom and income.
50 YEARS AGO