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208
THE SURAKARTA

the fire. They found then that there was fire also in the inner room—that from which the emerald was stolen—and that there the flames had gained much greater headway. This and the unfamiliarity of the Javanese with American methods of fire alarm, caused almost total destruction of the furnishings of both rooms. The alarm was finally given by one of the chambermaids of the hotel, who heard the cries of the Javanese, and the fire was extinguished by means of the fire protection system of the hotel and the fire department. Baraka and Hafara, as well as some others of the Javanese, were slightly burned in their efforts to put out the flames.

"An investigation which was at once started by the police revealed immediately the incendiary origin of the fire. Gasoline, or some other highly inflammable oil, had