AMERICAN BOMB OUTRAGES

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 266, 6 August 1919, Page 7

AMERICAN BOMB OUTRAGES

NO EVIDENCE AGAINST CRIMINALS MASTER MIND AT WORK ("Morning Post" Correspondent.) ' Washington, June 3. With the finding this morning of the ecalp of the Anarchist who last night attempted to kill the Attorney-Genoral, Mr. Mitchell Palmer, by throwing a bomb into his houee, the police hope they may be able to establish the identity of the man and connect him with tho gang that mado similar attempts against the lives of prominent men in many cities last evening. The force of the explosion, which badly wrecked Mr. Palmer's house and did serious damage to many houses in the vicinity, was terrific, and had not the bomb prematurely exploded the loss of life must have been sorious. In ■ reconstructing tho- crime the police are convinced that tho twrorist, either in his nervous haste or because he was unfamiliaj with his ground, tripped on a low step a fow feet from the front door, when the bomb instantly exploded and literally blew tho man to bits. Parts of the body were picked up by the police, and a large section of his backbone was forced through l the open window of the Norwegian Legation, diagonally across tho street from Mr. Palmer's house. There were shreds of flesh and clothing, pieces of , a cteap travelling bag, and two revolvers, an automatic and a Colt, exploded, battered, and twisted, but a diligent search failed to reveal any trace of the head.

On the roof of a house fully a hundred feet from the scene of the criino the police^thie.morning, continuing their investigation, found a man's scalp. It has curly .black hair, slightly streaked with grey,, and fits in with the police theory thaVtho man was an Italian. Fragments of a railway ticket v and n hat bearing the name of an Italian dealer in Philadelphia indicate that the man came from that.'city, acting Tinder the orders of the Central Anarchist headquarters, which are believed to be in Paterson, New Jersey, long a' hotbed of crime and violence. The police believe that the man was given his directions, but.had not fully surveyed (he ground, and that as there was a new moon and the street is veillighted he wae in a great.hurry to plant his bomb and get away. The bomb was evidently carried in a bag, and in tho bag there was also an automatic revolver, the othei , revolver being in the r.ian'e pocket. The man eith'er fell or dropped the bag, when tho bomb immediately exploded. . ■ Professor Monroe, tho Government's chief explosives expert, does not this theory, but believes that .the bomb, which was of the self-effacing type, exploded prematurely owing to e. miscalculation of time and destroyed its carrier instead of his intended victim. This is tho second time within five weeks that a widespread attempt_ has been made to take the lives of prominent men by means of bombs. 'On May 1 a dozen or more bombs addressed to men in all parts of the country were deposit ed for mailing in a New York city post office, but fortunately they were discovered in time, and the only victim was a coloured eervont girl, 'both of whose hands were blown off- when she opened the paokage addressed to her master. Practically at the same time that, the bomb was planted in Washington the residences of men in seven cities, whose pu'blio utterances or official acts had marked them as enemies of Anarchy and were being bombed, but although considerable damage was done to property, only a single life paid the forfeit. In New York an attempt to blow ■up the house of Judge Nott, tne of the Judges of the Criminal Courts, killed a policeman ■ who was on duty near the house and injured several passers-by, but Judge Nott and his family were out of town. ' Bombs made by Experts. . Although no arrests have been made in connection with the New York plot, the authorities are certain that the same men who wero responsible for it directed the explosions in Washington and other cities, and that they are men far above the average of their kind. The New York bombs were made by experts, and showed not only mechanical skill of the highest order, but also a knowledge of chemistry and explosives which only educated technicians could possess. Thero is. nothing left of the Washington bomb to indicate its nature, but from tho force of the explosion and the gases generated explosives experts aro certain that the bomb waf, loaded not with dynamite, but with cordite, and was more thaji ordinarily dangerous. Near Mr. Palmer's house was picked up Anarchistio literature and n proclamation defying society, and threatening unceasing war until the tyrants were overthrown and the social revolution had won its fight, and similar stuff was found at tho scene of the bomb outrages in other oities, proving conclusively the direction of a master mind. •

Iβ that master mind Gorman, or Russian, or American? is what the authorities are asking, or have tho Germans fa'd tho Russian Bolsheviks united with American Bolsheviks in tfiehono that a campaign of terrorism may so frighten society that it will be willing to purchase safety at any price? Hitherto dynamito outrages have always been credited to tho Independent AVorkers of the World, but it is obvious tlm.t this campaign is being carried on with much greater intelligence tlian that of the Independent Workers of the World, whoso methods wero always crude and almost invariably led to tlie detection of' their- perpetrators.

Tho authorities have no fear of Bolshevism taking a deep hold in this country or of the social revolution wHiich tho Anarchists preach becoming a reality, but regretfully' they aro forced to admit that up to the present they have no evidence on which to bring to justice tho men who murder and plot murder.