ATTEMPT TO DYNAMITE M. LOUBET'S HOUSE.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXIX, Issue 8159, 13 June 1906, Page 7

ATTEMPT TO DYNAMITE M. LOUBET'S HOUSE.

In the midst of the strikes and Tumuurs of strikes (writes a Paris correspondent) the news that an attempt bad been made to dynamite the hons§ owned at Moutelimar by M. Loubet, late President of the Republic, bas caused wonder as -well as excitement. M. Loubet had in reality never done anything to draw to himself the dangerous attention of dynamiters and Bince belnft the Elysee to smoke his pipe in peace at his fireside, to quote his own saying, he has been practically forgotten. The late President has given a vivid and interesting narrative of his escape from the dynamite bomb at Montelimar to an enquirer: "I am not at bll overwhelmed by the attempt," says M. Loubet. "1 already ran not a few risks when was at the Klysee and am a fatalißt. What astonishes me is that the indiscretion which was disclosed the fact I was not committed before. It happened so far back as Maroh' 2nd. The reticence observed by the people ' at Montelimar, who knew the affair, was admirable, as It ENABLED! THE JUDICIAL INVESTIGATORS to oontinae their work quietly and •efficiently. As the affair bas leaked ont I need no longer keep eilenoe. On Maroh 2nd 1 left Le Begude to spend a few hours at Montelimar. In the evening I dined in the house in the Roe Qnatre Alliance with my son Paul and my old friend and neighbour General Grasset. After dinner, instead of going into the salon, we went into my study next to the dining room, on the ground floor. 1 lit my pipe and Paul sat 'grilling' a cigarette. General Grasset was walking up and down the room, and about half-past eight o'olook M. Jaussaud, of the Inland Revenue, ANOTHER OLD FRIEND, joined us and told me that be had ■made a strange and startling discovery. Wbile going to the olub in the dark he noticed on a window sill of oar faoase a small tin box, tied with wire, and a lighted fuse on the -oover. fie coolly extinguished the fuse, burning his fingers in doing so, and then dipped the box iu the gutter stream, after which he carried it to the courthouse and made a statement as to his disoovery to the Procurator of the Republio. At the -courthouse the box, or bomb, was left all night in a bucket of water. Next morning it was opened.and inside were 800 grammes of a blaob i powder, SOME FRAGMENTS OF IRON j NAILS, ! ■and quite qt the bottom a quantity ' of greyish matter, the nature of , "which could not be determined, bat which was probably explosive. It was deoided to send the box and' Its contents to Paris for analysis. The Procurator of the Republio «sked as not to say anything, so as to facilitate his investigation. Naturally we could not tell him anything, nor conld our neighbours, who had teen nothing whatever. Soon after the box was sent to Paris M. Touny telegraphed to cay son that the bomb was a fraud*and that it had been put down by a practical joker. This, however, was not the opinion of M. Girard, of the Municipal Labortory, \vho, a week after, informed us that the bomb was genuine. It was filled with Btuff not strong enough to damage the house, but capable of oausing grievous injury to persons going along the street at the time of the explosion. A man, sapposed to be an anarobist, who bad been at Montelimar on Maroh 2nd, last, was arrested on suspicion at Avignon, and is still in onstody."