Jasper County Democrat, Volume 6, Number 6, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 May 1903 — BIG DYNAMITE PLOT. [ARTICLE]

BIG DYNAMITE PLOT.

infernal machine designed TO SINK GREAT SHIP. Box Found with Explosive to Bo get Free bj Clockwork—Motive Declared to Be to Drive Every British Steamer from the Fort. Through the* discovery at New York of an infernal machine set to explode 100 pounds of dynamite within thirty-six hours, a plot concocted by the Mafia to blow up the Atlantic liner Umbria in midocean was frustrated. The machine wag in a box the size of a small trunk and it consisted of three sets of clockwork nnd 100 pounds of dynamite. It was delivered at the pier by two Italians and the machinery was in motion when discovered forty-five minutes before the Umbria sailed for Europe. The attempt to blow up the Umbria is said to be part of a conspiracy to wreck all the English owend steamships on the New Y’ork run. ____ The infernal machine was discovered through a letter mailed at the general postofflee with a' special delivery stamp on it, addressed to Captain Piper, the deputy police commissioner. The letter said the Mafia was behind the plot. Although the letter was signed, Captain Piper thought the warning a hoax. He decided to take no chances, howSver, and reported the matter to Inspector McClusky, who sent Detectives McCarthy and Farley to the Cunard pier, McClusky also telephoned to Detective Gleason, who is stationed there, and who had Captain Watson, the dock superintendent, and Mr. Floyd, the acting agent of the linfr, waiting when they arrived. The detectives went on board and consulted Captain Dutton of the Umbria al> ter they had failed to discover the box on the pier. Inquiry led to the belief that a box like that described in the letter had been taken ou the vessel. Captain Dutton declared that he would not sail until the box was found. The box was found at the foot of the firot cabin gangway. It was of new pine wood, forty inches long, ten inches wide and twenty inches deep. The top was fastened down by an ordinary iron padlock. The detectives placed their ears near the box. They could hear the ticking and buzzing distinctly. They carried it to a less public place and broke the lock. The lifted lid disclosed three sets of clockwork. All the wheels were turning and ticking and buzzing industriously. Beneath the clockwork was n large quantity of a brown powder. It had the appearance. of dynamite and there were at least 100 pounds of it. - The detectives and the officials of the Cunard line decided to take no chances. They, carried the box to the end of the pier, handling it somewhat gingerly, and, attaching a ropt to one of the handles, tossed it overboard to render harmless any explosive that it might contain. The news of the finding of the box spread swiftly among the 300 persons on the pier 'who were there to see friends depart, and many of them fled. But few of the passengers knew anything about It, as the Umbria sailed soon after the Infernal machine was destroyed.