New Orleans daily crescent., 1866-02-01

CalffornIss Vengeance.
rHr late ArrEsrr TO AssAsssArE JUDGE FIELD.

! y
rHE +. ,rr ArrEsrr TO AssAss1NArE JUDGE FIELD.
From the Washington Star, Jan Ill
The following is a correct version of the attempt
to assassinate Hon. Stephen G. Field, associate
Justice OF the United States Supreme court. Last
Saturday morning, while the judge was at his table
writing, his mail was brought in, and contained a
amali package about four inches square and one
and half inches thick The package was en-,
veloped in comm on white paper, and on one side
had stamp of the Pioneer gallery, San Francisco,
attached. The superscription was printed. and
evidently cut from the titlepage of the "Califor-
MIA Reports, with the exception of " Washington,
D. c. which had been cut out of a newspaper,
both Of the slips being pasted on the face Of the
package.
y The Judge, upon first taking up the parcel, re.
marked to Judge Lake, who was present. that IT
must be photograph, and expressed surprise az
its reception. He stepped to the window and d
providentiaily discovered, when he had opened IL
about the eighth of an inch that 1t Was not pno-
tograph, and called Judge Lakes afternoon 70 tne
singular appearance of the box; The latter, upon
looking at It, pronounced it to be torpedo, and
after putting it in the water, took it ont to the
capitol topposite the rooms Of Judge Fieldl where
he, with Nj. Broom, one Of the clerks OF the su
These gentlemen finally went into the carriage
way under the Senate steps, and, shielding them:
selves behind one of the columns, threw the box
against tho wall stattering off the lid and exposing
the contents About dozen copper car
tridges had been placed in the box, with the bull
lets radiating from the centre, which formed q
space Of about one inch in diameter. The sides
Or the cartridges had been filed through, so as to
afford communication with the powder. In the
little cavity surrounded by cartridges was fixed
. peculiar friction match, resembling small
roll of paper, one end of which was attached to
the bottom Of the box and the other to the lid.
and arranged so as to be ignited upon the
least tension that might be caused by opening
the package. Over the match and cartridges
there had been poured paste, composed OF full
minating powder and alcohol, thus rendering the
Internal machine certain to explode. On the in
sde Of the lid was pasted the following words.
also cut from newspaper: "October 81, 1864.
Judge Field this morning decided the Puebla case
in favor Of the city, The box and its contents
were sent to the Secretary of War, who directed
m examination Of the package by the ordnance
department The officers of this department
state that it is the most remarkable torpedo ever
brought to their attention, and that had the Judge
pulled open the box, it would have exploded with
terrible effect.
Judge Field has no idea as to the source of the
internal machine, but from the fact that it was
evidently made by a scientific man, familiar with
such work, and that the package was too large to
be put in the letter box in San Francisco, but must
have been passed through the postofice window,
IL is reasonable to believe that the sender of the
torpedo will be brought to justice. The Puebla
case was one involving the virtue OF titles to
property, given by the city of San Frailcisco, and
which was decided in favor of the city by Judge
Field, in 1864, thereby dispossessing large num-
ber of spectators and adventurers who hal occu-
pied land as sqnatters.n The Judge is at loss
to determine whether the Internal machine was
sent BY some OF these disappointed adventurers,
Or by some culprit who has had justice meted out
to him by Judge Field, and who now uses the re-
ference to the Puebla case to throw suspicion on
the wrong track.