The New Bloomfield, Pa. times. (New Bloomfield, Pa.) 1877-188?, 1879-10-14
A noy shot by an InfernaI Machine.

The Philadelphia "Star" of the. 9th
inst. says; "This morning,a few moments
before 10 o'clock, those in the vicinity of
the row of lawyers Offices in Sixth ST.,
near Walnut, heard loud report as
though produced by package of cannon
fire crackers.
The report proceeded from the rear of
flee of the first floor of 800 South Sixth
street, next door to the City Solicitors Of
flee. The apartment is occupied by Robert
A. Parrish, John Shallcross, Duncan L.
Buzby and Robert L. Pyle all well-known
attorneys at law.
The noise naturally attracted crowd,
mostly members of the bar, who upon
reaching the room found 1t filled with a
thick body of smoke, and a young man
named William O'Donnel aged 1S years,
who was an employe of the Office, writhing
in pain, his right arm and wrist bleeding,
his coat sleeve burned and singed, and only
stump of what was formerly his right
hand projecting.
Somebody, from appearance, had taken
out, on last night or yesterday, all the pa
pers and other contents of the drawer, and
then placed within it the deadly weapon,
which caused the damage.
This consisted Of the barrel of an ordi-
nary-sized gun which was loaded with bull
lets, then several heads of the new improv-
ed safety matches had been secured and over
them had been placed piece of the paper
upon which it is necessary to strike them.
These matches had been placed close to
"a small quantity of powder, and then, to
make the hellish work complete two pieces
of black marble, about the size of paper
weights, had been attached by peices of
wire.
This wire had been so adjusted that
when the drawer was opened it connected
with the marble and other appurtenance
and did its deadly work.
The young man had from all appearances
gone to the drawer to open it, when the
gun barrel exploded, discharging two thick
bullets.
Fortunately for O'Donnel he was not
standing directly in front of the table, as
the circumstances show, but towards the
side of the table, or instant death would
undoubtedly have resulted.
The bullets struck the young man on the
hand tearing it in peices from the wrist at
the same time ripping the woodwork in the
drawer to splinters. The gun-barrel had
been placed in horizontal position in the
drawer, its mouth pointing outward. Di-
rectly in front of the table had been placed
a black hair-stuffed arm m-chair, as though
the person who had placed the machine in
the drawer had expected that the one to
open the drawer would seat himself in the
chair and then pull the drawer open with
both hands an easy and natural way of so
doing.
AS it was the slugs, after demolishing
the drawer and wounding O'Donnell, con-
tinued on their course in direct line, fore
ing their way through the chairs thickly
stuffed end, finally embedding themselves
in an opposite corner of little retiring
room in the rear Had any person been
seated in the room at that time he would
have undou btedly been shot. So powerful
was the force Of the explosion that even
sharp splinters of wood from the damaged
table imbedded themselves in the back of
the chair"
Mr.. Parrish, whose desk the machine
was in, subsequently, surrendered himself
to the police and admitted that he had
placed the apparatus in the drawer. He
had been robbed several times of valuable
papers and he determined to catch the
thief He was committed to Jail to await
the result of the boys injuries.-ED.
n.y. Chinasa firm in San Erano;eoo