Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1883-03-24
Addressed FENIAN N

ALLEGED FENIAN BOMBS.
Part of the Government Oflces In London
Shattered by a Terrible Dynamite Ex-
plosion-Allegcd to BE the Work of Fee
nians-Great Alarm and CONSERVATION
Throughout the City.
LONDON, March Is.
Every part of Westminster, the Abbey, the
Houses of Parliament, the great structures
of the public offices, the clubs and dwelling
houses were violently shaken tonight by q tire
mendous explosion.
At nine o'clock prcclsclya great defamation
was heard, followed by the crash of glass fall
ing from thousands of windows. A deliber
ate attempt hal been made to blow up part of
the Government Offices, the part occupied by
Sir Charles Dixie and the local Government
Board, in the ic.mense building bounded by
Parliament street, Downing street, Charles
street and ST. james Park.
The apartments in question front on Charles
street, and are almost Level with the pavement.
The walls are of great thickness and Of solid
masonry, md the windows protectedb by a mass-
i've stone balustrade. Soil
Opposite, fifty yards away, is the King Street
Police Station. Fifty feet away a sentry guards
the Parliament street front.
Charles street is dark and unfrequented at
niSht, which partly explains the extraordinary
fact that no lives were lost.
The dynamite was placed on the window-sill
inside the balustrade, where tho fuse when
turning would be concealed from the viewrof
any one passing.
The force of the explosion was terrific. The
sreat stone baulstrade was oblitered, the mass
We masonry rent to fragments, and the pave
A1nent shattered and ground to powder. A
wooden structure opposite was blown into
--ls-Az., --I ,,,~~ l-{
through the wall of the house beyond it. In
side the offices there remained nothing but
splintered wood, broken plaster, walls burst
asunder, and au indescribable scene of de-
Otrlction. The street was completely covered
with the fragments of broken plate-glass
blown bodily out and shattered to atoms. The
doors of the King Street Police Station were
burst in by the blast of air, and the detachment
present was Frustrated. Broken timbers and
masses of stone were sent flying into King
street. People crossing at Parliament street
were knocked down. A hanson and horse
were flung across the sidewalk against the
front of the Whitehall Club, in which tho
great plate-glass windows were driven in a
shower into the rooms.
Everywhere the greatest CONSERVATION pre-
vailed: People poured out of their houses,
the broken glass cracking under their feet.
In the House of Commons the alarm was
general. Many members left immediately.
The lobby was emptied, and people rushed out
of Westminste Hall.
Some two hundred police and q detachment
of the fire brigade took possession of Charles
street. and drew a corion around the building.
which no one but members of Parliament and
public officials were allowed to pass.
AS the alarm spread thousands Hooked from
all parts toward Westminster. and the most in
tense excitement prevailed, the report rapidly
gaining currency that the House of Common
had been blown up.
No one tonight pretends to explain the mo.
tive or purpose OF the act. 1t is ascribed to
the Irish Invinciblcs, as a matter of course,
and is described as part of Il Fenian plot, a
threat and a warning to the Government. One
thing only is certain-it was n deed of frightful
recklcssnoss and %atrocity, and only an mex
plicablc good fortune prevented it from being
attended with the most serious fatality.
The explosion being the subject of consider
alton in the Commons, Harcourt, Home Secre-
tnry, said he did not think it right to say any
thing about the matter until an official INQUIRY
had been made. He had heard an attempt had
also been made to blow up the Times Office,
but no injury had been done.
The explosion was heard ut a distance of two
or three miles.
Yesterday evening n canister containing ex-
plosive material was found behind the Times
Office, with, it is rumorcd, q lighted fuse at
tached.
The police are making an investigation.
The explosion was undoubtedly the work of
Eenians. The adjacent streets are filled with
myriads of fragments OF glass, and heavy
plateglass is lying in heaps on the ground. A
stone Weighing two hundred pounds was pro-
Jected against the King Street Police Station,
making ahole the size of a mans head.
Two children sleeping in n house at the cor
ner of King street were thrown from their
beds by the force of the explosion, and their
faces badly cut. They were taken to the no
lice station.
Every pane of glass i'll the vicinity was shat
tered.
A man was arrested at midnight on suspic-
ion OF being concerned in the explosion.
Hafcourt has had Il conference with the
Chief of Police. Mt which several witnesses
were examined. The conclusion reached was
hal the explosion occurred inside the room,
and not outside the building.
The Times attaches little importance to the
explosion which occurred at its Office. The
CANISTER contained only a small quantity OF
powder.
The Daily News says: at is of course OBJ.
vious that the explosion was the result of q
premeditated design. We are confronted with
the fact that there are in Londen persons bold
enough to act on the widest counseIs of
O~'Donovan-Rossa. 1t is impossible not to con-
meet the authors of this outrage with certain
phases OF Irish crime and the assassin press
of America"
The Times says: 'The Fenian answer to
Giadstonc's speech on the Land act is NOT
long delayed. We are in !the presence OF the
first attempt of the dynamite party to carry
out the policy of bringing the war into the
Heart of London. The explosion at our Office
occurred at 7:45 Wednesday evening, but the
railing OF the canister prevented any serious
damage. We have reason to believe the two
attempts of this kind were by the same mis-.
creants."
An Early Start in Married Life.
-
NEW YORK, March IS,
Some little talk has been accustomed in
South BROOKLYN by the discovery of an nlono-