The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1883-03-23
DYNAMITE AT WESTMINSTER.
An Explosion in the London Government
Offices That shook Up Parliament.
Londeners Reminded of Guy Fawkes,

Offices That shook Up Parliament.
Londeners Reminded of Guy Fawkes,
LONDON, March l5.-There was aterrible
gas explosion in the government board offices,
Westminster, at 0 o'clock tonight, destroy
ing much property. The report was heard
in the House of Commons, and caused
alarm. The conclusion was so great that 1t
shook the side galleries and reporters gal
lery. 1t being the dinner hour, few MEN,
bers of the House we're in the hail. The
Duke of Edinburgh was in the Peers gal
lery and seemed alarmed. The Speaker rang
the bell asked the cause of the alarm. No
one injured. The widest rumors are afoat.
The report resembled the discharge of an
eighty-ton gun.
1t is believed later that the explosion was
caused by dynamite, and was a deliberate
attempt to blow up the government offices.
The explosion was undoubtedly the work
of Fenians. The adjacent streets were filled
with myriads Of fragments of glass and
plate. glass, lying in piles on the ground. A
stone weighing two hundred pounds was
projected against the King street police
station, making a hole the size of mans
head. Nothing will be touched till inquiry
damage cannot be estimated till daylight;
five hundred censtables are guarding the
scene. The building has the appearance of
having been bombarded. There is a deep
trench, ten feet by three, in one room, the
floor of which has been literally ploughed.
Two children sleeping in 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
police station. Every pane of glass in the
vicinity was shattered. A man was arrested
at midnight on suspicion of being concerned
| in the explosion.
The explosion being the subject of consld-
Grafton in the Commons, Harcourt, Home
Secretary, said he did not think it right to
say anything about the matter till an official
inquiry was made. He had heard all attempt
injury was done. The explosion was heard
a distance of two or three miles. Yesterday
evening canister containing explosive ma
terial was found behind the Times Office
with, it is rumored, light fuse attached.
The police are making investigation. The
officials think the explosions were caused by
gun-powder or dynamite. The officers of the
gas company declare they can find no evil
dence that it was caused BY gas. The force
of the explosion shot a large portion of the
masonry across the street.
Harcourt has had a conference with the
chief of police, at which several witnesses
was that the explosion occurred inside and
not outside the building. After the explo-
sion the force of police at the Houses of
Parliament was doubled. The government
offices and residences of the Ministers are
strongly guarded. The Times attaches little
importance to the explosion which occurred
at its Office. The canister contained only a
small quantity of powder.
vious the explosion was the result of pre-
meditated design. We are confronted with
the fact that there are in London persons
bold enough to act on the widest counsel of
| O'Donovan Rosa. II is impossible not to
connect the perpetrators Of this outrage with
certain phases of Irish crimes, and the assas-
sin press of America.
The Times says the Fenian answer to
Gladstone's peace speech on the land act
was not long delayed. We are in the pres
ence Of the first attempt Of the dynamite
party to carry out policy Of bringing the
war into the heart of London. The explo-
sion at our Office occurred at I:45
| Wednesday evening; but the falling of the
canister prevented any serious damage.
| There is reason TO believe that two attempts
of this kind were made by the same mis-
creants.
NEW YORK, March 15.-The Sun has this
from London: Every part of Westminster
Abbey, the houses Of Parliament, the great
structure of public offices, the clubs and
dwelling houses were violently shaken by a
tremendous explosion tonight at nine
O'Clock precisely. A great defamation was
heard, followed by the crash of glass falling
from thousand windows. A deliberate at
tempt had been made to blow up a part of
the government offices, the part occupied by
Sir Charles Dixie and the local government
board, in the immense building bounded by
Parliament street, Charles street and the st.
James park. The apartments in question
front on Charles street and are almost on q
level with the pavement. The walls are
nine feet in thickness, Of solid masonry,
and the windows were protected by mas
sive stone balustrade. Opposite, fifty yards
away, is the King street police station, and
fifty feet away the sentry who guards the
| Parliament street front. Charles street is
dark and unfrequented at nIght, which part
! ly explains the extraordinary fact that there
were no lives lost. Dynamite was placed
on the window sill, inside the balustrade,
where fuse when burning would be con-
cealed from the view Of any one passing.
| The force of the explosion was terrific The
great stone balus.rade was oblIteI ated, the
massive masonry torn into fragments, and
the pavement shattered and ground to pow
der. A wooden structure opposite was
blown TO splinters and a mass of stone was
driven through the wall ofthe house beyond
| It. Inside Of the walls there remained MOTH
| Ing but splintered wood, broken plaster,
walls burst asunder-an indescribable scene
of destruction. The doors of the King
street station were burst in oy the force of the
air and its occupants Frustrated. Broken tim
bers and masses of stone were sent flying into
King street. People crossing at Parliament
street were knocked down, and Hanson
cab and horse were flung across the side
walk against The front of the Whitehall
| Club, in which the great plate glass windows
| were driven in shower into the rooms. s
Everywhere the greatest CONSERVATION
prevailed. 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 immedi-
ately; the lobby was emptied, and people
| rushed out of Westminster Hall. Some Two
hundred police and detachment of the fire
brigade took possession Of Charles street,
and drew a cordon around the building, in
which 10 one but members of Parliament
aud government officials were allowed to
pass. As the alarm spread, excited bands
/ hocked from all parts toward Westminster,
| and the most intense excitement prevailed,
| the report rapidly gaming currency that the