Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-12-15
LONDON'SLOUDEXPLOSION
THE BRIDGE FOUND TO BE NOT
AT ALL DAMAGED.

Police Utterly at a Loss for a Clue
With Which to Ferret Out the Per.
petratOrs-The Motive for the Act
Beyond Explanation.
LONDON, Dec. 1.-THE Observer says: s.The
explosion at London Bridge last night seems
to belong to the ordinary category of dyna.
mite outrages, with which recent experiences
have made Englishmen unhappily familiar
1t was perfectly useless crime and led to nc
practical result beyond destroying a certain
amount of masonry. 1t was not attended by
loss of life, yet it is obvious that the perpe-
traitors must have anticipated the possibility
OF number of innocent human beings being
subjected to sudden and cruel death. The
crime, therefore, partakes of the character OF
murder. 1t is difficult to conceive what pos
sible end or purpose the authors of such out
RACES hope to attain. The utter absence OF
correlation between the cause and effect
mainly confirms the theory that these crimes
are OF HibernIaH origin"
THE BRIDGE NOT DAMAGED.
A careful inspection of London Bridge was
made to-day and it was found that nc
structural injury whatever was done. No
thlng could be found about the bridge to Incl
cate that an explosion had taken place. The
police have discovered nothing that is likely
to assist them in their inquiries as to the
origin of the explosion. The heads of the de-
tectlVe departments were cOnferring with the
nome OIUCe during the entire day. HE aD-
sence of any clew is paralyzing the action OF
the police, who are even unable to tell the ma
ture of the explosive used.
LOCATION OF THE EXPLOSION.
1t appears that the explosion occurred
nearer the Surrey end of the bridge than was
at flrst supposed, and yet most of the houses
that were damaged are on the MiddleseX
side, where windows were smashed as far as
Billingsgate market. Several panes of glass
were broken in Fishmongers' Hall, but other
wise the building received no damage. Sew
eral squares of lofty glass screen in the Can =
non street depot fell to the platform with a
crash, greatly terrifying the passengers in the
building, although nobody was injured.
River traffic had luckily been suspended at
the time OF the explosion owing to the dark
ness. TIE explosion forms the staple topic of
conversation, and thousands of persons have
visited the scene to-day.
A POLICEMAN'S EXPERIENCE.
A policeman who, at the time OF the ex-
ploslOn, was standing on the top of the steps
leading to the steamboat pier on the Surrey
side of the river, with his back to the stream.
says that he saw a binding glare like a sheet
OF lightning, which was followed by a terri
Die report. lie was almost stunned, and his
helmet was blown some wards awav nv the
concussiOn. He ran to the police station, and
gave an alarm, and soon after the river police
were making as minute an examination as
possible of the buttresses of the bridge and
the wharVes on each bank of the river Their
search, however, was frutless. DAYLIGHT
showed that not single stone had been dis
placed by the shock. Taking this fact into
consideration, experts are unanimous in the
opinion tnat the explosive agent used was
thrown over the bridge and exploded in the
air or on striking the water.
THREE MEN IN A BOAT.
Towards noon, however, a wharfer informed
the police that few moments before the eX-
plosion he saw boat containing three men
under the arch on the Surrey side. He took
no particular notice of them, thinking that
they were river police, and did not see the
boat afterwards He supposed that they pro-
noon learned that piece of charred sacking
about foot and a half square mad been found
on one of the buttresses, and are now of the
opinion that the explosive was placed there.
They attribute the smallness of the damage
to the extraordinary air currents beneath the
span. No arrests have been made.