, 1885-01-11
STARTLING EXPOSE.
A Dastardly Scheme to Wreck
a Vessel.
How Hundreds of Innocent
Souls We're Saved.
The Phelan Interview Which
Caused a Tragedy,


terview with Captain Phelan, heretofore
mentioned as published in the Journal of
this city, December 81. is devoted chiefly
to the relation Of a plot to blow up a
steamer and the description and manner
of manipulating their mysterious dynam-
tie machine. The story as told by Cap
tain Phelan substantially as follows: ''In
June, 1883, he made a voyage to Europe
to secure information which would pre-
vent the ~extradition of P. J. Sheridan,
the Irish agitator, and his removal to
England. He visited Paris and accom-
plished his mission. Meanwhile, how
ever, the British government abandoned
all effort to extradite Sheridan and the
matter was dropped" Continuing the
story, Phelan said before leaving New
York he met a number of Irish agitators,
among them John P. Kearney,
who blew up the Caledonian railway
station at Glasgow, and afterwards
escaped to America. He sailed in the
Belgravia, and Kearney was to follow
three days later in the Queen and they
were to meet in Edinburg. He knew
that it was the plan to blow up the Queen
after the passengers landed at Liverpool.
When the men met at Edinburg, Phelan
asked Kearney why he had not carried out
the plan, and the latter replied that he
had placed a sufficient quantity Of dyna-
mite to blow up the Pyramids. When
the ship arrived at Liverpool she anchor
ed in the stream and the passengers were
taken in a tender ashore. Kearney was
not permitted to go into the hold
so he came away leaving in
the vessel fifteen pounds OF dynamite
which would probably explode about two
weeks later and imperil hundreds Of lives.
Phelan determined to go to Liverpool and
warn the o%ficeri- Kearney protested that
it would be suicidal. Phelan, however,
persisted, visited the Queen and informed
the officers, and learned that they had re-
ceived a cable message from New York
fifteen minutes after the vessel landed,
describing the plot which lead to the dis
covery of the explosive and saving the
vessel. Phelan remained day or two in
Liverpool, awarc that he was being con-
stantly Swallowed by detectives. He was
approached by Inspector Marsh Of Liver
pool, Head Constable Murphy Of Ireland,
and also by Mr.. Jenkinson, who had
ohn~uo - tto oosr.l ~~ouoorttouo IL
Ireland, all Of whom tried to get him in
the service of the government, They told
him the names of several pretended Irish
patriots who were working TOR the govern
ment. and he began to see how the
authorities secured some of their
information. He could not conjecture
how they discovered the Queen plot, as
Kearney said it was known only to Rosa,
Kearney and himself. He supposed
some one dropped on Kearney's plans in
New York. Concluding his narrative.
Phelan said he was finally permitted to
leave Liverpool. When he arrived at
Glasgow he found his valises had been
broken open and searched, done, he
thought, by a man who introduced him
self in Edinburg as James Powers and
who Phelan believed was a British de-
tective who had shadowed him from New
York and endeayored to get into his CON
fdence. Kearney had to lay very low,
but Phelan succeeded finally in getting
him off to England by Disgusting himself
as Kearney and throwing the officers off
the track. The Captain also described
the mechanism of the deadly battery.
The machine is simple, but works
with fatal precision, 1t consists of a
reservoir of acid which drips upon
a tube enveloped in sheets of tissue pa
per. 1t takes a minute for the acid to
eat through each sheet of paper. In this
case 120 sheets were wrapped around the
tube. When the last sheet is eaten
through the acid u n down the tube and
upon the percussion cap beneath and then
the explosion takes place. The machine
is noiseless and almost infallible in its
working a terrible injury. Speaking of
himself Phelan said he was a dynamiter
out and out and belonged to the Irish Ma
tional Society and was obedient to their
call, having participated in many of their
plans for terrorizing the English govern
ment He determined to return to Liver