The Memphis appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1886-1890, 1886-09-12
A DASTARDLY OUTRAGE.
ATTEMPT TO BLOW UP THE SIC
NAL TOWER
OF the Lake Shore Road at the Town
of Lake A harrow Es-
cape.

broken out sfresh, this time in new
and dangerous manner. The latest
method is the use OF explosives, and an
attempt to destroy the property OF the
company might have involved the loss
of lie. A few moments before II
o'clock last night James Calvin, the
night opaiaor, was sitting in the sig
nal tower of the Lake Shore Company
at the intersect' on of the main and
stock wards tacks. The tower is
thirty feet high and in it is machinery
by which the switches, signals and
gates for long distance along the line
of the road are turned. Calvin was
alone in the top of the tower and had
noticed nothing unusual, when he was
suddenly startled by seeing column
of smoke arise at one side OF the struc-
ture. 1t was bright moonlight, so that
he was aware of the nature of the
cloud, and in an instant his little room
was completely filed with binding
smoke which almost suffocated him.
Calvin starts d to rash down the stairs
to investigate the cause Of the unusual
phenomena. AS he reached the land
ing below
DEAFENING EXPLOSION
took place, and at that moment Calvin
saw the figure of a tall, slender man
dart away from the building. The
man ran west toward The stock yards
and was lost in the labyrinth of GERS
which cover the the tracks. At this
instant an explosion occurred. Calvin
was thrown to the ground with ex
IRENE force and his hat was blown off
his head through window. Such
YVES the force of tue explosion that a
number of tools were lifted from the
floor and crashed through the win
dows. Calvin did not lose conscious
meas, and a'ter pulling himself to-
gether rushed out on the tracks. Off.
GERS Donovan and Costello were on
guard at the time at the Root street
crossing. They heard the defamation
and ran to the tower, where they
found Calvin terribly frightened.
Then a search OF the tower WIS made
and it was rewarded by the finding of
twenty inch piece of shattered gas
pipe. Close to it was a package OF
something, which looked like cotton
which had been soaked in some kind
of dark liquid. Smoke was coming
from it and bright sparks were thrown
of. A bottle containing what is sup
posed to be an aid was picked up
near by. The door OF the signal tower
was sjar, aud the dangerous explosive
had been thrown on the floor. The
explosion
SHATTERED ALL TIE GLASS FRONT OF
THE HOUSE.
In the cellar are the batteries used
for the electric signals. There were
100 battery cells in the room, and of
these thirty-four were broken. Not
only this, but the pneumatic tubes
a so used in the signaling were torn
and twisted and the whole system was
utterly ruined. 1t will take thousands
of dollars to repair the damage. When
Daylight came another search was
made for more explosives. There is
little shed at the rear of the tower,
In this small bundle, supposed to
contain another explosive, was picked
up. 1t was wrsppad in paper and
tied with black cord. 1t was soaked
in some substance and YVES laid in an
old mattress. The police vera afraid
to open it, and it was removed to the
town hall. Calvin had only been in
charge of thu tower a little while,
having relieved William Nevins.
What makes the attempt more das-
tardly is the fact that the outward
bound passenger train, No. u, was
due at the town few minutes after
the exnlosion occurred.
THE THEORY OF THE POLICE
is that the wreckers hoped to blow up
the tower, and when the passenger
train came along to throw a switch,
and thus the train would have plunged
into the mass of freight cars that line
the side tracks. The explosion would
have done greater damage bad the
door been closed after the package
was ignited There were also other
attempts at destroying property on the
Lake Shore road last night, one OF
which was successful, the other re-
sulting in the arrest Of the man con-
cerued in the affair. About O'Clock
last night the Lake Shore road re-
ceived from the Illinois Central q train
OF twen'y-eight cars While these
were being taken over the Root strest
crossing switch WAS thrown after |
about half the cars had passed, causing
a general wreck, Fifteen of the cars
were dorailed, and a though no loss of
life OF. serious damage resulted, the
contents OF the cars were badly shaken |
up. AboIt midnight John Pagan, an
ex-switchmsn of the Lake Shore road,
was arrested at Forty-third street just |
as he was about, it is charged, to throw
a switch, with the pdkpose of derailing
a train drawn by engine No. 532. The |
arrest of Fagin was made by one OF
the Pinkerton officers, who ate still |
guarding the Lake Shore tracks at
that point, the prisoner being taken 10 |
the Harrison Street Station and locked !
up.
FAGIN WAS SEEN IN HIS CELL THIS MORN
ING.
His explanation of the affair is as fol-
lows: In company with a man named |
Murphy, who is also an ex-Lake Shore |
switchman, he was walking along the
tracks, and claims that neither of |
them noticed the approaching train
until it was 60 close 10 them that they
were separated by it. He says that
when arrested by the Pinkerton Off
GERS he was looking under the train as
it passed to see if any harm had come
to Murphy.
The Lake Shore officials when they
heard of the attempt to blow up the
signal tower were greatly exercised.
Supt. Amsden Immediately went to
Forlieth street to make inves tigations.
The officers of the road knew nothing
of the circumstances only what they
had heard from mesger reports. w. H.
Mcintosh, chief of the detective force
of the company, this morning said
that up to yesterday the attempts to
destroy the property of the company
had been confined to points at some
distance north and south OF the Forty
third street yards. The police had
confined themselves to surveillance
of the points at which these attacks
had been made and the signal tower
had been left entirely unprotected.
Mr.. Mcintosh further said that he was