Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1886-04-25
A eUNPOWDER PLOT,
Sharp Work by a Secret Service
Detective.
How the Capitol Narrowly Escaped Beng
Blown Up by Rebels Startling
Discovery in the Basement
Of the Building.

In thu tall oil 1908 WAS ue'S4'eN
chief Of the s, erst service buresu ct ssn-
,n,,on 70 I,pk Aftes couple OF fellows
wbo had come on to Washington to strike
blov 10 favor Of the Southern Conteder'
AZ, nv kidnapping Lincolo, blowing up
public bulldogs or assassinaling Puohc
officials The hints We received went 70
show hat the pair were cranky chsP7' VINO
would do more work with their mouths than
with ,her hnrds, but it Was nevertheless
wise s,eo to look si,er them. i
Undsr a falss name and in disguise
rss;s,ered 81 the National Hotel, and IN .
co1pls of DAYS I had a meeting with the
cbisf nio,tsr and conspirstor, who Ten' oy
tbs name os Daniel Bailey. BE wss
rroromauiac pure and simple. While ne
~ ,aksn mn the cause OF the South with
su his might, he Was 8 native Of IllnG!s
I'D had never set foot in southern State.
qs baSn't contributed dollar 70 tbs Con
t,5sra,e cause. Uor did he propose to shout
S.r a cum md hello the SeSrers OF the gray
R.;lsv Rad enlisted another crank IN bis
epterpr;ss-a half Witted chap, nSmeS
Steven Thorn6y, and it appeared tnat pom
had money to carry out any odlnsry snsr;
To sscslta;n their future movements l
,,,,sd eff "A = Confederate sympathizer,
~, sh;le Thornbg was promptly convinced
/ could see that Bailey had made up MS
mind
NOT TO TRUST NE oEF'HAND.
He ousstioued me very sharply, eysding
most of nv own queries and gave me 10
understand that il would take time to win
his confidence. ToltheIconspirstors Wss
"Prof A. J. Jones, OF Cincinnati, snd
prder this rame | registered st the hotel
named. Bailey snd thornby were stopping
a. different boarding houses, but met each
otber daily in the readiugroom OF one OF
the hotels. ~,
A week passed without my being able b.,
10 secure any information OF interest. Inc
men seemed 10 have dropped all plans, and
l. w,s plain enough that | was suspected.
In this emergency | was determined 70
convince them of my earuestnsss, ana
boIdIy propossd an incsndisry hre at the
nav ward Thoru5y tell in with the idea
AT once. but Bailey was more cautious, de
went over the details Of the plan with me-
acknowledging that the idea was not new
70 hin ana agreeing to give me his decis-
in the next day. Within an hour OF the
time LETT him he called at the bureau and
denounced me and my plan, and he him
self pointed me out to detectives.
Sas takento,the old Capitol prison as 3
Mind apd when released at once adopted
a new DISGUISE. | was now an ohceseekeF,
,,av.hsirsd. veil dressed and looking no
@ors like Professor Jones than did ike
Bailey. While kept an eye on HIM night
and dsy. did not seek his acquaintance.
The fact Of his having me arrested was
uroof that his confidence could not De OBJ
tanned on short acquaintance, ard L also
argued that
he HAD SOME PLOT ALMOST RIPE.
All Of a sudden ! missed my men. l had
tracked them 10 their boarding places sew
eral DAYS before, and now called at either
house 10 lear that they had settled up and
departed
The FIRST thing was to trace the men, and
"a the both mad trunks this was an easy
task They left Washington for Baltimore
was @ day behind them. traced the
trunks 20 q hotel but at once discovered
thst they had returned to Washington.
The fellows had made this jump to throw
dust in the eyes Of anybody who might
have suspicious | could not locate them
anew after thsi. return to Washington,
and this convinced ms that they were IN
dis1uise | haunted the hotels aud public
buildings. carefully scrutinizinE every face,
bnt for three or four days and no luck.
One afternoon about o'clock, ss stood
in the Eotunds Of the Capitol building an
express wagon drove up IL contained
Bailey aud his fellow crank, barrel mark.
ed cement" and half dozen pieces OF
floor tiling The stuff was unlosded and
taken into the basement, as II some re-
pairing was being done, and then the men
drove away. Both were
IN THE aUIsE OF woREISGNEN,
EuE no one gave than any attention. As
soon ~ they had departed | entered the
room in which the materials had been LEFT.
II was q sort of store room, being half tull
Of boxes ~hIch seemed to be filled with
.nsmpblets As SOON as laid my hands
On the barrel knew that it did not con.
tain cement After an extended search l
fourd a colored man engaged in sweeping
out one Of the rooms. ard told him OF
the men. driving up, described them and
the horse and wagon and advised him to
have the barrel inspected At once. While
be went for sn officer sought to follow
the wagon.
Nov then, the reader may be prepared
TO learn that the barrel eontaind gurpoW-
der. Such was the fact. A hole for fuse
had been bored in one end and plugged
up The plan Bas to get the barrel IN
there all right, and during that night or
the next day q slow fuse would probably
have been inserted. When the barrel was
INSPECTED and its contents sscertsined there
was a great sensation, and every attempt
vas made to con6ne the knowledge to 3
limited number. Bailey and his man were
soon arrested. bat what became OF them |
could never ascertain. A public trial
would have given them fiat away and pro-
dueed q gres, sensation, and to avoid this
they we're probably slowed away in some
fort or prison until after the war closed
II was no doubt their hrm intention to ex.
plode the powder under the Capitol build
ing. and if the plan hsd Oeen carried out
the reader can Judge Of what would have