The Washington bee. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1884-1922, 1891-12-19
BOMB FOR RUSSELL SAGE
: DYNAMITE CRANK TRIES TO DE-
STROY THE MILLIONAIRE.


Caused His own Death and Created
Havoc and Destruction.
At 10 o'clock, on Friday last, Russell
Sage. the famous New York millionaire,
had an appointment in his Office, at No.
Il Broadway, with Charles E. James, a
broker, of No. z Nassau street. Mr.. Sage
reached his Office at 1907 o'clock, and
had Just sak down with Mr.. James, when
q clerk entered and told him that gen.
tleman with a letter from Mr.. Rock
efeller wished to see him.
Mr.. Sage stepped out into the general
office, opened the door in the partition
aud smiled pleasantly at the man who
stood waiting with hand satchel in his
hand. The man, still holding the satchel
ia his right hand, unbuttoned his over
coat and his undercoat and drew from an
inside pocket long envelope which he
handed to Mr.. Sage. The latter took
from the envelope a typewriter docu-
ment. 1t read as follows:
hold in my hand 10 pounds of dynamite.
II drop it on the floor it will tear the build
ing into pieces and every one withlt. For 81.
ESQ 600 il shall not drop. Yes or no!
Mr.. Sage saw at once that he was deal
ing with dangerous man, and attempted
prevaricate. He said it would take
nim some time to collect so much money,
and he had an important engagement
lust then, but if the gentleman would
only wait few moments he would see
what he could do.
Are you going to give it to me!" de-
manded the lunatic, with fire in his eye.
i want to know right away"
Mr.. Sage attempted to escape through
the door, when the stranger raised the
satchel in the air and dashed it on the
floor.
A tremendous explosion followed. The
floor sank, the walls tottered, partitions
burst and fell Where there had been
the we'll ordered, handsomely furnished
offices there was a wild wreck and chaos,
with shrieks of Murder" ringing
through it. The building shivered, glass
crashed, the street outside trembled, and
a deep, dull boom, like the confined ex-
plosion of hundred cannon, rolled up
the island, to be heard over two miles
and a half away.
At the shock and the sound of the eX-
plosiOn the crowds on Broadway stood
paralyzed with establishment Those OPP
posite Trinity Churchyard looked toward
the north side of the Empire building
and saw glass, plastering, lath, and bits
of furniture shoot from the windows of
the second story Office TO land in the
street below. They saw also the rolled
up body of man shoot out with this
mass of debris to crash and unroll at the
edge Of the sidewalk. 1t was the body
of Benjamin F. Norton, a clerk. who had
been standing by the window as the
bomb was dropped.
Mr. Sage, as well as everybody else in
the office, was Frustrated by the terrible
explosion. Confusion reigned supreme.
Everybody in the building was scared
end r1lshed peefEfsneu for the streets, They
were joined by Mr.. Sage, Colonel Slocum,
his brother in law, and Mr.. James, the
broker, who had managed to escape from
the wrecked office. All were more or less
injured and were taken at once tc
O'Connells drug store, where physicians
were quickly summoned.
The police and fire authorities were
quickly on the scene, and the work oi
destruction was quickly examined.
All the Railways and stairways were
strewn with laths and plastering. Win
dow panes had burst, furniture was up
set, and clocks had stopped all over tn,
building The time of the explosion wa
1922.
The floor was Uttered, the plasterins
nearly all fallen from ceiling and walls
and the windows were, many of them
burst out. The main hallway of the sec
ond floor was choked with debris fiuni
from the wrecked offices
The iremen got through this and cam
upon the central scene of death and dis
aster In Russell Sage's Office the plaster
iAg had been torn from the outer walls
- lath and plaster partitions had bee
AAnost disintegrated, the big safe ha
toppled with the sagged floor, and tn
small safe had been turned over and burs
wreck of furniture, papers, and books
and police and firemen raked into hea
over 81 SOC, 900 worth Of stocks and bond.
In the floor, close to the partition, wher
the bomb had struck, jagged hole aboU
two ard half inches in diameter wa
torn, and toward theedges of this the re:
Of the floor sloped. On the ceiling abov
this hole was great splattering of BLOOD
in the center of which were stuck two {
three bits from the shell of the bomb.
They were pieces of galvanized iro
wire, such as is commonly used by tel
graph companies.
The ceiling just inside the private o
flee was spattered with blood, as wei
the walls and some parts of the disrupte
partitions To the right of this hole
the floor lay the head and neck of maj
\ripped from the trunk, and singed an
burned and SCARED. 1t was that of II
am d. Wilson, the dynamiter, who hs
oeen literally blown to pieces.
Further investigation showed that b
sides Wilson, blown to pieces, and IL
clerk Norton, who was hurled from ii
window and killed, the following SUI
tanned injuries:
Russell Sage. various cuts and burn
zone of a dangerous character.
Samuel G. Calhoun. Charles E. Jane
William R. Laidlow, Jr., c. w. Osborn
Frank Robertson, Joseph j. Slocum.
The escape of Russell Sage was remar
able. as he had taken but a few STE