Morning journal and courier., 1891-02-12
NEWS BY TELEGRAPH. From All Quarters. GEN. SHERMAN DEAD. The Old Hero Passes to His
 Reward. 1 DYNAMITE PLOT UNEARTHED. Forthcoming Report of the Coinage Committee. THE BRITISH BARK BRUCE GApsIzED. The Proceedings of House
 and Senate.
THE BRITISH BARK BRUCE cAPSIzED,
DYNAMITE PLOT.

A Diabolical Attempt to Blow Up n
 Distillery-HOw the Mover of the
 Scheme was Trapped-His Arrest
 Some Startling Facts.
 CHICAGO, Feb. 11.-f the story told by the agents of the national treasury depart ment now in this city is true one of the most diabolical of dynamite plots, involv- ing great loss of life and property, has been discovered and it's consummation prevented just on the eve of putting it in- to effect. The Western Distillers and Cattle Feeders association, known as the whisky trust, is corporation with 8 capi- tai stock of $35, ,0OO, ,OO0, and controls the price of high wines throughout the coun- try, as it controls all of the distilleries with two or three exceptions. The most important distillery outside of the com bination is that of H. H. Shufeldt in this city, and it was against this concern that the plot was arranged. The exposure of this conspiracy occurred this morning. George J. Gibson of Peoria, H., arrived here at 8 o'clock, and on complaint of Solicitor General Hart of the treasury de- partment, who came here from Washing ton for the purpose, was arrested as he alighted from carriage at the door of the Grand Pacific hotel and hurried across the street into the government building, where he WAS locked up. The arrest was made as quietly possible and the fact was not made public until some hours after. The charge laid at Gibson's door is that he offered Government Guager T. s. Dewar, who is on duty at Shufeldt's, bribe to blow up the distillery with dynamife
 Solicitor Hart tells the story as follows; Some months ago the Washington depart ment assured that things were not just straight, from the fact that the trust peo- pie tried their best to have certain man appointed inspector of the department for this district, we set watch. Soon T. s. Dewar was communicated with, and this man Gibson opened mp correspond ence with him. We have the correspond ence. Gibson felt his man cautiously, telling him at first that Shufeldt's concern was in the way and that they were going to get it out of the way. He got little who was all the time in consultation with the development, he made made straight proposition. He offered Dewar $1O,00O and then increased the offer to S25, ,OOO, to blow up the concern. Gibson stated that he had a dynomite machine that could be located just outside one of the large tanks and so that few min utes after it was placed it would explode There would bo plenty of time, Gibson told Dewar, for him to get away, and that he was the only man who could place it because of the fact that, as a government officer, he had access to all parts of the building. The result of the success of the conspiracy" continued Mir. Hart, "would hava heaD that tba machine -n,,11 ho1,o exploded between two of the immense tanks, making terrible destruction and leaving sea of alcohol on fire. Gibson lied when he told Dewar that the machine would not go off until he had time to get out, for it would have exploded at once, and killed the man who placed it there, before he could possibly get away, and thus destroying the only evidence against the trust people, at the same time saving to them the $25, ,0O0 that Dewar was to have received. In addition to the de- struction of Dewar and the buildings, the success of the plot meant the killing of 15O men in the place at their work. As I say, MT. Dewar under the instruc- tions went the length of the conspiracy to the point of doing the diabolical deed, and when Gibson was arrested he was waiting uneasily, expecting to hear of the explo- sion and the destruction of all those lives and all that property. We have in our possession all the evidence to substantiate Dewar's story, the dynamite machine, the letters, the contract between Dewar and Gibson, in fact everything. The case is practically over so far as our department is concerned; the case is made"
 "Have you any evidence to show that others beside Gibson were implicated in the conspiracy?" MT. Hart was asked.
 "Mr. Gibson is the secretary of the trust, and while we might reason that Gib- son was not alone in this, and that some body higher up in the trust was responsi- ble, we have not bit of evidence tending to duplicate any one else. Everything we have points to Gibson and to no other per son.
 Some unknown person who had knowl- edge of the conspiracy warned the owners of the distillery on Monday of the danger which beset them and fixing the date for the explosion for yesterday or to-day, and they were carefully guarding the premises day and night. The previous attempts, which were attributed to the whisky trust, but not proved, were made to destroy Shu- feldt's with dynamite. One of them occur red two years ago last fall.
 This afternoon Gibson was taken before United States Commissioner Hoyne and re-
 leased on bail of s2O,OOO He declined to make any statement.