The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1892-03-31
Tho Dynamite Outrages In Paris.

The alarm excited in Paris by the recent
explosions Of dynamite. or some more pow
erful agent OF destruction. is obviously
deepened by the mystery enveloping the
organization. methods. and purposes of the
authors. At what class OF society are the
attacks directed, what Is the motive for the
attack. and what do the assailants expect
to gain 7 At present it Is only by conjcc-
ture that these questions can be answered.
The offenders have not been arrested. and
the alleged interviews OF reporters with
some OF them cannot be trusted, because
on the plea that the communications were
confidential the names OF the informants
are withheld.
The diversity OF social position and voca-
ton characterizing the occupants OF the
houses singled out for attack points to some
comprehensive motive. such as caste hatred,
and some general aim. such as that OF ter
rorizlng all the well-to-do members OF the
community including their organized de-
tenders. such as Judges and prosecuting
officers. policemen and soldiers. It is
scarcely possible to ascribe to anmosity
against individuals demonstrations d-
rected. now against leader Of what Is
conventionally called society. like the
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apartment house occupied by respectable
middle-class families. including those OF
prosecuting officers corresponding to our
District Attorneys and now against build
ing in which number OF soldiers were col
lected. The only common design discerni-
BILE in acts so various seems to be q deter
mination to make life uncomfortable on the
part of those whom the Anarchists de-
nounce as the drones and leeches of the
social organism. That the plan OF awaken
Ing widespread terror is feasible seems in
some measure proved by the result. for we
are told that the owners Of apartment
houses have. on the ground that they would
otherwise lose their tenants, served notice
to quit on occupants connected with the ad-
ministration of Justice. There are signs
already. 1t Is said. OF a general exodus from
Paris OF the colonies OF foreigners on whose
expenditure the local tradesmen are largely
dependent and the excitement Is reported
to have reached the proportions OF panic
1t cannot be disputed that the facts war
rant q feeling OF extreme uneasiness. II not
OF trepldatio1. They seem to show that the
svowed enemies of society as it is ut pres
ent constituted. include chemists and skilled
laboratory workmen. and thus have at their
disposal some OF the most dangerous ex-
plosives known to science. 1t is surmised
that one OF the bombs used was charged
with melinite, and 1t is considered almost
certain that another contained picrate.
which has eight or ten times the shattering
force OF dynamite. Who can say that the
Anarchists may not have succeeded In max
Ing still more formidable compounds whose
formulas are not unknown to chemists. but
which have not hitherto been manufactured
owing to the difficulty Of assuring safety to
the makers during the process The facts
also seem to justify the inference that the
authors OF these outrages are 50 organized
as to minimize the risk Of detection. 1t is
possible that they are distributed. as the
Russian Nihihsts are now said to be, in
small groups, each containing only four or
five members, and the members of any one
group knowing none of the members OF any
other. except that the leader of each group
knows theleaders OF two other groups. from
one Of whom hs takes orders. while to the
stAll n tsRsniN them. ugaAE such D