The evening times., 1896-10-22
VICTIM 0F7H6 INVENTION
Prof. Andrus' Machine to Pre-
velt Safe-Breaking.
USED POWERFUL EXPLOSIVE
Workman In Factory Had Furnished
Him With Percussion Caps-was
Seen to Enter His Office With
Bundle Under His Arm Supposed to
Contain Dynamite.

New York, Oct. GA Yonkers dis
patch to the Evening Sun says:
| All night long Cuief or Police Mangn and
two detectives were at work on the mys
terry surrounding the VIC aat death of Ham.
lin j. Andrus, secretary OF the Arlington
Chemical Company, of this city, who was
blown TO pieces while in his office at 6s
Paiisade avenue yesterday morning. The
mystery, 1t is believed, has been solved
| by the police.
| There is now only one theory that the
detectives accept, as all the circumstances
In the case point to the hypothesis that
MIR. Andrus was killed accidenIy. Just
how the accident occurred will never be
known, but the police are now satisfied
beyond all doubt that Mr.. Andrus was
neither the victim of an ASSASSIN nor a
suicide, as was at first suspected.
HE HAD A SCHEME.
AT firso the most likely theory was that
| some one had deliberately placed an in
| fernal machine In Mr.. ndrus' office, but the
poiice investigation soon forced the aban-
| donment OF such an idea for lack ofevidence
| 10 supportit. Then the suicide theory was
looked into. with like result. Finally
the police learned that Mr.. Andrus had
talked OF a scheme by which he thought
burglars could be prevented from breaking
safes.
Patrick Kiely, one of the men employed
in the chemical works, this morning in
| formed the police that last Friday he had
given Mr.. Andrus several small percussion
caps chat he ad made IN the chemical
works. Mr. Andrus told Kiely at the time
th he wanted them for a machine he was
making.
Kelly gave the police some percussion
went about the city trying to find out if
Mr. Andrus had recently purchased any
giant pow der, nitro glycerine or other ex-
plosives.
In support OF the accident theory the po-
lice learned that many of Mr.. Andrus'
friends were aware that he had in mind
the invention OF death-dealing instru-
ment to stop safe blowing. His idea was
to put bomb in a safe SO that when the
burglars tampered with the combination or
doors they would be blown to pieces. He
had been experimenting with n dummy OF
lis idea, and ii Is believed that yesterday
he had intended to try the real thing.
Kiely saw him enter the office with q
bundle under his arm. That bundle, it is
thought. contained the explosives that Killed
the inventor. He may have dropped 1t on
the floor or stumbled while carrying it
and set it off by n shock. Then again he
may have been about to place it upon his
desk and set it down too hard on the floor,
as the desk was completely wrecked by the
explos ion.
One reason the police had for abandon
ing the assassination idea was the fact
that the offices and works OF the chemical
company were so closely guarded. Two
watchmen are kept at the gate to prevent
intruders from entering the place. Then,
again, Mr. Andrus. so far as known. had
not an enemy in the world. He was liked
by all his workmen.
An examination Of the room after the
explosion showed that the force of the
shock was upward. which is never the
case when dynamite or nitro-glycerine is
used. A crank, the police reasoned, ould
have used dynamite. They think that
giant powder was used. There was hole
in the ceiling of the office.
Mr.. Andrus was of n happy disposition.
He had everything TO live for, and no one
who knew him would accept the suicide
theory from the first He was well to do