New-York tribune., 1896-11-18
BOMB AT THE GRAND CENTRAL
1T WAS MADE OF GuNpOwDER WRAPPED
IN OILCLOTH AND WAS COMPARA-
lively HARMLEsS-A HOAX
SUSPECTED

An object which looked like a dynamite bomb
picked up In the yard OF the Grand Cehtrai
Station last night, and created furry for ''me
among the railroad officials and the police OF the
sub-station near by The bomb was found by
william A. Budd assistant track foreman at e:lo
o'clock 1t was lying between the tracks "hic"
run from the main building to the annex. opposi'e
10 Forty-third-st Budd called to John Spies. the
night station master when he saw the ooJec'' anu
they took to the police sub-statlon where Ac'"s
Captain Lonsdale took charge OF IT,
The bomb" was about eleven inches long ana
four inches in diameter 1t weighed several POUNDS
and protruding from one end was iuse ioui VI "''
inches long Although the police handieu II oa'.
fully a few grains OF something feil OUT Vi "
which Acting Captain Lonsdae placed Oh d p''0e
OF paper. and by setting fire to this oisco'e'eu " ' %
gunpowder or some similar explosive. lie Hha"S
cont De,ective George Logan with the mysterious
package to the Bureau of Combustibles, IN fire
Headauarters at Sixty-seventh-st ana lhiru-a'e
The bureau was closed when the detecu'e
reached the building and he returned VIZ" ~
burden to the sub-station message however
was sent 70 George f. Murray, chief of the bureau
who lives at No l56 West Twentieth-st' anu "c
arrived the sub-station at IL CLOCK. """N "
Henderson, the station master OF the Grahu 'e"-
trail who lives at Melrose. had also peen sum
moned from his home in the mean time' anu WIZ
Chief Murray arrived ne found an ANXIOUS sto"p
Of railroad and police officials awaiting MN som"
where the bomb was reposing peaceiui's y" VI,
floor while others chose to remain OUTSIDE anu
admire the beauties of the night
Chief Murray gazed at the bomb FOR moihen.
or two in silence, and then ne saiu ''u''l
After that he picked up the object, ann ope"'"s
the large blade OF his knife, proceedeo Slowly anu
cau,,ously but with firm hand to dissect IT, lie
cu, n slit in the package and found that IL was
filed with about two quarts or gunpo"uei' i"o
,ovder had caked in the bottom or the phchasc
so hard as AZ first to lead to the pehei 'ia' ~
was incased In a metal tube. Ihe iuse appa'."''S
had been made from the ends OF a package y, 's
arecrackers. The package proved TO DE "'''e "
thin ocloth. 1T had been made INTO Il p"e. anu
fastened to 1t was part of newspaper evidently
,ubusbcd in Connecticut. An advertisement OF the
Arm OF "Elkns & Wake. No. POI South Main-st
U.terburv' was about the only thing decipheraolc
on the paper.
The theory OF Acting Captain Lonsdale Is that the
nack,ge was made up and dropped where IL was
found 10 create a sensation The entrance 10 tne
NOT easy 10 guess how any person got INTO tleih ~
,r.cks betwecn which the package was fouhd are
sd - Ming rains into the station. and the last one
10 arrive over them last night was the Sou,I ",r,i
t,n,i,ed which got in over the New-lork Centrdi
ima ah1u, dfteen minutes after the package wa
,I',d tn nackage could possibly have been dropped
hv nassenger arriving on earlier tram put tle
before f. was discovered. as people are Vo'S''"'''
passing he spot os %nfre ryn ws r@orter that the
powder was OF medium size Was too Goatse i9 ~
was something like the kind used IN cannon. arn
burned rather slowly He said that II ,ipckgn
had stood ten fifteen feet from IN. ,,, pav W..
and II had been ignitcd he would probably nav ~ re
reivcd considerable shock. but wouIu MA lvi ~" nor
nave blown "A car on the track or created an, ua,
serious result because the powder III u"Snt ' Of
sufficiently confined Had the sam, a',i o,ni ro
nov,d.r been placed In iron or other nri", IT, ~
eepac and then fred much M dsmsfe Ht Se %o9 substa
| tion. took the powder with MIN