The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1900-11-19
EXPLOSION AT
BULLS HEAD
NARROW ESCAPE OF JAMES
PAYNE AND FAMILY.
His Wife, Young Son and Himself
Covered with Debris as They Lay
in Bed but All Escaped Uninjured.
Dynamite the Explosive Used and
It Was Undoubtedly Set Of by
Some Person Who Wanted to Put
Mrs. Salvatore Out of Illicit Bot
tling Business.

llSul SIloItly il''' -
o'clock a quantity of dynamite or some
other high explosive was set off in the
rear Of n large building at Bulrs
Head owned by the Church estate ana
the fact that no lives We're lost or that
no one was injured is little short of
miraculous.
The building IN question is a two
story frame structure about 125 feet
long and two stories high. 1t is situ-
ated in the rear of 1349 North, Main
avenue and might be appropriately
called n human hive on account of the
large number of people living in 1t.
Upwards of twenty-five families. the
large part Italian, make their homes
there and the estimated number of
people dwelling there. and all of whom
"rrc asleep when, the explosion oc-
cured, is one hundred.
A, the southnrly end Of the building
lives James Payne. chair tcai,t,' with
his wife and one child. Il boy about IA
years old. In the rear Uf that part OF
the building occupied by the Paynes
was Il shanty which was used by Mrs.
Salvatore. an Italian widow. who lived
next door. In this shanty Mrs. Said
tore. for the past few months, has
been bottling beer which she iold to
various parties in the neighborhoc T..
.. WE'RE IOATH TO ACT.
Her italian ncighbors. whii, they
did not approve of her actions Ner"
loaih To cause her arrest for she has
the reputation of having Il very violent
temper and would be likely I" make
thinks exciting for them if Il complaint
was lodged against ner.
At any rate it is the general con-
sensus of opinion in the neighhurhond
that the person who SCI oft the cNplo-
sive had in mind the demolition of the
'bottling establishment more thar "ny-
thing else. This seems true inas!nu"n
as the explosive was placed directly Tn
der the Shanty. which was completely
destroyed. In his ragrrnas:s ,n blow
up Mrs. Salvatore'S plac". tn" guilty
person undoubtedly oNcri lN't the
fact that such an explosion might blow
up part of the building proper nnu per-
haps destroy human life.
The explosion occurred at precisely
lilo o'clock and caused conclusion
that startled everybody within two or
three blocks OF the place out of their
beds and to the windows. The Payne
family bad retired early and wc,r all
in bed ut the time.
The. force of the explosion entirely
demolished Mrs. SalvatOre's Shanty
sending filed and untitled beer bottles
in all directions. 1t tore the entire
rear elid out of that part of the build
ing owned by The Paynes and rendered
it uninhabtable. leaving only pro-
miscuOus pile OF shattered boards and
chunks of plaster.
CAUSED GREAT HAVOC.
The Payne apartment was divided
into two rooms and in the rear one of
these slept James, the 14-year-ol boy.
The force of the explosion blew the
rear door down on top of him as he lay
in bed and covered the top of this with
debris to the height of two or three
feet. He escaped without ii scratch.
however, which is something very re-
markable
The bed occupied by Mr and Mrs.
Payne was also covered with debris
but they, too. escaped unnjurcd. The
rest of rhc building was not damaged
but it was said yesterday that If tho
explosive had been placed II little far
ther in that it was the greater part of
the structure would have been de-
stroyed This is because there is a
stone wall there and the great force Of
the explosion would have been diverted
upwards. AS it was, it was placed on
the ground and the larger part of the
force exploded downward.
The police We're notified of the affair
and an Investigation was made early
yesterday morning. No person in par
ticular Is suspected. as far as could be
learned, though there are many who
believe that some business rival of
Mrs. Salvatores is the responsible
party -... -..,...,..
Mr.. Payne when seen by Tribune
| man yesterday was standing in the
ruins of his little home almost heart
broken. When asked who he suspected
he said:
PAYNE'S STATEMENT.
Il don't suspect anybody in particu-
lar, but I'm sure of one thing and that
is that the guilty party is some person
who wanted to put Mrs. Salvatore out
of the bottling business. They sue
ceeded but in doing SO they've put me
out of home. All my furniture. what
little I had, Is destroyed and I'm left
practically homeless.
"There's one thing / do know. he
continued in an angry tone, "and that
Is that the person who set that eXplo-
sive off was no Italian. wish knew
who 1t was and I'd kill the villain Yes,
sir, I'd kill him, If | had to hang for
it tomorrow. He came pretty near
II w hp, r talI