River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1903-05-14
STEAMSHIP IN PERIL.
Internal Machine Found on Cunard
Liner Umbria.
POLICE WARNED BY MALTA LETTER.
DiscIoses Plan to Blow British ships
from the seas-MacbIne Discov-
cred just Before the Big
Vessel Sails.

1 h,
ing 100 pounds of dynamite, two dry
batteries. and an ingenious clockworIc
device for exploding the dynamite was
found Saturday at the pier Of the
Cunard liner Umbria just before the
steamer sailed for Europe. Although
the box and its contents made up
formidable Internal machine@the
most dangerous device Of its kind ever
found in this city-neither the I'm bria,
its passengers, nor the hundreds of
persons on the pier were in danger, be-
cause the fuses intended to explode
the dynamite were not capped and the
arrangement for igniting them was
not set, although the touch Of the fin
ger would have set the exploding de-
vice in an instant The box contained
explosive enough to blow the bottom
out Of the steamship. 1t was found by
detectives who had been warned by a
: special delivery letter addressed to
Police Commissioner Green and signed
by "Pietro de Martini"
Plot Against British SHIPS.
This warning letter declared that a
society had been formed for the pur-
pose Of driving English ships off the
high seas by blowing them up with dy-
Mantle. and limited that the society is
affiliated with the Malta.
The police see in the affair some
timing more significant than a plot to
destroy the Umbria and the 600 or 700
persons who sailed on the big liner
Saturday. In other words. the infer
nal machine sent to the Umbria pier
was intended, it is believed, as a CON
vincing demonstration Of the abs Olute
power held in the hands Of the secret
society referred to in Pietro de Mar
TINS warning letter; that the society,
as the letter states, has been formed
to destroy all steamers flying the Brit
ish flag; that the box containing the
dynamite and its exploding device had
been arranged so that an explosion
could not occur, and then placed on the
Umbria's pier to warn English ship
owners of the fate in store for their
vessels, and to show how easy it will
be for the society to place similar in
ferrnaI machines on board other ocean
liners in the future.
First and Last Warming
The letter in the hands Of the police
declares that the machine found Sat
urday is the first one made by the So
ciety. and is therefore a crude affair,
intended simply to show how easy it is
to sink steamer The letter declares
this is the Society's first and last
warning" and that those who patron
ize British steamers must take their
chances in the future"
The writing, composition and gen
eraI appearance of the letter indicate
that it is the work of any one but an
Italian, and suggest desire to have
the Job attributed to Fenians. The let
ter in its literary quality suggests
habit of writing rapidly, and possibly
Of writing for the newspapers. Among
other things, it quotes Shakespeare,
with four errors in Is words.
Regarded as Hoax at First.
In the absence of Gen. Greene the
letter was turned over to Deputy Com
missioner Piper, and his secretary, Mr..
Blot, was the first person to open it.
He laughed at the contents, and turned
il over to Capt. Piper, who was him
self inclined to look at the thing as a
hoax. The more the deputy commits
sioner studied the writing the more
convinced he became that the thing
was joke. and it wasn't until his at
tention was called to the fact that
the Umbria was to sail at two o'clock
that he looked at it in a serious way
Capt. Langan read the letter, and rang
Il bell, and in few minutes Detectives
Farley, Mccarthy, Moody and Lesson
were on their way to the Cun2rd pier
with instructions to hold up the UNI
bria until a thorough search had been
made.
Find the Machine.
EncOuntering superintendent Wat
son on the pier, they told him what
they were after. Acting Agent Floyd,
of the Cunard line, was called into con
ference, and he said that Capt Thomas
Dutton, of the Umbria. must be told
at once. When Capt. Dutton heard
the story and saw the letter he de
clared that the Umbria would not
leave the pier until the box had been
found, or it was conclusively demon
strated that no such box was around.
The men went to the pier and soon
found the suspicious looking box.
They heard ticking like clock inside.
and concluded to douse it before open
ing. They let it down into the water
and gave it good soaking, and then
raised it up on the pier again.
The water had not stopped the clock
work 1t still licked and made the de
tectives nervous. 1t was finally de-
cided that it would not be safe to open
the box while the pier was crowded
with people. so the Charles street sta
ton was asked TO send men over to
clear the pier. When this had been
accomplished the top of the box was
pried off and the mechanism was re-
yealed. One glimpse sutficied to show.
superintendent Murray, of the bureau
of combustibles. that the fuse was cot
set The end of it was slightly
scorcLed. which led to the belief that
it had ignited just as it was placed in
the water, and that the water had ex-
tinguished it.
Large Quantity of Dynamite.
The hasty examination of the box
while it was on the pier revealed
large quantity of dynamite in the bot
tom, a discovery which was anything
but comforting to the Cunard officials.
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