The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-10-27
COOPER TELLS OF
DYNAMITNC PLOT
NorthernP aciflc's General Man
ager Says Work Was Done
by Convict.

General Manager Thomas Cooper, of
the Northern Pacific, yesterday issued
a statement giving a complete history
OF the recent dynaniting escapades
along the lines of that; company in
Montana.
According to Mr.. Cooper's statement
the plot was Matched by two convicts
while they We're serving time in the
Montana state penitentiary at Deer
Lodge. When one of the convictS,
named Grevelle, was released on July
Is. he at once began his campaign
to extort money from the Northern
Pacific.
The first letter received by the COM
pany was mailed in Butte on the day
the man was released from the pen
tent1ary. 1t is said that the letter was
written by convict named Written
VINO Is now serving a long time SEN
tence at Deer Lodge. Grevelle has
been arrested and is now awaiting
trial.
Mr.. Cooper's statement follows:
What the Statement Says.
1--WE. are now in possession of COM
plete evidence that the plot to ex-
tort money from the Northern Pacific,
by dynamiting our track and trains
In Montana, was Matched in the Mon
tana state penitentiary at Deer Lodge,
-
who had been cell mates for five years.
"Grevelle was released from the
penitentiary July 16, at the expiration
of his term of Imprisonment, and the
first letters which he sent us were
mailed at Butte the same day, ana
were written by Written. The subse-
quent letters were written by Grevelle,
the man who was arrested within a
few hours after the last attempt at
6Un hitting hp no VII fraiIQd
from the point where the Waterman
discovered him digging a hole under
the rail, to his cabin. Written is
serving a long time sentence, and
Grevelle will undoubtedly receive such
a sentence as will return him to the
penitentiary for the rest of his life,
so that neither of them will ever have
an opportunity to again endanger the
lives of innocent people.
Neither of the men have been in
the employ of the Northern Pacific,
nor, as far as we can ascertain, had
they any grievance against us or any
other railway company. They appear
to be simply two degenerates, who fig
ured out this diabolical plan to get
money, regardless Of the conse-
quenceS.
Company Spared No Expense.
E No expense was spared by the COM
pany in it's efforts to protect the lives
of passengers and employees, and it's
property. We had seyenty-five watch
men patrolling the track fora distance
Of 150 miles, detectives by the score
We're employed and two bloodhounds
were brought all the way from Lin
coin, Neb., besides two from Deer
Lodge, Mont. Were it not for the fact
that Grevelle was working alone and
was exceedingly cunning, he would
nave been caught at an earlier stage
in the proceedings.
Since Grevelle's arrest, we have re-
ceived no letters, nor had any efforts
been made to dynamite our track or
trains, and there is no question what
ever but what the only parties impli-
Gated were Grevefie and Written. The
episode is closed, except that to the
utmost extent of our ability, we will
see that Greyelle receives his Just de-
SertS at the hands of the law
Some of the newspaper dispatches
emanating from different points in
Montana in connection with this affair
were exaggerated In one case an or
binary signal fuse was found on the
track and transformed by the magma
ton OF the newspaper correspondent
into stick of dynamite. Another dis
patch reported dynamite being found
near Missoula, which report was en-
tirely without foundation, and in still
another case, the burning of a. small
bridge caused by the sparks from a
locomotive, was credited to the dyna-
miters."