The San Francisco call., 1904-07-04
TOGO SINKS TWO RUSSIAN WARsHIPs;
CONTRABAND or WAR AT OAKLAND
Police Find Tons
Of Explosive
Material.

OAKLAND, July S-From Port Ar
thur to Oakland is far cry, but
chain of interesting revelations have
connected the Manchurian seaport with
the Athens of the Pacific.
Through a complaint, which was
made to the authorities, it has been
disclosed that large quantities of ma
! terial from which explosives for the
| mines, land and submarine, used in de-
| stroying Japanese and Russian soldiers
and ships, are being manufactured in
a secluded corner of this city.
! The owners of the process will not
| admit that they have sold any of it
| direct to the Russian or the Japanese
/ governments, but it is known, never
theless, that more than 100 tons of
! the composition was shipped to Port
Arthur to private cOnsignees before
the war began. Large quantities have
! also been forwarded to Chinese ports,
there to be manufactured into an ex-
/ plosive equal in power to 60 per cent
nitroglycerin.
The discovery Of fifty barrels of the
compound in the back yard of d. De-
/ martinfs residence, 627 Myrtle street,
| aroused great excitement this morn
ing, and caused police and fire depart
ments to make an investigation. Louis
{ Focacci, residing at 653 Myrtle street,
a few doors north of the Demartini
house, brought about the investigation
| by reporting to the Chief of Police his
| discovery that the back yard of his
| neighbor contained enough explosive
material to destroy the entire town.
OFFICERS INVESTIGATE.
! Captain of Police w. ]. Petersen, ac-
companied by Chief Engineer N. A.
Ball of the Fire Department, went to
the scene. They found in the rear of
| DemartinfS cottage fifty-two barrels
! filled with a mixture which had been
/ given all kinds Of mysterious force.
Likewise did they find galvanized iron
tubs in the cottage cellar that had
been used as mixing tanks. There lay
the stuff, apparently menacing the city
| for blocks around. Focacci told this
| story to the officers:
An old man living near here came
to me to-day and told me that l should
see that no fireworks were used around
my place tomorrow, because the stuff
in the barrels in Demartini's yard
would blow up or get afire, and there
would not be water enough in Oakland
| to put out the flames.
I went around and looked at the
barrels and notified the police
A Cavagnaro, Lawrence Grondona
| and Tilston Owens, who had worked in
the building at 625 Myrtle street, where
! a large quantity of the compound was
| manufactured last year, told the police
that it had been shipped to Russian
and to Chinese ports in large quanti-
| ties. Sulphur, oils and bran were used
in making 1t, and the process was care
! fully handled by w. c. Quinby, one of
| the owners of the formula Further in
quiry developed that Quinby, who is an
expert chemist residing at 1929 Lin
coin avenue, Alameda, is associated
n II
merchant at 213 Battery street, San
Francisco, in the enterprise. A. B.
! Fields, a broker of San Francisco, ap-
peared as a third person interested in
the enterprise.
MANUFACTURERS ARRIVE.
In the midst of the disturbance that
! Focaccis complaint caused Quinby and
Fields sauntered into the Demartini
cottage.
Let me set your minds at ease" said
Quinby. This stuff is not explosive.
But it will be after it has been treated
| in China, where the shipment you see
here is going. Those barrels contain
| about ten tons of what we call dope
| 1t is a patented composition to be used
as a base for high or low grade explo-
sives, as may be desired by the pur-
chasers of it. I am the patentee and
| Pike is a half-owner in the formula
| fixed carbon, hydro-carbon and nitro
| benzol. 1t is, in it's present state, as
| harmless as a cooling dove.
Mixed with either chlorate of pot
ash, nitrate of potash or nitrate of
soda it becomes an explosive and can
be made equal to so per cent nitroglyc-
erin. In it's high form it is known as
| dragonite'
80 much for the explosive. I manu-
factured this dope at Sobrante and
also in San Francisco before coming
to Oakland. 1t is being handled by
A. B. Fields. 1 am under contract not
to sell any in this country. OF course,
you have heard of the powder trust.
am not in it. My patents cover for
| eign countries"
That fully 100 tons of the stuff have
been sent to Port Arthur was admitted
by Fields, who said:
II have been shipping the dope as
Quinby calls it, to private consignees
in the Orient. 1t can be used for mines
as well as for blasting, or other pur-
poses for which explosives are utilized.
Where this base compound goes after
it is sold 1 am not in position to say.
1t has been shipped regularly on the
| Pacific liners, and you may be
sure that if it were a dangerous ma
terial we could not send it on them
The steamship people, as we'll as the
authorities, have investigated it.
EXPRESS SURPRISE.
"Mr Quinby and myself came over
to-day to see whether this lot was ready
for shipment. We had no idea of the
excitement it's discovery provoked
Yes, a lot of it has been sent to
Port Arthur, and 1 presume has been
used in making land and submarine
| mines. The Japanese could also have
purchased it from the individuals to
whom it has been shipped. Under no
circumstances can it be classed as con-
traband of war, and L do not see where
we can be involved in any difficulty
I over a violation of the neutrality laws.
The stuff is going now to Chinese ports,
and is, of itself. harmless substnce"
II want TO add" interrupted Chem
ist Quinby, that this material is not
inflammable in it's present state that
is, not dangerously SO. In mixing it
| and aclSiner the corlnnnund raarr1ait