Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-01-05
Bank Badly damaged.

ne explosion devastated the interior of
lhe big banking room. Glass and wooden
partitions were wrecked and leveled to the
ground as though Il cyclone had swept
through the place Desks We're ruined and
iron oars were twisted-in fact, there was
haioiy an OBJECT left intact in the room
vi 'ii the persons In the room, at least six
oil Vi them clerks. were hurt, two of them
probably fatally. Three of the injured were
sent to the hospital The explosion threw
every one in the banking room to the floor
ana Tor a moment they We're dazed MANY
OF them not knowing what had happened,
ana tearing that the building. which is an
elght-story structure, was falling, made a
rush Tor the door, Mr.. Rushton among them
The roar of the explosion brought the ten
ants on all floors to their feet and a gem
eral rush was made to the elevators and
the stairways.
AS the excited people came out there
was a rush from the street to rescue those
who 1t was thought had been caught In
the explosion. In the meantime an alarm
ol nIe was sent IN and tremen We're quickly
on the ground There being no fire in the
place the firemen and policemen ordered
everybody out, and strong guard was
thrown about the building.
Blown to Pieces.
After President Rushton had recovered
himself he told what happened, and
search for the bomb-thrower was made
At the moment it was supposed he had
not been killed. but in taking out the body
OF Cashier McLear, and looking for other
dead. portions of body were found that
plainly indicated that the man had been
blown to pieces.
The escape of President Rushton was al
most miraculous, for the damage is great
est in his Office.
Vaults All Open.
Details to what actually hoppened
when the man left the office of President
Rushten differ, no one can be found
who saw the man drop the bomb. The door
to the office of Cashier Mclean is only a
few feet from that of President Rushton.
and the man must have dropped the deadly
missile between the two rooms. Cashier
McLear was sitting at his desk at the time
and his body was badly mangled. The bomb
thrower's body was torn to pieces
At the time the explosion occurred all
the vaults We're open, books were piled
on desks and papers of all sorts of value
were lying on desks preparatory to being
put away for the day.
President Rushton's Statement.
President Rushton after the explosion
rushed to the eighth floor of the building
from the street floor, to the rooms of the
Down Town Club, a dining organization.
He was very much excited. trembling like
a leaf. He told the following story:
"A man who gave his name as G. f.
Williams, shabbily dressed giving no place
of residence, came into my office and
asked me to lend him $4,000 l was busy
looking over some papers on my desk at
the time and paid but little attention to
what the man said He sat there looking
at me very curiousy until 1 became sus-
n "a ha Il o,,I
to excuse me for minute while l went
into another office. AS l left the man he
arose and went over to the cashiers WIN
dow. l noticed him talking to the cashier,
but I do not know what he told him. The
explosion followed next.
Great Excitement
Il did not see the man throw the bomb.
but have every reason to suppose that he
did throw it. The man was killed. 1 am
given to understand by the police. My CASH
Ter, William Il. McLear was killed outright
The explosion caused great excitement
among us all. Glass flew from the smashed
window and fell in a shower over us and
four or five women among the employees who
rushed to the door. l understand that six
or seven people were injured but | do not
know how seriously
Mr.. Rusfton left the Down Town Club and
returned to the first floor. On his way down
in the elevator, accompanied by several Off
Gals of the bank, the seriousness of the
tragic scene from which he had just es-
capped overcame him and he was unable to
say anything more. His friends summoned
a carriage and sent him to his home.
Windows Blown Out.
Not only is the entire interior of the bank
wrecked, but the large windows looking
out on a small side street were blown out
The explosion scattered all the books and
papers of the institution that were not
within the vaults at the time. Some of
them were blown out of the windows and
were returned by those who, found them.
AS soon as the excitement of the explosion
had subsidized policemen and uninjured
clerks were set to work searching the
wreckage for all papers. 1t probably will
take days before the bank officials are able
to tell how much of the valuable docu-
ments in the banks custody were destroyed
as the whole place was strewn with torn
bits of paper.
The detective bureau is at work in an eff
fort to Identify the man who was the cause
of the tragedy. The only thing found that
belonged to him was a bunch of
twenty-five keys, on the ring of which
President Rushton described him as a tall,
dark man. apparently a foreigner. The
form Of the bomb is not known as neither
Mr.. Rushton nor any one else saw it. A
small piece of a tin box was found among
the wreckage, but whether this was por-
ton of the deadly missile, a piece of
tin box such is used in banks, has not
yet been determined.
Steele Known in Des Moines.
= DES MONIES, Iowa, January "a man
named r. Steele is known at Garner. Iowa,
as a driver of a patent medicine wagon.
At Garner today it was said that Steele
was supposed to be at Klemmie, a few
miles away from Garner.
William Crump. the messenger, was terri
bly, injured. Both his eyes were blown out,
his scalp torn off and his face SO mangled
that he was unrecognizable. He was taken
to the Pennsylvania Hospital. There the
physicians learned from him that he saw
the man raise his arm to throw something.
Crump jumped at him, but he was too late.
Wrecked by Dynamite.
Ell PASO, Tex, January 5.-Nine build
ings were wrecked and much mining ma
destroyed in Lowell Ariz., near
SIn<a Lat i<<i.4 h. H.. IL .Lai