Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-01-04
WRECKED LOWER FLOOR
Structure Cost $1,O0O,0OO New
Last Year.
ONLY THREE PEOPLE INJURED
No Clue to the Perpetrators Nor
Reason Known for the Crime.
One Badly Hurt.

KANSAS CITY. January A bomb
was exploded in the basement of the mag
nificent three-story marble building of
the First National Bank at the corner
! of 10th and Baltimore, in the business
center, a few minutes after the noon
hour. The force of the explosion was
terrific and caused much damage, three
persons being injured, but none fatally.
There is no clue to the person who
placed the bomb and set it off.
The injured:
Elbert Ward, negro porter in the bank,
condition serious.
Logan Wilson, bank clerk, rendered un-
| conscious, will recover.
]. Dona ldson. bank clerk, cut by falling
glass, not serious.
Crime Mystery.
John F. Pelletier superintendent of the
fire insurance patrol. who was in the
banking rooms at the time of the ex-
ploson. and E. F. Swinney. president of
! the bank, are authority for the state
ment that the explosion was the result
of bomb set off by some person un-
known to them. At first it was supposed
| to have resulted from leaking natural
! gas. Neither was able to give any
cause for the commission of the act.J
| The bank was crowded with customers
at the time, these, together with the
| employees, numbering. perhaps. two hum
dred and fifty persons. A panic ensued
and there was wild scramble for the
doors.
The First National Bank building was
one of the most beautiful structures in
| the city. 1t was only finished last year
and cost close to $1,O0OOOO. The main
| floor was occupied by the bank. which
| is the largest financial institution in
Kansas City. The two upper stories are
occupied principally by real estate and
| law firms.
Fired Near the Vault.
Investigation developed the fact that the
bomb had been placed in a toilet room in
the northwest corner of the basement
twenty feet from the main vault. The
toilet room was eighteen by twenty fee,
square, and was separated from the ad.
| joining room by three-inch plaster par
| tition. This partition was supported by q
| steel post
The bomb struck this post with such
| force as to bend the post foot out OF
position. wreck the partition and plumbing
| and send a cloud of dust up the wide
stairway leading to the banking rooms
Half dozen basement windows with the
steel rods protecting them were blown
| out into Baltimore avenue and across
| the street. The building was shaken as
if by an earthquake. The explosion was
! felt in all parts of the city
Crowd in Panic.
Mr. Peletier, who was standing at the
paying teller's window when the explosion
shook the building. said:
Following the explosion there was a
great volume of smoke and dust which
poured up the stairway into the banking
room. The bank was unusually well filled
| with people. At the moment of the eX-
p!osion the crowd turned and rushed for
the south door. leading into 10th street.
called out in a loud voice for quiet,
shouting that there was no danger, and
rushed for the stairway. When reached
| the stairway powder fumes and smoke
were pouring up the entrance way
groped my way down the stairs. and at
the bottom found Ward, the negro porter.
l carried him upstairs. where others took
care of him, and returned to the base
ment, where l was soon able to make an
| investigation The smell of powder and
the hole in the basement made by the eX-
plosion made it certain that the explosion
| had resulted from a bomb being set off.
There was no trace of the oomb-throWer,
and as vet l have been unable to find any
| tangible manner in which the missile
was placed
| Logan Wilson, another of the injured
was in the basement at the time. He was
blown clear across the basement, and
probably through the partition, distance
| of twenty feet When picked up he was
| unconscious. He was removed to the
Emergency Hospital and so far has been
unable to give any account of what hap
pened ..
| ]. Donaldson. the third person injured
was working in his cage in the banking
room. He was cut by glass that fell from
| a chandelier