Omaha daily bee., 1908-10-13
POLICE AFTER TONI BLAST
Denver Detective is Looking for q
Bryan Club President.
DEMOCRATIC LEADER IS MISSING
scion of Royal House Who Cut such
a wide svath Preaching for the
Peerless cad Suddenly
Disappears.

she-e.w. Not a word about Haskell, now!
But Just tho. same, another Bryan idol has
fallen.
Toni Blast, president Of the Italian Bryan
club, the man who ipersistently promised
the entire Italian vote of the city to Bryan,
has concluded not to hang around and see
that the votes are delivered on election day.
No memebr OF the Italian colony has seen
Blast since Friday. II may not have any
connection with this fact, but Friday De-
tectlve Bossi OF the Denver police force
arrived in Omaha and has been hunting
Mr.. Blast since.
Members of the Italian colony are dis
posed torsee a causal relation between the
two events. Mayor Dahiman. whose right
hand man Toni was, is trying to c%onjure
up in memory some phrase about "fine
Italian hand and is telling his callers
~that-well, IL he did not exactly nurse a SER
pent In his bosom, yet this Blast fellow
must have been a grand nephew of Machia-
velli.' 1t is truly painful TO contemplate
the sorrow felt by Jim and the Jims. IT
is terrible TO have a kindly spirit imposed
on ''nnd think of the political effect
Ready to Leave Quickly.
Blast has been ready TO leave Omaha at
short notice for some time. He had shipped
away from his lodgings, 1912 Pacific street.
all his heavier. possessions and kept In a
small vaiise a few personal effects. More
over, he had been paying for his room
from day to day for, the last week, instead
OF q week in advance, as heretofore. A
thoughtful soul, forsooth! He confided to
friends recently that he was contemplating
a trip 10 italy in the near future.
Blast had made his home during the few
months he lived in Omaha at the highly
--aAta ,a.,gp~r bnttaa on Pacific
street kept by MIR. and Mrs. ]. L. Tobias.
1t was from here as base of supplies that
he sailed forth to preach the glories OF
Organism, to extol the virtues of the Jimo-
Gratis and the sins of the Jacks, and also
TO admit-in the s~trictest confidence, OF
course-that he was the scion of Italian
nobility. an old and proud Sicllian family
you know. This little ancestral fact Blast
really deplored. He was a great demo-
Graf. ard II was not really his fault If his
forefathers had called themselves "di'
Blast. Toni did the best he could with re-
gard to this emblem OF noble birth and
called himself plain Blast.
Surprise for All.
Like that little candle which burns
brightest just before It fiickers out, 81
Toni. His Omaha career may or may no
be over so far as residence is concerned
but politically he has been snuffed GU
with a ~suddenness that is almost painful
II you belong to the Jims. But he wen
out in a burst of glory, nevertheless.
The Italian colony was buzzlng with gos
sip about Blast and Detective Bossi Satur
day night. Sunday morning the sons o
Garibaldi read with Immense interest
full-page account of Blasts romantic life
of his blue blood, of the passion for Bryal
and democracy which lead him over tn
seas. They also read of his lovely man
? ners. his dashing bearing and carriage
his wonderful wealth of eloquence, o
everything but his intimacy with GU
James and the confidence the mayor ha,
IN him. trust him like a brother, yo
know"
The Italian residents OF Omaha read wit
considerable surprise, too, that they. eacl
and every one of them 'idolized" Blast, wer
like clay in his hands, and would vote ex
aetly as Toni said. Whether this a~ssertio,
was true or not. is not now worth debating
The fact remains that there is no likelI
hood they will sec him at Metz hall o
future Sunday evenings painting with tn
passion Of his oratoIical appeals" No NOR
will TOMS speech in his impassioned me
ments be like the falling of a triphammer.
No more will Toni. beating his breast fc
emphasis. declare himself with the vigC
of a prophet" Alas! Alas!
Detective Bossl has given out nothin
about his mission save that he wants
meet Mr.. Blast face to face. heart I
heart. and hand to hand" as Mayor Dab
man in a rhetorical outburst told the lie
ter carriers. Members of the Italian colon.
with whom Bossi talked. said that the d,
tective intimated that his reasons wei
urgent and that he had not come all II
way from Denver just to hear Blast te