The Wenatchee daily world. [volume] (Wenatchee, Wash.) 1905-1971, 1910-10-01

the Los Angeles Times, on
pers of the southwest, of '
Otis is editor and principal
stroyed by an explosion an
this morning. resulting in
ty employees and a fnancis
dollars. The management
of the explosion on the lab
izations the paper has Ion
warfare.
1t is charged that unknown par
ties set off heavy charge of dyna-
mite in a blind alley which ran into
the center of the building. complete
ly wrecking the interior and setting
it on fire from roof to basement. The
force of the explosion was terrific
and was heard for miles. All the
windows in the vicinity of the Times
building at First and Broadway We're
shattered. Between 80 and IS en-
ployes were in the building at the
time of the explosion, and until the
whole list of employees of the paper
can be checked over it will not be
known how many lives were lost
The responsible heads of the pa
per, including Assistant General
Manager Harry Chandler, had mar
row escapes from death. many of
them having left the building a
short time before the explosion.
The fire spread throughout the
building with amazing rapidity, and
in the course of but a few seconds
the flames were bursting from every
window and door in the building,
shooting high above the roof.
No Clue to Perpetrators.
The building was equipped with
gasfittings and the force of the ex-
plosion tearing these pipes into bits
released the gas, which was instant
ly ignited in every part of the build
ing.
There is no other cause than dy-
Mantle, is the evidence of witnesses,
except in the one case of the West
ern Union telegraph operator, VIM.
Firmin, who stated that he detected
the odor of gas throughout the
building early in the night and had
called the attention of others to it.
A few minutes after the explosion
the police arrested man named
Harry Lake, who was making his
way through the Broadway tunnel a
few blocks distant. He was locked
up on suspicion. Another man
named William irwin was arrested
and afterward taken to the station.
The police are without clues, how
ever.
Assistant General Manager Chand-
Ter narrowly escaped with his life.
His Office was on the ground floor
and he left a few minutes before the
explosion. He is accustomed to re-
main in his Office until late in the
morning but last night his wife came
for him and he went home earlier
than usual. His secretary, ]. T..
Wesley Reaves, remained in the Of
fee and is among the missing.
Says Labor Unions Responsible.
Speaking of the explosion. Mr..
Chandler said: You can say for
me that there is no doubt that this
terrible outrage can be laid to the
doors of the labor unions. They have
destroyed the building and plant and
have killed a number of our men.
We do not know how many, but they
cannot kill the Times. There is no
doubt but that the explosion was
caused by a charge of dynamite. No
other agency could have caused it.
There was no oil in the building, we
had no boilers to explode, there was
no gasoline in the place excepting
small can or two in the composing
room. 1t is true the building was
equipped with gas, but no explosion
of gas could have caused it. 1t was
evidently aimed to destroy the plant,
and kill as many as possible of the
employees. For years we have been
receiving threatening letters from
people who said that the paper ought
to be blown up. i have not received
any such letters lately. although l
have had several telephone calls
within the past few weeks. threaten
ing us with destruction"
Had Auxiliary Plant.
Two years ago. in anticipation of
lust such a thing as has occurred
this morning, the Times established
an auxiliary plant, equipped with
linotypes and presses. The Times
was issued today from the plant of
the Morning Herald and the Times
auxiliary plant.
General Otis was absent from the
o;tx- whom tho newsnaper was de-