The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1911-12-15
THE CRIME OF THE CENTURY

(By General Harrison Gray Otis)
At few minutes past O'Clock
on the morning of October l, 1910
the extensive, modern and splendid
ly equipped plant of the Los Angeles
Daily Times was destroyed by dyna
miters, with loss of 20 lives. The
old stone castle, with the fine new
six-story job office, engraving plant
and bindery, were all reduced u
ruins. The public is already famil
iar-unfortunately familiar = with
the facts of this extraordinary Grim.
and terrible disaster, and a brie1
summary, merely, is here given.
The explosion was terrific, the de.
tonating roar deafening, and the in.
|stantly succeeding conflagratior
swept through the building like 9
bosom of destruction. The fact thai
the flames spread with sucn lncredi.
BILE rapidity can easily by accounted
for; the explosive had been placed al
a point exactly one hundred feet
north of the front entrance to the
Times building and about 80 feet
from the Broadway side of the struc.
ture. The flames spread through the
rear of the building and on toward
the west and south fronts. Black
and murky masses of flame and
smoke soon poured out from the win
dows of both these sides and the old
stone castle was gone. beyond the pos
sibility of rescue. Only the stone
walls were left standing.
While the flames were destroying
everything in their line of marcn,
the poor brake fellows who had been
overtaken at their posts of duty were
struggling to flee the burning puild-
ing. Some saved themselves by
means of the fire escapes, many
found safety in the ample stairway
opening toward the south from the
newer portion of the building. others
escaped by jumping out of the win
dows or down elevator shafts, to
their serious injury. But 20 of the
noble fellows, faithful unto death,
lost their lives in the building, at
their posts of duty or in the attempt
to escape from the impending doom.
In nearly every case the poor bodies
were blown to fragments, and it be-
came a work of infinite patience, la
Dor and difficulty to recover the pit
iful pieces from the mass of debris
into which like a flash, the great
building had been suddenly convert
ed by the destructive effects of dy-
and fire.
OF the dead, one was assistant city
editor, one assistant telegraph edi-
tor, one telegraph operator, and
the others printers.
The funeral ceremonies, conducted
by the Rev. Robert j. Burdette, over
the coffined forms of the larger
number whose lives had been sud-
denly snuffed out in the disaster to
the Times building, were peculiarly
beautiful and impressive. altogether
unique, and very largely attended.
The floral offerings were most pro-
fuse, and Lovely beyond description.
A long, sad line of sorrowing friends
ind compainions-men, women and
,hildren--preceded, followed and
'lanked the IA half filled caskets on
heir final march to the sod-covered
lome of the dead in Hollywood GEM
'tery. 1t was respectful, reverent,
'o,emn cortege; and the last scene, |
under the blue and bend
ng dome of a matchless California
ky, was one deeply impressive in it's
beauty.
In his remarkably eloquent Grafton
pronounced over the pitiful frag-
nents Of the victims, the Rev. Rob-
,rt J. Burdette said, .n part: I
mot "a hours ago, some man bark
ng at the heels of these mourners,
censured the 'exasperating
lttitude of the Times
The exasperating attitude of the
What is its attitude? |;
here today a fellow-mour-
Ter with this immense concourse of
nourners; her figure wounded, /
feeding, scathed by flames and bomb
raped with the coarse sackcloth of
zoe, her face yelled with the folds !.
t crepe which hide her tear-blinded
yes as she bows herself in speech
sss anguish above her precious dead
look upon this circle of caskets,
ewel cases of precious dust--whom