The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1911-10-09
History Oh The Famous
Times Dynamiting Case

airy dSndn1lte. n seldom used. This
gelatin bore the label of a San Fran
cisco powder company. Detectives
hurried forthwith to the north. while
the tightly wound clock mechanism
remained at headquarters to reveal,
according to the authorities. a coles
sal criminal conspiracy ramifying
throughout the country.
The burden of proof against the
Mcnamara brothers lies on the state.
and as far as the case has developed,
the prosecution apparently must re-
~. aside from expert testimony. upon
four main points of reputed fact to
prove that James B. Mcnamara. as
the instrument. and John j.. as d.
rectinE head of a conspiracy. were
responsible for the destruction Of
The Times" building and the deaths
The alleged fact that James B. Nc
Namara was in San Francisco at the
time 1000 pounds Of high power ex-
plosives We're purchased from a pow.
der company.
The alleged fact that he was in Los
Angeles a few hours before the blow
ing up Of THE Times"
That he actually set the bomb
which caused the disaster. and like
wise planted the bombs at the homes
Of Gen. Otis and Feliz Zeehandelaar.
And that he committed the crime
at h behest and under the direction
OF John ]. Mcnamara.
A day or two after the disaster the
detectives working in San Francisco
were told that three men who gave
the names of Bryson. Morris and
Leonard had purchased, on septem-
Der 26. 1910. 1000 pounds Of eighty
per cent gelatin" from the company
whose label was on the dynamite in
the Z~eehandelaar bomb. Two women
were then brought into the case, Mrs.
Belle LAWN and Mrs. D. H. Ingersoll,
to whom the men were known as J.
B. Brice. Milton A. Schmidt and Da-
vid Captain.
Mrs. LAWN was arrested on a war
rant charging murder. and brought to
Los Angeles. but she was released aft.
er a few days. Mrs. Ingersoll was
here when the McNamaras and Nc
custody Of officers, and she declared
! James Mcnamara looked like the ].
B. Brice she had known.
John ]. Mcnamara and Mechanical,
she said she had never seen, and this.
coupled with McManisal's sworn
statement that he was not with James
Mcnamara at the time the newspa-
per plant was blown up. brought out
the fact that. although John j. Nc
Namara is charged jointly with the
crime. the Los Angeles authorities
have In custody only one Of the me
alleged to have actually set the bomb
Caplan are still the objects Of a man
hunt that embraces the world.
In the meantime William j. Burns,
the former government secret service
man: who had been engaged in the
san francisco graft cases, was engage
ed BY George Alexander. mayor Of
Los Angeles. on behalf Of the city. to
run down the criminals. Burns ex-
amined the spring mechanism at po-
lice headquarters Of the Zeehandelaar
bomb. telegraphed for one of his
men. an expert or bombs, to CINE to
the o and then went east. While
tves discovered on October 16 a
cache Of 500 pounds Of dynamite in a
house at South San Francisco. All of
this bore the powder company's label
Eighty Percent Gelatin" and was
identified as part OF the Brice pur.
chase.
What became of the rest. then, was
the question. and the activities Of the
detectives along this line Of investiga-
tion were continued.
An investigating committee under
General o. J. Sweet. a retired army
officer. reported TO Mayor Alexander
October . that the explosion had been
ca sed ny nitroglycerin or similar
named by the State Building Trades
council. then in session lin Los Ange-
les. reported that The Times build
ing had been blown up by gas. job
hartman, an attorney now associated
with Mr.. Darrow in the Mcnamara
defense. questioned before the coron-
The Times telegraph room al the
time Of the explosion. and they testi-
fed that a strong odor Of gas led
them to believe that gas had wreck
ed the building. Afterward Hartman
declared that the counter theory Of a
gas explosion would be used by the
defense to combat the dynamite the,
DRY Of the prosecution.
Judge Walter Bordwell of the su-
perior court. had by this time mpan-
elled a special grand jury. After 100
days Of investigation. during which
ia witnesses. mostly from San Fran
cisco. were examined, the inquisitors
reported it as their conclusion that
dynamiters a blown up The Times
building. n indicted Brice, Schmidt
and Captain for the alleged crime.
This was or Jan. 8.
During these months nothing was
heard from Detective Burns by any
n excepting Mayor Alexander. who
was called on from time to time to
supply. funds from the $4,000 set
aside by the city council to finance
the investigation. Given the idea nv
the clockwork mechanism If the Zee
handelaar bomb. the detective and his
assistan I went to work on the the
DRY that the men responsible for a
series of crimes in the east, in which
structural steel work being done by
members of the National Ercctors'
association. an open-shop ~organiza.
tion. had been destroyed. had like.
wise perpetrated 1.-The Times horror.
Burns had been engaged upon the
l tnvoNt{pa tim ~ tha, Avn kcfko
in the east for a month before