New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1911-12-02

morning or october /. II was clear at once
that tie explosion was no accident. and
| among the ranks of organized labor the
detectives began their search for clues.
Burns Begins His Hunt.
The Merchants and Manufacturers AS
ISOLATION, taking the lead in the quest, en-
ployed Earl Rogers. who had been attor-
ney for the defence IN the San Francisco
graft trials. William J. Burns. the de-
tective who had sent Rogerss clients TO
Jail, was retained by the Mayor and Gen
eral Otis.
There was one important clew-the dress
suit case which had been found at Zee
handelaar's house. On the wrapping Of the
dynamite sticks was stamped Giant. Sept.
%" which laid the trail straight TO the Du
| Pont powder works at Giant on San Fran
cisco Bay.
Here was obtained the description Of the
three men who bought the dynamite They
were known as Harry Kaplan, or Caplan;
Matthew Schmitt or "Smithy." and J. 2
Bryce, Brice or Bryson. This last, it was
the charge of the detectives. was James B.
Mcnamara, brother Of John j. Mcnamara.
| the secretary and treasurer OF the Interna-
tional Association OF Bridge and Structural
/ Iron Workers. For Identification they re-
| lied largely on the testimony Of Mrs D. y.
| Ingersol. the landlady of Bryce" on his
| former visit 10 San Francisco.
James r. Mcnamara and Ortie McMani-
gal were arrested in Detroit on April Y
| last after Burns's detectives had followed
them for months. On April II the two met
| in Toledo. loaded their suitcases with
clockwork dynamite bombs, fuses and other
war material. and rode with this equip
ment to Detroit in a passenger coach. Just
as they checked their suitcase arsenals In
/ a Detroit hotel they were arrested and
taken TO Chicago. McManlgal confessed,
duplicating especially John J. Mcnamara
as the brains of the alleged conspiracy.
After requisiton papers were secured
! from California the unions Offices In Ind
! ianapolis were raided. and John j. Nc
| Namara was arrested. IN a storage vault
| kept by the secretary-treasurer in the
/ basement of the office building ostensibly
J for the storage Of old records, the detec-
/ tives founl I'm a safe fOrty-three pounds of
| dynamite, fourteen clocks of the exact type
used in manufacturing the Peoria and Los
/ Angeles bombs, batteries. fuse, wire and
other component parts Of the Internal ma
! chimes In a barn rented by John j. Nc
| Namara in the outskirts OF indianapolis,
ostensibly for the storage Of old records,
/ Burns found more dynamite and nitro
I glycerine under lock opened by a key which
! had been found on James y. Mcnamara.
Another cache of dynamite was found in a
shed belonging to McManigals father, in
] ~ 81 II,
| Jim" McNamara's home in Cincinnati to-
gether with discriminating letters.
The three prisoners were taken to Cali
| forna, with Burns's assistance. by means
which the defendants denounced as kid
mapping. Burns was indicted in Indian
apols on that charge. He declared that he
followed legal procedure strictly and gave
the kidnapped" men all their rights
Protest by Labor Men,
Since the arrest OF these three men ga
storm of protest has arisen from sympa-
thizers all over the country. The National
Executive Committee Of the Socialist party
offered its support to the prisoners. Cap
tain Fredericks, District Attorney of Los
Angeles, received a shower of threatening
letters. Parades Of union men in cities
from coast TO coast demonstrated their at
titude. Mayor Alexander and other county
officials of Los Angeles were threatened
The American Federation Of Labor gath
cred funds TO defend the accused men.
Many wild tales of bribery, treachery and
counter suits were told. There was the
usual crop Of confessions by cranks.
The McNamaras were indicted on MAY l.
Nineteen indictments charging murder were
found against them. Two other indictments
were found against them and McManigal in
connection with the explosion in the Lew
ellyn Iron Works on Christmas Day.
The trial Of the McNamaras began at
Los Angeles on October g. before Judge
Walter Bordwell. with District Attorney
+ John D. Frederlcks appearing against the
/ prisoners Clarence Darrow and Lecompte
Davis were attorneys for the defence. 1t
was learned that the defence would be
that the Times Building was destroyed by
gas and fire. and not by dynamite.
Jury Was Still Incomplete.
! James B. Mcnamara was selected 10 ap-
pear first and the District Attorney
4 pressed as the particular charge the muir
/ der OF Charles ]. Hasgerty machirist
one Of the explosion victims. Then began
the long contest over the selection of jurors
which had rot reached an end when the
| COMMISSION was made. The defence has al
along insisted on knowing the talesmen'
attitude toward labor unions and on the
ground of prejudice most of them were
| thrown out as fast as they were examined
| The question Of Just how far such bias
affected the eligibility of a juror occupied
days Of wranging between the lawyers
Seven days elapsed before the jury boy
was filled with talesmen for the first time
Then the next day six were thrown ou
again. and on the day following the mum
Der Of accepted jurors was reduced 10 three
BY October % the original panel of p
| talesmen was exhausted. Eighty-two more
were drawn, and the contest dragged on
The completion Of the jury seemed yester
day as far off as ever and the prospec
was that the trial would drag on indef
nitely.