Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-04-24
Bit of Alarm Clock Brass
Was Detectives First Clue

LOS ANGELES, Cal, April U.-C0nl-
parison of bits Of brass soldered on the
backs Of two small alarm clocks gave
William j. Burns his first important clue
In hts pursuit Of the men accused Of hav-
ing blown up tho building Of tho Los
Angeles Times on the morning OF Oc-
tober last. causing the death Of twenty
one employees OF that paper.
Two abortive attempts to explode in
fernal machines, one In Peoria. ILL.,, and
the other here, made possible the COM
parison which had such important results
for the detective and spelled doom for
the dynamiters.
First Internal Machine Found.
The first internal machine was found
after an explosion among some steel
girders in the foundry Of A. Louis &
Sons. in Peoria, Ill, September 4, 1910
Some fault in the mechanism caused the
clockwork to fail. and it passed into the
possession of Burns, to whom was in
trusted the task of finding the men who
caused the explosion. A few hours after
the destruction Of the Times building in
this city two more Internal machines
were found-one at the home OF Gen
Harrison G.. Otis. owner Of the Times. and
the other at the homie Of F.. ]. Zeehande-
Manufacturers Association, long the i'm
placable foe Of the closed shop.
Compared With Peoria Bomb.
The device found at the home Of Gen.
Otis was in a suit case, and 1t exploded
an instant after detective, who was
carrying it away from the building.
heard the rattle of the alarm. He narrow
ly escaped death, and the device was
blown to fragments. tearing a great hole
| in the ground. The bomb at the Zeehan-
delaar house was recovered intact, and
when Burns was called upon by the city
to undertake an Investigation of the
Times explosion it was one of the first
| things he inspected. 1t looked like the
mechanism found after the Peoria ex-
| plosion and comparison showed 1t to be
| identical.
The device consisted of a small alarm
clock, a dry battery. and the nitro
glycerin. The clocks alarm device was
used to fix the itime of the explosion.
| When the ringing Of the bell began the
uncoiling spring caused the key Of the
alarm to revolve. Soldered to this key
was a small piece Of brass, and when it
the back Of the clock the electric circuit
was closed and decorating caps exploded
the nitroglycerin.
Handiwork Of Same.
The brasswork was the handiworh of
the same men. even though the explo-
| sions were many miles apart. Burns be-
| gan to check carefully other dynamite
explosions as they occurred. In every
case he gathered evidence which. he al
| leges. traces the explosions to the three
men now being hurried to Los Angeles
John b. Mcnamara. James J. McNamara
and Ortie McManigal 1t 10 alleged that
James Mcnamara Is the man who was
known In San Francisco as ~. B. Bryce"
and who negotiated for the explosive
| used TO wreck the Times building when
| 1t was purchased at Giant, Cal. several
| weeks before the Times was blown up.
1t is believed two more men VIII be ar
| rested. aside from other arrests, which
probably will be made to hold certain
persons as witnesses.
Accused Men Secretly Indicted.
| The two McEamaras and McManigal
| were indicted secretly in this city satur-
day. April Is, after Burns had telegraph
ed a request that such action be taken
accompanied by meager portions of ev.-
dence obtained. His kilograms were In
cipher. and hours were required to trans
/ late them. The grand jurors. who pre-
| viously had indicted Bryce, David Kap-
| Ian and NJ. A. Schmidt. reassembled with
the utmost secrecy and returned true bills
| against the men Burns was waiting to
| arrest.
| The three prisoners now being brought
l to Los Angeles will arrive Tuesday IL
they are brought through direct. but pre-
cautions are being taken to guard them
both from a mob which might attempt
violence or q demonstration by working
men who believe them innocent. II is
certain that an attempt will be made to
| smugGle them into the city. Probably
they will be taken from the train at some
point outside Los Angeles and brought
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