The Breckenridge news. (Cloverport, Ky.) 1876-1955, 1911-05-17
Arrests For Los Angeles
Dynamitins Either Solve
a Terrible Crime
BY JArfEs A. HDcERToN.
NHE arrest of John ]. McNan

ia, SeCretHry- tTeuSuTeT OI tne
International Association Of
Bridge and Structural Iron
Workers; of his brother, James Il. Nc
Namara, and of Ortie +. McManigal
on the charge of being implicated In
the dynamiting of the Los Angeles
Times building is of worldwide in
terest because Of the magnitude Of the
crime and the prominence of one OF
the accused and is Of far greater i'm
portance as one more chapter In the
struggle between capital and labor. Of
ficers Of the National Erectors' associa-
ton and their partisans say that that
Is but one Of long series of destruc
tive explosions for which Mcnamara
and his coDfederates are responsible.
Representatives of union labor retort
that the whole case Is "frameup"
similar to that against Meyer, Hay
wood and Pettibone and is one more
attempt of organized capital to dis
credit organized labor. In such wide
diversity of opinion the only thing the
|.uNcidkCItitLCn Ndh uO 10 " WoAe AOA
s the evidence.
v Mcnamara and his friends complain
of the manner of his arrest. They
say he had no chance to consult an
attorney or protect his rights. He had
no opportunity to oppose extradition
and WAS taken from his home to
far tdlstant state without time to ar
range his affairs or bid goodby to his
fa9illy. This is pointed out as a
further parallel to the Moyer-Haywood
affair. If the case against Mcnamara
Is a good one, say the labor men, why
such unusual measures?
The Los Angeles Times Office was
blown up early in the morning of
Oct. 1, 1910. More than twenty per-
sons lost their lives. The paper and
General Harrison Gray Otis, its pro-
prietor, Immediately charged that the
crime had been committed by men,
bers of union labor. For years the
Times had been making a fight for
the "open shop and had incurred the
enmity of the trade unions. Immense
rewards were offered for the perpe-
traitors of the deed. Various stories
came out to the effect that the dyna-
mite to blow up the building had been
conveyed in q boat, the name of
which had been changed; that three
men were concerned in the matter,
(which three men we're given different
names in the various accounts. AS
proof of the charge that the explosion
was caused by some Internal machine
"a cd hot hnnlh
found In the vicinity Of General Otis
home and another near the house OF
the secretary Of the Commercial club,
who had been supporting the Times In
it's fight for the "open shop"
Union Labor's Side.
Against these stories ii was urged
that the explosion in the Times office
was probably caused by defective gas
mains and that the bombs found were
planted by the police and enemies Of
labor, who announced in advance that
they expected to find an Internal ma
chine near the home of General Otis;
furthermore, even If labor officials
were so depraved as to do this deed
they would not have been such fools.
since they must have known that the
+. previous fight between themselves and
the Times would subject them to sus-
picion.
Investigations were Immediately set
on foot, and the police and private de
tective agencies began work on the
case. An official finding declared that
the explosion was caused by dynamite
IA tho mama
of Bryce, Schmidt and Kaplan. 1t is
now claimed that Bryce" is an alias
of ]. B. Mcnamara.
One Of the private detectives brought
into the case was William j. Burns
who became famous as member OF
the government secret service and aft
\ erward helped TO cinch the Oregon
land thieves and to expose Schmiti
and Ruef In San Francisco AS Q
sleuth Burns has Sherlock Holmes
looking like cheap Conan Doyle imi
tation. Holmes may come back, bu
Burns never goes away. He Is al
ways on the job.
All the things discovered by Burns
will never be known until the trial Il
pulled off. Enough Is made public
however, to form mighty interesting
tale. The newspapers have been fea
turing 1t as a continued detective
story, and putting it on the front pag
at that. For one thing, Burns locates
enough dynamite to blow Pixies peal
into the state Of Texas. There wa
dynamite in the basement of otfic
buildings. dynamite In old barns an
dynamite I'm suit cases. Why any on
should want to take the stuff aroun
as a travelling companion Is beyon
the power of timid mortals to under
stand. A man stands some sort or
chance In an ordinary railroad wrecl
but not with suit case full of dynf
mate In the other end of his seat. ID
sides, there Is always the chance
40. on IN "A