Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-07-03
ROOM IN U. s. CAPITOL
WRECKED BY A BOMB
"AS PLEA FOR PEACE
Letter Mailed Before Mid
night Explosion Ruins
Reception Chamber, Calls
1t Exclamation Point"
in Stern Demand.
WASHINGTON. July 8.

/ w AoANb SeAJ -
The explosion of bomb which wrecked
| the reception room in the Senate wing OF
the national Capitol shortly before mid
night was intended to be an "exclama-
tion point" in O plea for peace, formu-
lated In a well-phrased letter mailed TO
the Washington Times an hour and
| half before the explosion, announcing the
explosion would occur The writer signed
himself, with a typewriter, as "R.
Pearce an old-fashioned American with
conscience"
The letter, which confessed responsi-
bility for the act, was waited June /. but
was not mailed until last night, the date
and hour being shown plainly by the
postmark. From the construction OF the
letter II appeared the writer had been in
Washington for several days looking
over the public buildings, and that It was
written before the Senate was chosen as
the place to set the explosive. The
letter itself was typewritten. while the
word Senate" was inserted in pencil in
a blank space left for the word.
Secret service men are making a rigid
search for the writer of the letter who
set the timed bomb.
The explosion shook the Capitol build
ing as though II had been an earth
quake. Everything in the Senate re-
ception room was smashed, windows
were blown out and three telephone
booths In the corner of the room were
demolished. Fortunately however, the
explosive. whatever 1t was was not
powerful enough to cause any structural
damage.
Superintendent Woods said he thought
some one had placed bomb In one of the
west windows near a telephone booth.
but he insisted that he did not know how
a stranger could have entered the room.
as the Capitol had been closed for sew
eral hours before the explosion.
The room, which was wrecked Is to the
rear of the main entrance from the west
to the United States Senate wing. II is
25 feet wide by T5 feet long. It is hand
somely furnished and richly decorated.
Two massive chandeliers hang from the
ceiling and by some strange freak neither
OF them was badly damaged
Immediately after the explosion every
door of the building was closed and the
structure searched, but no stranger was
found. The policemen who were first to
enter the reception room stated that II
was filled with black, binding smoke.
The letter received by the Times fol-
lows;
Unusual times and circumstances call
for unusual means.
'In connection with the Senate affair,
would II not be we'll to stop and consider
what we are doing2
1--WE stand for peace and good will TO
all men, and yet while our European
brethren are madly setting out to Kill
one another we edge them on and furnish
them more effective means Of murder. Is
II right?
1--WE get rich by expectation OF ex-
plosives. but ought We TO enrich our
selves when 1t means the untold suffering
and death of millions OF our brethren and
their widows and orphans2
by the way. don't put this on the
Germans or on Bryan. ! am an old
fashioned American with a conscience, II
II Is not a sin TO have a conscience
we are within the international law
when we make this blood-money, but are
we also within the moral law, the law OF
peace or OF love, or OF Christ, or what
ever else a Christian nation may call II?
Are we within reason7 Our children
have 10 live after us. Europe helped and
encouraged the Balkans In their bestial
war and she reaped the Whirlwind. Can't
we learn wisdom2
rs Il right 10 supply our insane ssy-
lums with explosives or give them 10 chill
dren& We even prevent our own child
dren TO killing and manning themselves at
the rate OF 800 dead and 5000 MANNED on
the glorious Fourth"