The Washington times., 1915-07-03
HURLED FROM C HAIR, STUNNED.

IlA1N, SlONINID.
found the investigators do not. be-
lieve it impossible that It may have
been blown through one of the
blast. Upon the superstition that. the
cell might have been one used in
connection with the ordinary mech
| anism of the telephone booths in
together with small switchboard,
| the telephone company was COM
municated with. From them the in
formation was o obtained that no bat
terry cells were in use in the recep-
tion room telephone equipment.
Mr.. Woods Ia not prone 10 atta..h
a great deal of Importance to the
finding of the cell He does believe:
| terrific force. although the break
Explosion Not Confined.
"1he light damage NAV be explain
T." the room were open, connecting 1t
with the corridor. so that the eN-
plosiL:' was not as closely confined
as it might have been, permitting permit, Its its
a great deal of HARM" said Suoerin-
"Do you suppose that 1t could have
| possibly been due to an accumulation
| Of gas?' he was asked
| II do not think SO. Immediately
after arriving at the building I made
| a personal tour of the corridors, both
above ground and in the basement, ana
=. ] found no evidence of any kind that
would help me in fixing the cause of t'e
| explosion
Superintendent Woods was asked con-
csrnins the slater statement ... accredited edit to
on duty at the time that they smelleu
traces Of detonated powder. He re-
piled:
II heard the statement. do not
! Nf hat
traces were present. The slight odor
which was apparent Immediately after
the explosion may have originated from
a pile Of rubbish which was beginning
No Negligence.
Chief OF Capitol Police Louthan, fol-
lowing an additional investigation as
to the NOV ements of his men last night,
declared himself satisfied that the force
that every precaution which the police
have established to keep cranks out
Of the building after hours was faith
fully regarded.
as the nature Of the explosion is con-
cerned. before he began his investiSa-
ton, Prof. Munroe admitted that if tho
explosion were caused by a bomb. and
variety.it would be possible for the
explosive to annihilate all visible
traces of its presence.
The only fact established by the
investigation thus far is that last
explosion hot caused by
inv estiRators cleared the debris 'in
the telephone booth and discovred
that there was nothing which could
have caused an explosion.
Telephones ont Blamed.
D. S. Porter, division manager of the
Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone
Company, said after today's investiga-
ton that he was unable to account for
the explosion, but that it was definitely
determined the telephone system could
not be blamed
The wrecked telephone exchange in
the corner of the room was a private
system. separate from the main Capitol
exchange which supplies the Capitol
and Senate and House Otfice buildings.
|, The main system was not damaged by
the explosion. and not a telephone was
placed out OF commission except those
, whose wires were torn from the re-
ceivers by the force Of the explosion.
1t is we'll known. telephone company
officials said, that wires carrying cleo
tricity do not explode. Cross wires
may cause fire. which. coming into con-
tact with gas. might cause an explosion.
So far as the telephone company in
, vestigators were able to learn there
We're no cross wires that could even
= nave chuseu spark III tue Sapltol re-
ception room.
. superintendent Woods also shattered
, the va stheory when he said that there
, haa been no gas piped into the Capitol
since November &c, 1898 after the gas
explosion in the Supreme Court room
The Capitol has been lighted exclusive.
5 ly by electricity since then. he said.
Gas Theory Shattered.
| Superintendent Woods moved to his
| office today an ornamental French
clock which rested on a mantle In the
= Senate reception room and the hands OF
= which had stopped ct :37 last night
curate. however, and 11:4O is still ac
4 ceptGd as the officta! hour OF the eX
: plosion.
4: The heavy glass OYER the face Of tht
clock was shattered, and there was q
= deep abrasion OH the faco of the clock
, indicating that It had been struck a ter.
- rife blow by flying debris
Alarmed by the explosion, Capitol
officials today gave orders to guides
and watchmen to enforce more rig
% orously the regulations prohibiting
Il Capitol visitors from carrying pack.
a ages into the building. This reguia
A tion has been operative for years
but 1t has not been generally en-
forced.
Y Today all visitors were stopped al
the door and were compelled to CHECK
packages OF all descriptions before
Ientering.
Superintendent Woods continued the
Investigation at the Capitol until nearly
!. daylight before going home for 6riei