The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1916-04-30
PRISONERS TRY TO
CREMATE OFFICIAL
Ramdall's Island Engineer
Dying Of Ills Injurics-PlOt
Frustrated by Chance.
SIX CAPTURED on ROOF

SIX husky young men. all serving
terms of fiom seven to eighteen months
IN the House of R,fugc ON Iiandalrs
Island. were locked up by detectives
Lennon. skclly. Murphy. Sommcrs and
McCaTcrty iu the Third branch dctcc-
tive bureau at midnight charged with
fciouipus assault on George Blocser, an
assistant engineer at the House cf
Refuge.
Rio,scr Was attacked by the scNtct
In the engine room. ~ the result az u
carcfhlly laid plo, to kill him. and Is
diving of "a fractured skull in the insti-
tution's hospital. The prisoners had
planned to throw Blue~cr In his FUR
mace, but they took flight TO the roof
before finishing the job, and were
rounded up by twenty guards at the
point Of pistols.
The prisoners. all OF whom, the police
say. have confessed. were Charles Me-
Carthy. Is. | Dufield street. brooklyn
william Ratty, II, 23t West Sixty-sev-
emil, street Albert Smith, Is. 615 East
Eleventh street Charles Barada, 20,
423 East t.iyhty-iirst street Benjamin
Motor. II. jamestown, y. ". and Will
lam Dwycr, IL. SOL East Eighty-second
street.
The prisoners we're all members OF the
coal passing squad. They had :: grudge
against Blucscr. an assistant engineer
and brother of Joseph Blocser. the chief
engineer. because he was "A strict disci-
plinarian and refused to let them have
privileges To- which they thought they
were entitled.
A few days age they formed what they
called u union of coal passers and la
borers. This WAS followed by "a plot. said
70 have been conceived by Barada, the
brains of the gang. to kill Bloeser and
throw him into the furnace. McCar.ay
was selected ~ the leader. II was de-
cided that wash up was to be the sig
raj and the time for the attack was
scheduled for Friday.
The opportunity didn't present itself
for the assault until about 2:a5 yester-
day afternoon. whcn the prisoners found
themselves alone In the engine room
with the unsuspecting assistant engineer.
Then somebody spoke the wash up sig
nal. and all hands started for Bloeser.
Mccarthy, armed with a shovel. reached
him first. and felled him with "A blow
that cracked his skull. Then they tied
his feet aud wound a rope around his
knees.
At this moment a coal passer happened
90 drop in and saw what was going on.
He noticed Bloeser's legs twitch and
heard him groLn.
" ~ sV' N'''o w. 80
asked.
Throw him in the furnace was the
reply.
The seventh man protested against the
action and after some parleying the six
youths left the engine ROOM. locked the
doc and climbed TO the roof. intending
e. jump to the ground. mingle with
other prisoners IN the ground and thus
prevent their identities from being
known.
The coal passer who protested against
trowing a live man into the furnace
save the alarm and the guards caught
the men before they had "A chance to get
tc the ground.
Blocser was hurried to the hospital,
where the doctors said that he could not
live many hours.
The detectives after questioning the
young thugs said they all made state
ments discriminating one another. The
police say the youths had planned after
crematlnS Bloeser in his furnace to at
tempt a wholesale delivery of their
friends in the House of Refuge.