New-York tribune., 1919-05-01
Bombs yostled BY
Clerks y Hours
Deadly Missiles Rested on
a Table at Post Office,
A,voiting More Postage

ne packages containing the internal
machines rested with large quantities
Of other delayed mail matter in a cor
ner of the Short Payment Section, on
the main floor of the Postoffice Build
ing, from late last Saturday night un-
til early yesterday morning.
For more than seventy-two hours
clerks, attending to the usual routine
of their jobs, jostled about the inof-
fensive looking packages, which might
have contained pencils or bonbons,
but which really we're loaded with
enough high explosive to wreck the,
The packages, Chief Inspector Coch-
ran announced yesterday, were brought
into the postoffice at 8 o'clock Satur-
day night. They were collected from
one of the parcel post boxes in the
district which the Offices covers, ex-
tending from Twentieth Street to
Thirty-sixth Street and from Sixth
Avenue to the North River.
They were probably posted about 6
o'clock, postal officials said. Tons of
this district, it was said, and officials
entertained little hope that they could
ascertain the name Of the postal en-
ploye who collected the boxes.
Are Dumped in Basement
On arriving at the postoffice the
packages were dumped in the parcel
post section. in the basement of the
building, together with thousands of
other parcels.
Only the fact that they contained in
sufficient postage prevented them from
starting promptly on their mission Of
destruction: Clerks noticed, however,
that the boxes, which weighed six
ounces, contained only from five to
eight cents on postage each.
They were sealed with tiny red seal
lop seals, about one-half inch in diam
eter. This automatically threw them
into the first class mail matter division,
and to have gonc forward they should
have contained 18 cents in postage each.
So late Saturday night they were sent
to the short-payment section on the
main floor.
There they rested with their deadly
contents until yesterday morning. On
Monday, in accordance with the usual
postal routine, Gimbel Brothers were
notified that sixteen parcel post pack
ages having their return labels were
held up for lack Of postage.
On Tuesday another similar notice
was sent. Still the internal machines
rested in their corner, while thousands
Office building, unmindful Of the men
ace.
Early yesterday morning. Charles
Kaplan. who works in the parcel post
division. finished work and started for
his home at 765 East 1S3d Street. He
rode in the subway. AS the train
neared Ninety-sixth Street, Kaplan,
who was reading the midnight edition
2f The Tribune, scanned the dispatch
explosion in the homo Of Senator Har-
wick there.
~, AS; the train crashed to a stop at
Ninety-s!xth Street, Kaplan rushed
from the car, dashed up into tho street
and telephoned Night Superintendent
Meier at the Postofiice Building.
we have sixteen packages that bear
every resemblance TO the one that blew
up down IN Georgia ~yesterday.r he
bear the Gimbel wrapper mark. The
one that blAw up in Atlanta was
marked that same way. I'm coming
back to the shop"
Decide They Are Bombs
Kaplan slammed down the telephone
receiver and dashed back to. cha post
once. There he had haaty confer
ence with Superintendent Meier, and
together they gingerly fingered the 1T
tle yellow packages. They were GER
tain that here beneath their noses were
slxteen Internal machines, similar to
that which had blown up in tho Hard
wick home.
At 3 O'clock yesterday morning tho
telephone bell fn tho home oS Inspec-
tor William X. Cochran, chief in charge
Of postal inspectors in this district.
tangled Inspector Cochran listened to
the story that came over the wire in
exciWd little t.asps.
Have one Of the packages in nv
office at 0 o'clock this morning.w he
ordered. Guard the rest OF them
carefully"
When Inspector Cochran came in at
that hour, resting on his desk. with
tho morning mall, was little yellow
box. lie summoned Inspector Owen
Egan, attached TO the Bureau Of Com
bustibles, Of this Fire Department, an
expert on explosives, who has taken
apart many bomb.
Egan and Inspector COCHRAN tore
OH the outer paper wrapper and
opened the grocn box beneath It. In
side. they saw = menacing-looking
a 1sw minutes later rnspsct1r Egan
was carrying the cylinder TO the FIRE
housD at Thirty-third Street and Sixth
Avenue, where no sont for Chief In
spector Dixon. Of the Bureau of Com
bustibias.
Together they worked oyer tho tiny
uaachtng until 5 o'clock In the after
nooD> ~ that tine they had dissected
fhs ey9ander and discovered ths black