New-York tribune., 1919-07-12
The Bomb Squad
Story of Its War Work
Makes Exciting Reading

THRoTrLED. The Detection of the. Ger
United states BY Thomas j. Tunney
as told to Paul MerAclz Hollister. Pub,
lished by Small, Maynard & Co.
Inspector Tunney, whose bomb squad
was formed IN 1914 to specialize in
tracking down the perpetrators of or
ganlzed crimes of violence, has told a
straightforward story with no attempt
to render it sensational However, the
very nature of the work itself, the un-
usual and alert intelligence necessary
for successful accomplishment, shape
his account into chapters of rather
breathless reading.
Who comprised the squad, with what
other secret service departments ut CO.
operated, and the debt it owed the
help rendered by similar departments
of other nations-particular that of
the French government-wh were eter-
nally helping out, according to In
spector Tunney, with traditional
courtesy" occupies the introdu .tory
chapter of the story. From there the
inspector pfunges headlong into the
why and how and through what diff
culties the squad tracked down the
German agents of Boy-Ed, Won Papen
and Won Bernstorf. A chapter headed
Along the Waterfront" is particularly
interesting in that it describes the
method of making bombs, the prevail
ing sort used by the enemy here, and
the means by which they planted them
in foreign bound vessels which later
burned mysteriously at sea. THE rud-
der bomb,' Tunney writes, "a particu-
larly ingenious device employed in the
destruction of a ship, was so con-
structed that it might be attached un-
der water to the rudder post of yes
sci as she lay at her pier. Inside
the bomb case was a cIockwork so
poised as to fire two rife cartridges
into a chamber of ninety pounds of
INT. Lieutenant Robert S. Glasburn,
of Fort Wadsworth, is my authority
for the statement that the government
ploded at depth of fifteen feet under
water, to destroy a dreadnought. This
ninety pounds would have torn the
rudder out like toothpick and ripped
away the entire after part of the YES
sci. The helmsman of the vessel him
self was unconsciously to have set the
bomb off, for the clockwork was geared
to a wire attached to the rudder itself
in such way that each normal swing
of the rudder would wind up the
mechanism until it fired the cartridge"
The Ingenuity required in tracing
from some small clew the tangled chain
of evidence which led TO the makers
and placers of these bombs is incon-
ceivable. In "Throttled" Inspector
Tunney opens to our incredulous eyes
the labyrlnthian course pursued during
the war by a group of tenacious men
to whose perseverance and daring We
owe no small part of our personal
safety in this country as we'll as that
of those who fought abroad.
That there is work still ahead Of the
squad in rounding up dangerous anar-
chists is evident from the chapter on
"Playing with Fire" In his introduce
tion to the book Colonel Arthur Woods,
formerly Police Commissioner of New
York City, makes the following signi-
cant statement:
II hope this book will help to teach
the need in our police forces Of
brains and high morale; the need of
cultivating a professional spirit in
them that shall dignity the work, shall
Danish political influence and all other
influences which go to break the heart
of the policeman who tries to do his
plain duty; the need of having the public
take an intelligent interest in police
methods and results, doing away with
the smoke screens Of mystery and con-
cealment which are traditionally en-
ployed to cover dishonesty or incom-
potency" N. M.