Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1920-09-24
More Than $50 Other Persons
Are Injured by Mysterious
Explosion.
MORGAN FIRM MEMBER HURT
Federal Officers Find Evidence to JUS
tify Conclusion That the Mysteri-
Gus Detonation Was Caused
by Huge Bomb.

New York, Sept 1S-Thirty-six per
sons are known to be dead. five others
are missing and believed to he dead.
and more than 800 persons are knoan
to have been wounded in an explosion
between the United States subtreasury
building and the office of j l.. Nor
gan & Co. at Broad and Wall streets.
The damage TO the great buildings is
estimated at S1OOO,O00.
The Morgan building appeared
shambles and part Of the front of the
subtreasury across the street was torn
away.
After hours of investigation. city
and federal officers and William J
Burns said they had found evidence
to justify the conclusion that the nys-
terious detonation was caused by a
huge bomb loaded with T. ~ I. Strlni-
trotoluoD. titan of explosives. n en-
forced with iron siu-s crudely manu-
factured from old-fashioned tenement
house window weights
The weight of overwhelming EVIL
dence caused the authorities to give
over their earlier theory that tie ex
plosion was caused by an accident 10
Misunderstanding truck. Every
available detective and department OF
Justice agent in the city was set to
the task of ferreting out the band Of
anarchists believed responsible for the
outrage.
Scattered bits of the truck aud the
horribly mangled form Of roam horse
were found in the street after the ex
posion. while rude bomb slngs were
found in Wall street in adjacent thor
oushfares and embetiasd IN the ,ails
of the Morgan and other tditees.
which were pitted as by a shrapne
bombardment
AT the morgue, where there were &c
mutilated bodies, including those of
four women and one boy. Chief Medi-
cal Examiner Charles n. Norris said
I'm several of the bodies we found
parts of iron. such as might have been
made by breaking up s;sh weights.
There is no doubt that bomb was the
cause of the explosion"
Evidence gathered by the depart
ment of justice indicated that the plot
ters, i'm an effort to carry out numpr-
Gus radical threats of forcible dem
onstration against the house of Nor
gan, carefully manufactured hun
dfed-pound bomb. loaded II on trucG
either hired or stolen and drove their
deadly burden into the financial dis
trict
William J. Burns, house detective
for J. r Morgan Co, declared that
he is certain that the explosion was
by design Mr.. Burns said:
"A bomb caused the explosion. There
is not the slightest doubt about this /
might be closer to the truth perhaps
If said a wagonIoad Of bombs.
"F'rom my investigation am cer-
tain that the bomb WAS In tile wagon
which was destroyed. There is no
other reasonable theory.
"rhe pieces Of window weights
picked up IN the nearby Office build
ings, where they had heen hurls by
the explosive. could have no other
connection with the disaster than to
he parts Of the bomb and used a. It's
project.ies by some one who had
schemed 10 do the greatest possible
damage that could he imagined"
The bomb. he believes, was brought
to the corner in a wagon which was
abandoned by the four men who
brought It. II was composed of high
exnlosive and had window weights for
n,issiles-thus it was merely q mobile
high explosive shell Of greater dlmen-
slons probably than any that were ever
thrown in the world war.
one other theory is offered. That
is the explosion was an accident oc-
casioned by the colIiding of wagon
load of explosives with an automobile.
messenger hoy declared that few
minutes before the explosion he saw
the wagon that carried the explosive
abandoned at the curb In front Of Nor
ganfs by four men. These four, he said.
were Joined by two others. This de.
scriptlon. however. il IS pointed on
would ft the theory Of either accidebf
or design
Every reserve Of the New York po
lice force s. in the@area. A battaliaa
Of federal troops from Governor.
island is standing guard with fxed
bayoHets.
One Of the injured was Junlus Sren
Ger Morgan, son Of J. r. Morg
Joyce. clerk IN the Morgan hou-a
vas killed.