The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-09-21
MAN DECLARESH HE
 SAW DEATH WAGON
 BEFORE EXPLOSION
Another Says He Saw Three Men Running Away From Scene Just Before Blast -
 In Financial District
By Associnted press

by asSoCidtSO AEtSS
 New NorA. e.~4s.,.-..e. -~--Statements by two men, one of whom cia4ms 10 have seeE the death wagon which earted the explosives standing near the assay of- fice at 10:30 a. m. Thursday, one and one-half hours before the explosion oc- cured, ald the other, who claims to have seen three men running away from the scene just before the blast furnished the most important developments today in the several investigations of the dis aste1 now under way.
 Other interesting developments of the day included;
 Announcement by the district attor- neys office that Edwin P. Fischer, law yer and former empioye of the French high commission, who sent postcard warnings of the disaster from Toronto. had virtually eliminated himself from any direct knowledge of complicity in the case after eight hours questioning.
 Receipt of a warning by William H, Edwards, collector of internal revenue, that an attempt would be made 10 de stroy the customs house at D. m. to- morrow. This is regarded by the police as a hoax.
 Identification of the hitherto unidenti- fled body, previously believed as prob- ably that of the driver of the explosive laden wagon. as that of Elmer W. Ee- herer an unemployed chauffeur, ana lack of any evidence connecting him with ihe crime.
 Release of Alexander Brailovsky. Rus sian journalist. who was arrested on a technical charge of being an undesirable alien. after he admitted being seen in the vicinity of Broad and Wall streets
 Search by federal agents of a reported
 Search by federal agents of 9 rnportde cache of explosives on Plumb Beach island, a government reservation off Sheepshead bay, where a quantity of trinitroluol was found in an abandoned
 SAW DEATH WAGON
 Joseph Meade. an agent of the So ciety for the Prevention of Cruelty 10 Animals, is the man who claims 10 have seen the death wagon" in Wall street at 10;30 o'clock Thursday morning. He said he noticed an old red delivery wagon in front of the assay office. The horse appeared broken down he said, and he went over 10 make an examination of it.. firding a bad sore under the collar.
 He looked at his watch and noticed II was 10:30 he told the police, aud waited beside the wagon until II 20 with the ia tention of serving a summons the driver. when he was forced to leave in order to serve a summons in Brooklyn, He did not examine closely the contents of the wagon, but described it as an ordinary, dilapidated express wagon
 Meade also told the police the collar worn by the horse was of the 'g<n tyne and this fs the kind of collar that vas found in the street after the explosion He also noticed that all the ornamental knobs and other markings had been stripped from the harness and in this too his description tallies with that ot the material actually found. He also stated the horse had been recently clipped and that the wagon bore no name but had some numbers on the side
 Police attach considerable importance to Meades statement and are using the material he furnished in their investiga tion into the identity of the wagon and it's driver.
 THREE SEEN RUNNING
 Information that three suspicious look ing men were seen running from the scene was furnished by Samuel B. Wet lngton, president of the West Ind'es Trading Company. He declared he let a lawyers office in Wall street few minutes before noon and he did he heard voices, Hurry beat it. Get out of this.
 He looked across the street and saw two niddle-aged men, who looked to him like East Side peddlsrs" becokonins and calling to a third man, who was on the other side of the street nearer the assay office and across the street from the Morgan block. The third man, believed to be about Go years old, was then peering into the ramshackled wagon at the curb
 In response to the call of the others, the third man, MT. Wellington said, started to run after them toward Will liam street, Het took them for bond thieves. he added. and expected to zee them chased by policeman. When he reached the corner of Nassau street be was knocked unconscious by the eX- ulosion.
 At the conclusion of Fischer's ex- animation tonight he was sent to tho psychopathic ward of the Bellevue los
 tContinued on Poge Thrce)