New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1921-07-07
Solution Near
LIN Black Tom
Mystery Blast
Seizure of Austrian at Prison
Gate in Albany Declared
Start Of Final Act i'm
Huge Wartime Plot
Trail Covers Five Years
Inquiry Pushed by Railroad
in Fight ON $40, 200, 900
Claims for ID I'M ge s

solution OF the Black Tom Island
explosions of July 80, 1915, which
caused the loss of several lives and
millions of dollars of property damage,
is said to have been evolved by detec-
tives of the Lehigh Valley Railroad.
The arrest of Michael Kristoff, an
Austrian, at Albany on Tuesday dis
closed for the first time that the rail
road company, against which claims ag-
gregating $1o,OOO,000 were filed as
result of the disaster, has been quietly
pursuing an Independent investigation
on the theory that the explosions were
the work of German agents.
Kristoff, it is said, is the first of sew
eral suspects whom railroad detectives
expect to snare in the net they have
been weaving for nearly five years.
Not Ready to Talk Yet
Officials of the Lehigh Valley refused
yesterday to shed any light on their
theory or reveal the long trail result
ing in the apprehension of Kristoff.
They maintained that discussion of
the case at this time would interfere
with the climax looked for.
"To talk about our plans would be
like biting the cherry before it is ripe"
said one.
Kristoff, it was learned from other
sources, was one of number of sus-
rects taken few days after the ex-
plosions. Subsequently he was released
because of insufficient evidence, and
gradually the investigation, in which
agencies of the police, the state and
the government participated, faded
away, until the Black Tom disaster be-
came an almost forgotten incident of
war days.
The arrest of KristofY on Tuesday
was made as he was leaving the prison
at Albany, where he had served term
for petty larceny. The technical
charge on which he is held for hear
ing July 27 is for making fraudulent
statement in Connection with his en-
listment in the American army in 1917
He is said to have sworn he was an
American citizen.
Say He Enlisted to Escape
Nash lockwood, an attorney for the
Lehigh Valley Railroad, contended at
Kristoff's hearing Tuesday before
United States Commissioner Lester T.
Hubbard that the man had enlisted to
avoid implication in the Black Tom
explosions. He refused to discuss his
connection with the case yesterday.
While officials of the railroad de.
clined to reveal what the arrest of
solution of the mystery, it was said
that should it be shown the ex-
plosions were the work Of German
agents, the outcome might have an i'm
portant bearing on the civil claims
against the company.
On June the United States Supreme
Court refused to review decisions OF
New York courts, holding the Lehigh
Valley liable for damages resulting ia
freight shipments from the explosions
which bombarded New York and ada
cent communities. The appeal brought
by the railroad was from a decision in
favor Of John Lysaght, Limited, Brit
ish corporation, and was considered, &C
cording to a dispatch from Washing
ton, somewhat in the light Of test
case, although other similar suits have
been variously decided.
The original connection of Kristoff
with the disaster was recalled yester-
day by Thomas J. T'unney, formerly
captain of police in charge Of the bomb
SQUAD, WHO is now uSdO VI q PlAFdtS
bureau of investigation.
Maps Found in His Room
Kristoff, said Tunney, was arrested
in September, 1915, by the Jersey City
police. At that time suspicion was d.
rected toward him because of the dis
covery in his room at Bayonne of maps
of factory buildings and charts of
bridges. Kristoff, according to the
police, then admitted that he had been
carrying suit cases for man he named
as Francis Graenston, and that the
cases contained descriptions of facto-
ries and bridges. He insisted he had
no connection with the Black Tom ex-
blossoms and after several days was
discharged, together with other sus-
poets
Tunney said he believed there was
some merit in the new developments
although he had not worked on the
case since 1918.
The first of the Black Tom explosions
occurred early on the morning of July
30, 1916, when dynamite, cellulose
shrapnei and other munitions of wa,
destined for Allied countries blew VI
on barges and freight cars at the isl.
and terminal. The explosions damaged
buildings in nearby communities anC
rocked Manhattan to its foundations
A ~ T.. of tho Dropartyy damon al