The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1921-03-29

OF criminal origin ito the -. I.
precautions may be taken 4 G
vent such explosions" -
event that there is evidence y
i u work the bureau 10 "a rsa...
Us findings to the proper 49, 4
federal authorities.
The problem is complicat.a
the tact that explosives ars ~.
used in industry. Half : s.,,.s
pounds Of high explosives az 49,
10 the United States every va, n.
domestic purposes other than ~
This doubtless includes the ~ ~
ders used in sporting ammunitsss
out all the rest is Industrial s,,,s
sives. This includes dynam,ts -p y.
giant powder used in hls,,,ss
roads, in many kinds Of mimi, y
nearly all quarrying, in deepeni..
channels, and in agriculture IN s
moving stumps, rocks and The lii. |
High explosives are highly copces.
trated energy of the greatest y,ln. |
when rightly used. The prohlem !.
to regulate their manufacture q.
and storage in such a way ~.
their legitimate use will not = +.
terfered with or made exr,.s.
while risk Of accident and n ~
use in crime will be minimi,ed
Careless STORAGE,
1t seems evident that neith., =.
be wholly avoided, but at least ma
Migrant carelessness as existed ~
fore the war can be avoided r..
enforcement agents found 'hirh ~.
plosives stored in all sorts Of shed,
and warehouses. Many maeasi.s.
OF the better class were en-,
enough for criminals to enter. -.
ing locked only with paddock !,
many cases dynamite was not
locked at all. One boy eight ye,,s
old blew himself to pieces win !
piece OF dynamite which he tat
from an unlocked shed in 4 sto..
quarry. Another one put his eyss
out with a detonator which he toot
from a workman's tool box.
We have always supplied our
criminals abundantly with high ex.
piosives, and the damage they have
done with them is enormous. 1or
instance, in certain southern states
recently there was much resent.
ment on the part of a certain ele.
ment Of the population against rex.
ulations made by the department Of
agriculture making it compulsory
to dip cattle in order to rid them Of
ticks. This lawless element be-
gan blowing up the dipping vats.
In A days Y dipping watts vers
destroyed in one state. The honest
farmers had to arm themselves and
take the field. This little wal
which attracted wide attention, was
made possible largely by the fact
that the criminals could easily get
all the dynamite they wanted.
The prevalence Of bomb out.
RACES is well known. But it would
appear that much less damage i
ordinarily done by the cranks who
try to bomb officials and public
buildings than by professional
criminals and by spite workers like
the southern vat blowers. who are
seldom heard of. 1t is striking that
of all the terrific bomb plots which
were rumored or exposed during
the war, having for their purpose
the destruction of high officials, not
one succeeded. The attempt on
Palmer, which resulted in thu
death of the bomber, was the near
est thing to success. When ar
rested, these alleged anarchists an
nearly always found to be feeble
minded or insane persons. But \
is a sufficient commentary on oui
control of explosives that the feeblt
minded and the insane find then
easy to get.
Safe-blowing, which is one OF tht
most remunerative lines of pr0fes
sional crime, is absolutely depend
ent upon a supply Of high explo
sives. The criminal never SEEM
to lack this material. The investi
gators found that convicts work
ing on roads we're allowed to U.s.
dynamite in such a way that the!
could conceal supplies for futur'
use with ease. A tramp reports
that he could learn at any wats
tank where to get a supply Of dy
Mantle. All the gentry Of the un
derworld keep themselves well sup
piled with high explosives.