The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1921-10-20
Frederick Haskin's Letter
The Wall Street Mystery.
SD correspordenee

! go COAA4bdugs Buffalo
New YORK, were picked IN. and
from the size of these pads the N l.
vestigators were able to indpa ~.
exact weight of the horse tn ao
were also able to Judge from ~
size and extent of the disaster -.
it had been caused by approximata
~ zoo pounds of T. n. T. Tho ~
ence of small bits of metal Sc.
tered over a vast area 1.-THE des5I,.
piece OF sash weights. already -
ferred to) convinced the police ~.
they had to deal with a deliberstaI-.
planned crime. This assumotio1
was strengthened by the Statement
of several witnesses who claima3 -
have seen three Italians standin,
near the fateful wagon five pinutos
or so before the explosion. Tbo,
came the seeming confirmation ~
this theory in the news that warn
ings of the impending catastroDbs
had been mailed to various persons
on the day before it occurred.
The last clue was investigates
first. In short time, agents of fba
department of justice had uncoy-
cred the surprising information
that the warnings had been mailed
by Edwin P. Fischer, former tennis
champion of New York City. Keen
out of the financial district on the
afternoon of Sept 16," was the mos
sage he had sent to several friends
as well as to the French high com
mission.
A Psychic Warning.
The solution of the mysterious
explosion seemed to be reduced TO
the mere matter of locating Edwin
P. Fischer. Fischer saved the M.
lice this trouble by appearing in
Hamilton, Ontario, 81 hours after
the disaster, in company with his
brother, who was trying to have
him committed to the care of the
Canadian lunacy commission. In
stead, he was taken into custody by.
the Canadian police, who held him
until United States secret service
men could reach Hamilton. This
they did in a great hurry, bringing
with them a staff of stenographers
for the purpose of recording Fisch-
er's confession-so certain were
they that he was connected with the
explosion.
They were destined to be disap-
however. Fischer turn
ed out to be as unperturbed as he
was cordial. He greeted the gov
eminent agents politely. He ad-
mitted writing the warnings When
accused of having visited q New
Jersey munitions factory two weeks
before the explosion, he also ad-
mitted that. He did not deny that
he had left New York for Canada
a few hours after it had happened
But that he was guilty he would not
admit. His foreknowledge Of the
disaster, he declared. had come to
him by reason of a peculiar phychic
power inherited from his mother A
voice from the spirit world b7d
warned him. And through the hard
lays of grilliDg that followed.
Fischer stubbornly stuck to his
story.
After this great disappointment,
secret service officials were com
PEELED to start searching for d new
criminal. In this search police IN
AL parts of the country joined, in
5pired by the fact that the city Of
New York alone offered a reward Of
80 500 for the capture of the guilty
party or parties, while an addi-
ion1 reward of $4,000 was Offered
oy Wall street business interests.
The Cleveland police were the
1rst to contribute interesting sus-
lects when they arrested a radical
rio, two men and a woman. who
lad professed to know more tAsr
hey should about the explosion,
tut these three were able to estab-
ish perfect alibis Later came the
arrest of Tito Ligi, a Pittsburgh
Italian, known to be a draft de-
'erter and radical, boastful OF his
familiarity with bombs. The chief
evidence against Ligi was the fact
hat pieces of sash weights similar
0 those found in Wall street were
discovered in his home-that, and
he fact that a New York witness
positively identified him as one Of
he three Italians seen near the
'omb cart just before the explosion.
nevertheless, Ligl, also, possessed
n invincible alibi.
Following this failure, an Ital-
an of BayOnne, n. j., was arrested
nd formally charged with the
rime, after several witnesses had
likewise identified him as one Of
he guilty three seen in the vicinity
f the T. n T. wagon. But later
Ehen arraigned by the government
Il the specific charge, the number
f witnesses had somehow dwindIed
o one, whose story was obviously
atched and f1imsy. De FiIipis was
uietly released.
Since then, no new arrests have
cen made and no new evidence has
cen uncovered. The Wall stree.
gplosion remains a mystery but IS
Y no means a forgotten one. The
earch for the master criminal vino
aused it still goes on.