Pueblo chieftain., 1921-10-19

the size and extent of the disaster
that It had been caused by approx
mately 200 pounds of T. n. 7. The
presence OF small bits Of metal scat
tered over vast area tthe deadly
pieces of sash weights. already re-
ferred to) convinced the poIics that
they had a deal with a deliberately
planned crime. This assumption was
strengthened by the statements OF
several witnesses who claimed to have
seen three Italians standing near the
fateful wagon fve minutes or SO be-
fore the explosion. Then came the
seeming confirmation OF this theory
In the news that warning OF the i'm
pending catastrophe had been mailed
to various persons on the day before
II occurred.
The last clue was investigated hrst.
In . short time. agents Of the Depart
ment Of Justice had uncovered the
surprising Information that the warn
ing had been mailed by Edwin p.
Fischer. former tennis champion Of
New York City. Keep out OF the A.
nancihl district on the afternoon of
September Is" was tho message he had
sent to several friends as well as to
the French high commission.
A PSYCHIC WARNING
Tho solution OF the mysterious OK
pIosion seemed to be reduced to the
mere matter of locating Edwin p.
Fischer. Fischer savcd the police this
trouble by appearing In Hamilton. On
tario. s. hours after the disaster. in
company with his brother. who was
trying to have him committed to the
care of the Canadian Iunacy commits
sion. Instead. he Was taken into GUS
tody 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 stcnographers for the
purpose of recording Fischcrs con-
fcssion-so certain wcrc they that he
was connected with the explosion.
They were destined TO be disappoint-
cd. however. Fischer turned out to be
as unpcrturbcd as ne was cordial He
greeted the government agents go
litely. He admitted writing the warn
ings. When accused of having visited
New Jersey munitions factory two
weeks before the explosion. he also
admitted that. He did not deny that he
had left New York for Canada a few
he was guilty he would not admit
His foreknowledEe OF the disaster. no
declared. had come to him by reason
of peculiar psychic power inherited
from his mother. A voice from the
spirit world had warned him. And thru
the hard days Of grilling that followed,
Fischer stubbornly stuck to his story.
After this great disappointment. Sec
ret service officials were compelled to
start searching for a new criminal In
this search police In all parts of the
country Joined. inspired by the fact
fered n reward. of 10000 for the cap
ture of the guilty party of parties
while an additional reward OF $4,000
was offered by Wall street business
interests.
The Cleveland police were the f,rst
to contribute interesting suspects when
they arrested a radical trio. two men
and a woman, who had profcSsed to
know more than they should about the
explosion. but these three were able
the arrest of Tito Ligi. Pfttsburg
italian. known to he n draft dcscrter
and radical, boastful of his familiar
ity with bombs. The chief evidence
against Ligi was tho fact that pieces
Of sash weights similar to those found
home-that. and the fact that a New
York witness positively identified him
as one of the three Italians seen near
the bomb cart Just before tho explos-
ion. Nevertheless. Llei. also, possessed
an invincible alibi,
Bayonne, n. j.. was Arrested and
formally charged with the crime. after
several witnesses had likewise identi-
ned him as one OF the guilty three men
In the vicinity of the T. N. T. wagon
But later when arraigned by the gov
ernment on the specific charge, the
number OF witnesses had somehow
dwindled to one. whose story was
obviously patched and nimsy. De
Filipis was quietly released.
Since then, no now arrests have been
made and no new evidence has been
uncovered The Wall street explosion
remains a mystery. but is by no means
forgotten one. Tho search for the
master criminal who caused II stiil
goes on.