The Washington times., 1927-05-19


the connections being soldered. It
would have taken all of one night.
That he was not in the building
Tuesday night is considered Ger.
tain. There was q parent-teachers
association meeting then, and it
a. thought that he would have been
observed had he been in the build.
ing.
Phone Call by Teacher
BY yesterday morning ali his plans
were carried out. His farm buildings
were covered with hundreds OF feet
of wires leading to spark plugs that
had been inserted at the top Of cans
nearly filled with gasoline.
The school was wired and the time
clock set. Even his automobile is
Thought to have been wired
Bernice Sterling, kindergarten
teacher, called Kehoe carly yester-
day.
Gould the smaiI children, the
teacher asked, use his woods for q
picnic Thursday.
rf you are going to have & picine,
you would best have II right away"
Kehoe replied.
the explosions started.
Practically every home IN the 50
square miles Of Bath township is
mourning for child or grandchiId
listed among the 4s victims.
Graduation exercises that were TO
have been held in the town hall to-
night have been called off. Instead,
the hall will witness an inquest into
the disaster get for today, but post
poned until Monday.
The school picnic that was to have
been held and the food that mothers
is being eaten by the watchers Of the
dead.
Planned 3 KIN An
The story Of the disaster piAced to.
gether by State police and Clinton
county officers il practically COM
plete It's most starting feature Is
proof that Eel1oe had intended to
take the life Of every child of school
age in Bath township.
Only an accident, . flaw In the
expert Workmanship OF Kehoe's wir.
ing. prevented the explosion Of an
additional 800 pounds Of dynamite
and $50 pounds Of gun powder
he had planted under the south and
east wings Of the building.
Bomb experts Of the State police
declare that If all the explosives
had ignited when Kehoe's ninety
eight cent alarm clock made the
electric contact that blew up the
north wing every. child in the
building and any one within several
hundred feet would have been killed
Instantly.
Killed in His Automobile
Kehoe was killed as was Superin-
tendent e. e. Huyck when dynamite
exploded under Huyck's car. The
superintendent had Just climbed
In and Kehoe had run from the
school house ruins to catch up
with the man whom he blamed for
his dilefnA.
Why the disaster Kehce planned
was not complete may never be
known. The State police and Gin
ton county authorities believe there
was a short circuit in the wires
1eAdinR from the time clock to the
bags and boxes Of gun powder and
dynamite.
Deaths and fatal injuries result
ing from the school blast were lin
tied TO pupils Of the third, fourth,
fifth and sixth grades, which were
IN the northwest demolished wing.
Had explosives under the south
wing ignited, the children In the
kindergarten and first and second
grades would have been the princi4
pal victims.
Required Weeks Of Work
The amount of work and plan.
ming involved in the series of ex-
plosions at the Kehoe farm and the
school indicates design that re-
quired weeks IL not months in prep
Aration. Mr.. and Mrs. Harte. who
live across the road from the kehoe
farm believe the plot had been
Afoot for months. and that 1t ex.
plains the fact that Kehoe had done
no work on his farm this spring.
No motive except snnouldering
spite against the school has been
found for Kehoe's act. The theory
that there was a shortage in his
accounts as school treasurer Is dig
proved, according to other mem.
bers Of the board, by an audit made
last week.
In the consolidated school, Kehoe
saw a cause for the. poverty that
prevented him from paying off a
mortgage on his farm, mortgage
that was being foreclosed. He
claimed the high school taxes took
all his funds 50 that he could not
pay interest on the mortgage.
Where Kehoe got the dynamite
that blasted the school. hts farm and
Huyck's automobile has not been
determined.
One theory IL that he stole It
from road construction camps nearby.
Farm Bureau Hintea
Another report was that it had
been sold to him by the State
Farm Bureau.
Six hundred pounds of dynamite
and ESQ pounds of gun powder was
found in the school after the exs
ploeion. -It had failed to 90 off.
IL It had, ali Of the 325 children
In the school would have been killed.
state police say,
The fact that the school term
closed today is believed to have cut
down the toll. Higher classes were
holding examinations and many of
I the students had escaped the tests
through high grades Graduation
exercises were to have been held to.
night.
Early plans for single public
funeral for the blast victims have
been given up and parents are going
ahead arranging for separate and
sometimes double funerals fol-
children.
1t is estimated that upward oil
81, 900 persons viewed the ruin OF the
disaster after reports had swept tns
countryside. From noon until late
at night steady stream Of ma