June 7, 1919
Dead Bomber Identified as Italian Red
Important Arrests Are Imminent on Evidence Found Here Following Clew From Washington
Two Russians Held in Detroit
Suspects Are Arrested Upon the Request of the Cleveland Police
The anarchist who planted the bomb in front of the Washington residence of Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer on Monday night, and was blown to pieces by the explosion, has been identified by the authorities. He was an Italian and was associated with the leaders of one of the most dangerous Italian radical groups in the country.This information was given to a Tribune reporter last night by an official who has been working on the case. How the identification was made could not be ascertained, but it was intimated that enough pieces of the man's face and head were recovered to make the identification positive. All the parts of the head and face picked up in the vicinity of the wrecked Palmer home were turned over to an anatomist, who pieced them together.
The bomber, whose name is known but withheld, has long been associated with Spanish and Italian anarchists who have made their headquarters in the East. The authorities are now working on the theory that the leaders of this band planned and put into execution the outrages of Monday night.
Arrests Are Expected
???????? no arrests were reported in New ??????? up to an early hour this morning, it is known that the government operatives and police are working along lines that will lead to the arrest of those responsible for the planting of the bombs. The authorities have not revealed where this suspected band made its headquarters, nor were they willing to discuss the identification of the Washington bomber.
It was learned last night the New York police are searching for a member of the I. W. W., who came here from the West some time ago. This man is known to the police of the country as a dangerous dynamiter who was a trusted lieutenant of "Big Bill" Haywood, the leader of the I. W. W., who is now serving a term in Leavenworth prison. He came to New York about two weeks ago, according to the information of the police, but they have been unable to check up his movements after he arrived here.
Hunt Centres in Philadelphia
The hunt for the perpetrators of the outrages will be centred in Philadelphia. This information was made public by the police here in connection with the arrival in New York yesterday of William J. Flynn, head of the new bureau of the Department of Justice which is about to inaugurate a Campaign of unprecedented scope against all direct-action radicals.
Mr. Flynn, it was stated, will make his headquarters in the Philadelphia Federal Building. He will travel much of the time, keeping in touch, however, with the cities in which explosions occurred.
Word was received here last night of the arrest in Detroit of two men who are suspected of placing the bomb under the home of Mayor Davis of Cleveland. They are said to have had plans of Mayor Davis's house in their possession, and a letter to one of them is reported to have congratulated him
on his "good work of June 2," the date of the bomb explosions.
Particular efforts are being made to learn the whereabouts of a woman known as "Dynamite Louise" Berger. The fact that two women were seen on the stoop of Judge Nott's home on Sixty-first Street up to within a few minutes of the explosion has led the police to believe that this particular woman, mixed up in other dynamiting, could throw some light on the affair.
Under orders from the Department of Justice, all outgoing steamers are being closely scrutinized and the police of every city in the East have been asked to look out for her.
Louise Berger, according to the police records, is the half-sister of Carl Hansen, who, with Arthur Carron and Charles Berg anarchists, was killed in a mysterious explosion in a Harlem apartment in July, 1914. Evidence at the time indicated that they were preparing an infernal machine. They were members of the Brescia circle of anarchists, with which Emma Goldman and Alexander Berkman are associated.
"Dynamite Louise" is known to have left for Russia in 1917 with Trotzky. Investigation in connection with the present bomb plots developed the fact that she had returned to the United States.
A number of detectives from other cities arrived here yesterday, and were made acquainted with the headquarters, haunts and/ meeting places of dangerous radical groups. The large force of sleuths already working on the case was further augmented by additions from the homicide and narcotic squads. The practice of "mugging" and "fingerprinting" also has been resumed, as a more effective way of dealing with all radicals arrested.
Dynamite, Not TNT
Representatives from the Federal Bureau of Mines also came to New York to assist in examining materials found in connection with the explosions. One of these men yesterday upheld the contention of Inspector Eagan that the explosion here was caused by sticks of dynamite and not TNT. Pieces of cloth and felt found near the scene of the attack on the Washington home of Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer also were brought to the city for analysis.
The attempt to trace the laundry patronized by the anarchist who was killed in blowing up the Palmer home continued yesterday under the direction of Inspector Joseph A. Faurot, with the assistance of photographs of a collar found near the spot bearing the laundry mark, "K. B."' Efforts also are being made to establish the name of the buyer of a felt hat, found in the vicinity, bearing the imprint of "Lamsou & Hubbard, New York."
Further aid in the search for the bombers is expected to result from a conference today between Governor Smith and Attorney General Newton. Governor Smith announced that he would be in New York today to confer with the Attorney General on the state's participation in the campaign against the plotters.
Bomb in Tenement House
Residents in the neighborhood of Seventy-second Street and First Avenue were considerably wrought up yesterday morning by the finding of what is said by Inspector Owen Eagan to be a clock bomb in the hallway of an apartment house at 1351 First Avenue. The contrivance was found by Mrs. H. Brown, the janitress, and was given to Policeman Joseph Geharran.
The missile consisted of a clock with two short wires attached connecting with two dry batteries. Also attached was a large incandescent globe, the base of which had been broken away and wrapped about with heavy tube tape. The globe was also covered with several coats of a black substance, calculated to increase its resistance. No explosives, however, were found in it. Inspector Eagan didn't believe it had any bearing on the recent outrages.
