The Caldwell tribune. [volume], December 12, 1891, Image 6

About The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928

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A MODEST DEMAND.
A Crank Demands. $1,250,000 of Rus
sell Sage.
TRIED TO BLOW HIM UP
With a Dynamite Boom. Two Persons
Klllcö, but Niitfc Escapes. Horrible
Scenes.
New Yokk , Dec. 4. —Russell
Sage, the millionaire broker, escaped
death by a miracle to-day. His
office and the entire Empire build
ing, in which it was, being «haken
to its very foundation by the explo
sion of a dynamite bomb, hurled
by a crank who made a demand
upon Sage for the immediate pay
ment of $1,250,OOO, the ultimatum
being, in case of refusal, the death
of the millionaire, the crank him
self and those employed in the
office. Never in the history
of the metropolis in it proba
ble that an event has occurred that
for the time lins caused more
cxcitement in Wall street and lower
Broadway. Fully 50,000 people
were drawn to the scene of the
explosion.
It was just twenty minutes past
two when the explosion came with
force that was absolutely startling,
completely wrecking the second
floor of the building, throwing the
pedestrians in the street to the
ground, and startling the people for
blocks around. Those close around
saw aman blown through one of the
windows of Sage's office into Rector
street. A few minutes later Sage
himself, with blood streaming from
his face and hands, was helped out
into the street and taken to Con
nell's drug store, just below Wall
street on Broadway. There also
was carried the man blown from
the window.
Sage, though suffering from the
ßhock,
made the following statement
while his wounds were being
dressed: "A man who gave the
name of II. D. Wilson came into
my office just now. I had never
seen him before. He had a carpet
bag in his hand and said. 'If you
will not give me $1,250,000 I wili
blow you to pieces.' I know noth
ing further except hearing a great
explosion, falling on the floor and
regained consciousness hero. The
man lying on the floor of the drug
store I believe is the same man
who asked me for the money."
Just inside of the door of the
general office was found the trunk
of a man in a state that rendered
recognition nearly impossible, the
head having been severed from the
body. A pointed reddish beard
gave it the appearance of that of
an educated man, which was en
hanced by brown curls of hair and
a heavy moustache that adorned
the upper lip. When the body was
taken up it was found to have
been torn into shreds by the explo
sion.
The inte-ior of the offices plainly
showed that the forco of the explo
sion was something terriflic. All
the partition walls were blown
down and the sashes and window
frames forced outward. The ceil
ing had been blown down and the
floor forced downward, rendering it
unsafe to walk upon. Desks and
chairs were overturned and hurled
into an indescribable mas* and
every piece of glass in the big air
shaft that runs to the roof was
shivered.
A search quickiy showed that the
body of the man with the pointed
beard was the only one among the
debris.
But one person had been killed
outright, the man with the pointed .
beard. He is supposed to be H. D.
Wilson, the man who made the
demand for the money from Sage
and threw the bomb. Benjamin F.
Morton, who was thrown through
the window, a clerk in the office,
was removed to the Chambers
street hospital, where he died at
1:30. The following injured were
taken to the hospital : Frank Rob
ertson, 20 years old, a clerk for
Imbre & Co., brokers. He was in
Sage's office at the time of the ex
plosion; his skull is fractured and
he will probably die. Chas. W.
Osborne, Russell Sage's cashier,
fractured skull, will probably die;
Samuel Calhoun, who was in the
building at the time, received frac
tured leg; Col. J. J. Slocum, broth
in-law of Sage and his chief clerk,
was badly cut about the head and
face, and, when his wounds were
dressed, turned to the scene declar
ing that ht< had left the door of the
safe open and was fearful that the j
securities in it had been blown out |
and lost. Quickly gathering to-1
gether what he found he placed j
them in a small safe and had it |
removed to the office of the Man
hattan Railway Company in the
same building.
In the afternoon a fireman found
among the debris
a human leo,
thought to be that of a woman,
Whether it is or not has not been
discovered. Sage never employed j
a woman typewriter and if this
fact is well established, the suppo
sition iB if the leg is that of a
woman it is all that is left of one
of his "put and call" customers,
who was in the office at the time.
Charles James, a railroad man
and a resident of Chattanooga,
Tenn., had an appointment with
Sage at 12 o'clock and had an ex
perience he will never forget. He
says: "I called at Sage's office at
12 o'clock and found him out.
seat was offered me in the main
^
office near the desk. I took it and
awaited Sage's return. Sitting on
a bench near the wall I noticed a |
man, perhaps five feet eight inches j
in height. He wore a plug hat, I
had a pointed beard and a heavy 1
brown moustache. At about 12:15
Sage came in and after greeting
me asked me in his p-ivate office.
Sage had just removed his hat and !
asked me to be seated when his |
clerk entered and said something
to him I did not hear. Turning to
me he said: 'Excuse me a mo
ment,' and passsed through the,
door
into the main office.
"The door closed behind him and
I pushed my chair over to the wall,
facing the door through which Sage
had gone. It might have been two
or three minutes when the explo
sion came. I was blown'nearly to
the ceiling and the chair on which
I sat was smashed to pieces. Dust
and small particles of plaster and I
smoke filled the room. I was com-,
pletely dazed and did not know ,
what to do. I remember making .
my way through the passage from
which the explosion had blown the
door into the main office. There I
met Sage, blood dripping down his
hands and hands, his clothes torn
and rent and covered with dirt and
dust. When he 6aw me he said:
'How shall we get out?' 'Wait,' I
replied, 'until this dust settles and
I think we will be all right, as the
worst must be over.' Then I recov
ered my senses and taking him by
by the arm and led him down the
stairway into the street."
Among the debris in the wrecked
office was found the remains of a
silk hat evidently worn by the
i c nr.. I
man who gave the name of Wilson, 1
and in one corner of Sage's private j
office whore James was sitting alone j
at the time of the explosion oc- i
curred, a
man' s hand was found j
The coroner made an examina- ;
tion of the mangled remains of the
man found in Sage's office and
from the mangled mass of flesh
and c'othing took a seven-chamber
bull-dog revolver. This was all
that could be found by which iden
tification could be made. What
was left of the body was laid out in
the undertaker's office in Green
wich street. It was not much.
The head was there, blackened,
but neither cut nor disfigured in
any way. It was cut off at the top
of the neck and looked for the
world like the mask of a man 35 or
40 years old, with a full beard
that might have been long but was
now burned close to the chin and
cheek. Then there was a leg, the
right one, the left toot, one hand
and that was all. The body proper
was gone; of neither the chest nor
the abdomen was a trace found.
Shreds of clothing were found,
showing that the man had worn
j trousers of a blue-black plaid, a
| black overcoat and long black
stockings. That might have
j started the story of a woman's leg
| being found. He had been careful
to Rector Byrnes this evening:
j [ came ° ut , of ^ havin &
to rid himself of everything that
might disclose his identity. His
name had been written in his hat,
but he had cut it out with a knife.
russell sage's statement.
Russell Sage made a statement
been sent for, and found a man
with a satchel. He handed me a
card bearing H. D. Wilson. He
said he came from J. D. Rockefel
ler and handed me a sealed envel
ope. It was addressed to me. I
found it was a demand upon me
for a million and a quarter dollars.
The letter stated that if the money
was not given up at once to the
presenter of the letter, he would
blow me, himself and the entire
office up with dynamite. I read
the letter and, placing it in the
® nve l°P e > handed it back to him.
and turned to 8° into «»y private
°® ce ' when the explosion oc
curr# d*"
I Coroner Messemer went to the
Chambers street hospital and took
ante-mortem statement of
Robertson, an employee of
Imbre & Co. He said he went to
Sage's offices to get some shares of
stock î »aw a man talking to Sage
ver y attentively. The man pulled
out what looked like a pistol. It
glittered and he put it in his right
hand overcoat pocket. I knew
nothing more until I yelled, "Mur
der!" I heard an explosion.
sage identifies the head.
Russell Sage saw the head of H.
D. Wilson, the man who threw the
bomb and identified it as belonging
to l be man who had come to the
offico and demanded money. In
spector Byrnes took the ghastly,
S or y head in a basket to Mr. Sage's
house and together with Munn,
carried it to Mr. Sage's bedroom,
The instant the magnate, who was
lying in bed, saw the countenance
he said:
man.'
"That is the head of the
an escapfd lunatic.
Albany , N. Y., Dec. 4.—The
dynamite crank is thought to be
Hiram D. Wilson, aged 45, an es
caped lunatic and a native of
Glenn's Falls, Warren county.
Wilson escaped previously from
the Middleton and other asylums.
The worst signs of insanity devel
oped fourteen years ago, when he
kept the Bolton House on Lake
George. He was of late years talk
ing of making horses go faster than
any that have gone, and of a patent
fight. Wilson, after short terms
. . , u "
In insane asylums, was dis
charged as cured, or escaped. He
generally celebrated his freedom
by niaking attempts to kill some
one who refused to meet his de
mands for money.
HOW TO DO IT.
UQlAf to make a dollar go a long way ?
—that's the problem.
EVERYBODY * s therefore interested in any method which
_________ promises this result.
M FTUf) /).Ç are as common as dirt ; but which are worth
mtm # iiuvv trying ?
ONE °* ^ ie ver y best and surest methods is to buy your
___ goods at the pioneer store of Montie B. Gwinn
yyfjY is this method safe and sure when there are many thoer
____ places struggling for trade \
BECAUSE * ie car " es an i raraense stock, buys all his goods
_______ in car load lots, and can sell cheap.
PRICES ta ^' the y cann °t lie ; you can believe them
_____ and they solve the problem. Sae ?
Montie B. Gwinn.
f&MAH
I; iv ACQUAINTED WITH THE GEOGRAPHY OP THE COUNTRY. W TT.T, ORT AIM
MUCH VALUABLE FORMATION PROM A STUDY OP TOS MAP OP
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