BENJ. P. PRICE.
The bomb used at the Haymarket was of the kind called the “five and six seconds fuse.” The fuse on a bomb of that kind was cut at a length of four inches, and the instruction to Anarchists in handling one of them was to count four just as soon as the fuse caught fire, and then throw it. If the bombs found in Lingg’s cell had had that length of fuse, then it might have been possible that they were intended for general destruction. These bombs had evidently been made under instructions from Lingg. He was the only one who made bombs by plugging up one end with lead, and, whoever the party was that turned them out for him, he must have had some prior experience with Lingg in bomb-making. That could be plainly seen, too, in the way the fuse had been fastened in the caps. It was also manifest that the man must have been a machinist. But no clue as to his identity could be secured, and, of course, Lingg never gave the slightest hint to any of the officers, or even to his associates.
Thereafter, as might have been expected, Lingg was more carefully watched than ever. No strange visitors were permitted to see him. The discovery of the explosives had created an intense and wide-spread excitement, and Sheriff Matson issued most stringent orders with reference, not only to Lingg, but to all the other confined Anarchists. By these orders the public was measurably reassured.
LOUIS LINGG’S TERRIBLE DEATH.
The bomb-maker had been committed to cell No. 11, and every article constituting its outfit had been subjected to the closest inspection. It seemed certain that there could be no dynamite in that cell. Besides this, Mr. Benjamin P. Price, the Jail Clerk, made it his special business to look after the desperate man, and there seemed no possibility of danger from that quarter.
But on the morning of the 10th of November, at 8:45 o’clock, the officials as well as occupants of the jail were startled by the sound of a terrific explosion. Consternation seized everybody for the moment. Each surmised that some sad havoc had been created in some portion of the jail, and that his special section had miraculously escaped. All within the jail precincts jumped to their feet, and the most eager inquiries were made as to the cause of the noise. Even the inmates of the cells in the immediate vicinity of the spot where the explosion had occurred thought that some other portion of the building had been blown up, and they were uncertain whether the attack had come from without or within.
The first idea credited the explosion to confederates of the Anarchists on the outside. This was a perfectly natural conclusion. All sorts of rumors about violent demonstrations and forcible attempts at rescue of the doomed Anarchists were in circulation about the city, and the instant this detonation was heard it was supposed that the threats had been finally carried into effect. So loud was the report that people passing on the streets surrounding the jail imagined that fearful destruction must have been created inside. But after the first flush of excitement had subsided, the source of the commotion was easily and speedily ascertained.