To Blow Up the Prison

Discovery of an Alleged Anarchistic Plot.
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LADDER AND DYNAMITE PAPER
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These Are the Evidences Found by Prison Officers.
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TO AVENGE LEON CZOLGOSZ
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Warden Mead Has Received Many Letters, Threatening That the Most Terrible
Vengeance Would Be Visited Upon the Prison Authorities for the Execution
of the President’s Assassin—Mysterious Umbrella Tinkers Are Suspected.

     AUBURN, Dec. 7.—The investigation by the Auburn prison authorities into what was first thought to have been an attempt to aid in the escape of inmates of that institution by outside parties, who one night two weeks ago scaled the prison walls with a ladder, stolen from one of the shops in the neighborhood, reveals a possible anarchistic plot to blow up the prison with dynamite in revenge for the execution of Leon F. Czolgosz, the assassin of President McKinley.
     For many days previous to the execution of Czolgosz, Warden Mead received letters from various parts of the country, threatening that if the mandate of the law was carried out, the most terrible vengeance would be visited upon the prison officers, and threats to blow up the prison with dynamite, it is said, were made.

Startling Discoveries.

     The day following the discovery of the scaling of the prison walls from the West Water street [sic] side, other discoveries of a startling nature were made. It was found that an attempt had been made to mount the walls by means of ladders stolen from Tuttle’s rolling mill, in which the parties were unsuccessful. A skiff belonging to the rolling mill had been rowed across the stream and two large ladders had been carried over. As the rolling mills run day and night, the plotters must have worked with extreme caution not to have been discovered. Failing to mount the wall from that point a successful attempt, as has already been related, was made from the West Water street [sic] side.

Dynamite Wrapper Found.

     What alarms the prison officers, however, and gives color to the dynamite theory was the discovery of a paper, such as is used to wrap dynamite packages, which was found on the ground near where marks in the snow show that the ladder with which the wall had been scaled was posted. This was wrapped in a copy of a Syracuse morning newspaper of the date November 25th.
     A number of suspicious characters had been seen in West Water street [sic], previous to the ladder incident. For a week or ten days the vicinity had been haunted by umbrella tinkers, and the police are now of the opinion that these men were associated in the mysterious plot in which the ladders and dynamite paper figure.
     Since the discovery the night guards at the prison have been unusually vigilant and are prepared to meet whatever emergency may arise.