Dynamite in the Dark: A Great Northern Car Is Blown Apart

The Lidgerwood car which furnished power to unload the dump cars used by the Great Northern railway in the construction work just east of this city was dynamited about 10:30 Saturday night. The force of the explosion was felt in the eastern part of the city and several houses in that neighborhood were shaken. There is no clue to the party or parties who committed the deed, though it is suspected that some one who is familiar with the workings thereabouts is responsible for the crime. However, it is evident that the perpetrator of the deed thought he had a grievance against the railway company.

After the explosion an investigation was immediately instituted which revealed the fact that the dynamite car had been opened and a quantity of dynamite removed. This was placed in the inside of the Lidgerwood car and touched off, and the explosion which followed wrecked the car. The smokestack was blown several rods away, the bull-wheel blown to atoms and every piece of woodwork on the car was completely ripped off and reduced to splinters. Several other parts of the car were ruined. The damage to the car will probably amount to $1,000.

The car containing the dynamite was locked with switch locks and was unlocked by some one in possession of a key which fitted the locks. On Friday some fourteen men were paid off and the construction crew reduced. For some time past the commissary department has been annoyed by petty thievery and some of the men discharged Friday are said to have been of a very quarrelsome nature.

Immediately after the explosion Detectives Enright and Ryan, of the Great Northern detective service, were detailed to make an investigation of the case. The wrecking of the Lidgerwood delayed work on the fill until Tuesday, when another car arrived from Spokane.