'FRISCO "GRAFTERS."

Auckland Star, Volume XXXIX, Issue 141, 13 June 1908, Page 6

'FRISCO "GRAFTERS."

EX-SUPERVISOR'S HOUSE WRECKED. A BOMB EXPLOSION. SAN FRANCISCO, April 23. The residence of James L. Gallagher, the arch-grafter of the late boodle Board of Supervisors, was wrecked last evening by an explosion that was heard from one end of East Oakland to the other, and that shattered every pane of glass in the neighbourhood. That Gallagher was not horribly mutilated or killed is extraordinary, as the explosion shattered the big residence at 1370 Nineteenth avenue, leaving it a tottering ruin.

Mrs. Gallagher wae with her husband in an upper room in the southern side of the house, and almost directly above the vestibule on the front porch, where the explosion occurred. She would have been thrown to the floor had not her husband jumped from his chair, caught her as she was swooning, and carried her down the crumbling stairway in the darkness to the safety of the sidewalk.

Six other occupants of the house, by equally good fortune, escaped without injury. They were sitting in the diningroom on the main floor, a few feet north of the place where the tomb was exploded. All were thrown to the floor and stunned by the detonation, but only ons, Schenck, sustaining a slight bruise on the right temple, caused, presumably, by a flying stick of wood.

The house presents a shocking appearance, the front portion being entirely torn out. The floor to the basement is a yawning chasm, and the upper room just above the porch is bored as though a thirteen-inch shell had torn through it.

Had Gallagher been in this apartment he would have ben blown with the floor and furniture straight through the roof. The whole front half of the residence ia hanging in the air, its beams being demolished by the frightful force of the explosion. Even the basement is torn out, the explosion having scattered thtj. boarding so that the whole interior of the house is open to the elements.

Besides the destruction of Gallagher's residence, the explosion damaged several surrounding residences.

Gallagher says he has no doubt tbat it was caused by an infernal machine, intended for him. He regards his escape as miraculous. He hints darkly about his Suspicions, declaring that he has very definite ideas as to the origin of a plot to destroy him. He says that he has been frequently Trarned bj ,, his friends, and even by Assistant District Attorney Francis J. Heney to tak« particular care of himself, as attempts on his life would be made by his enemies.

Gallagher is admittedly an important instrument for the successful prosecution of the graft cases in this city. Mis testimony is the essential link to connect the passage of bribe money from Abe Ruef to the Supervisors, i'ho elimination of the ex-Supervisor and hindy man of Rucf and SehmiU might moan the crumbling of tho cr.so ajjainst many of the gmft defendants.