BOMB SENSATION

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21254, 6 August 1932, Page 10

BOMB SENSATION

GELIGNITE ON A SHIP CAPTAIN'S NARROW ESCAPE t V TRIGGER THAT DID NOT WORK [by telegraph—OWN correspondent] CHRISTCHURCH, Friday A bomb containing enough gelignite to wreck the bridge of his ship was found lying at the door of his cabin by Captain A. Anderson, of the steamer Tees when he went on board tlio vessel this morning at Lyttelton. The mechanism of the bomb was actually working when Captain Anderson opened the package containing it, 4 but although tho trigger clicked, the spring was not strong enough to fire the cap. On picking up the packago and removing the wrapping/ Captain Anderson found that it was a square cigarette tin. Ho oponed tho lid and discovered that tho tin held two or three plugs of gelignite, with a spring trigger and firing cap attached. Tho trigger mechanism was de- ! signed to bo worked by opening the lid, ' but though the trigger was released, it i failed to strike the cap hard enough to I set it off. Tho cap was not one of the i detonators ordinarily used with gelignite, i but it had apparently been taken from I a shotgun cartridge. Handling the bomb carefully. Captain j Anderson placed it in his cabin and set : a man to guard the door while he called ! the police. A detective was sent to make j inquiries. I A watch had been kept on the steamer all last night by Captain Anderson's soil, j but he neither heard nor saw anything j unusual. He went off duty at 7.10 a.n: ■ and it is thought that the bomb was 1 placed at tho cabin door between that time and 8 a.m., when Captain Anderson ! arrived. I The Tecs had recently been prepared : for her departure to the Chatham Islands i early this month and she came out of dock last Saturday, after being laid up for overhaul for three months. In April ! last, before the ship was laid up, there was trouble with the crew, who refused : to sail while one of their number was on board. The owners said that the man had been in their servico for five years and had given satisfaction, and as neither side would give way, a deadlock resulted. The vessel was delayed from April 14 to April 21, when the two parties came to an agreement. Since then the Tees has made one trip to the Chathams. The Tees is a vessel of over 546 tons gross register and is owned by the Westland Steamship Company, of Greymouth. She has been trading to the Chathams for two years and has made occasional trips to tho West Coast and Wellington.