A DANGEROUS MAX,

Otago Witness, Issue 2664, 5 April 1905, Page 25

A DANGEROUS MAX,

NEW YORK,

April 1.

Gesler Rousseau, who is charged with extorting money from a rich Philad/jlphian, declared that he spent years over a contrivance which was intended to deter larger nations intimidating smaller nations. The Recorder declared that a penalty of five years was a- wholly inadequate sentence, and postponed sentence indefinitely to inquire into Rousseau's mental condition.

Gesler Rousseau was arrested recently in Philadelphia- on a charge of extorting money from a rich' Philadelphian. An infernal machine was found iipon him. and he confessed that he was the person who sent a similar machine to the Cunard liner Umbria, at the New York docks, in May, 1903. On that occasion an infernal machine containing lOOib of dynamise was found on the pier among the passengers' luggage. Jt was timed to explode in 06 hours. Rou=seau a^so. confessed that he wps the author of the recent attempt io blow up the statue of Frederick tho Great, at Washington, and admitted that the infernal machine found upon him was intended for a second attempt on the statue. In' one of his pockets was found a scrap of paper with a- reference on it to the Veronic, r liner whose fate has been one of tiie mj'steries of the Atlantic. \She was a new ship when she left England in 1893, but she never arrived at New York, and the only traces -of her ever found were a couple of lifebelts bearing her name. Rousseau denied having had anything to do with her disappearance. Last week iie confessed that he had invented for the Cuban insurgents a machine to destroy Soanish warships, but through some blundering it was cxi loded under the United States cruiser ILaine, lying in Havana- Harbour, when two offcers and 270 men were killed.