BOMB UNDER CAR

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXVIII, Issue 19959, 17 November 1934, Page 22

BOMB UNDER CAR

FOURTH ATTEMPT ON MAN’S LIFE FUSE CAUGHT IN TIME A fourth attempt within the past year was made recently in Vancouver to take the life of Inspector J. F. C. B. Vance, of the police bureau of science. When Mr Vance went to his garage at about 9 a.m. and attempted to start his car, he experienced some difficulty, the mechanism evidently having been tampered with. While he was making vain attempts to start the engine, his son came running from the house and said there was something under the car. Investigation by Mr Vance revealed a lighted fuse under the body of the car. This he tore away and extinguished the flame. The fuse, which was Bft long, was attached to a small package in the rear of the car near the; gasoline tank. Mr Vance tossed the package and fuse into his backyard while he summoned detectives. Rather than tamper with the package, Mr Vance moved it to a vacant lot near by and lighted the fuse. He and the dectives withdrew to a safe distance. A powerful explosion resulted when the flame reached the package. Investigation revealed that the garage had been broken into through a window, the person responsible evidently knowing the hour when Mr Vance usually left his home in the morning, and waited until a few minutes before the inspector’s expected departure to ignite the fuse. He aliO tampered with the mechanism of the car so that Mr Vance would be delayed long enough for the fuse to burn. The first attempt on the life of Mi Vance was made on March 8 when a deadly bomb was sent to him through the mail. The inspector’s suspicions were aroused, however, and he was able to open it without causing an explosion. The parcel had been so contrived that if it were placed in water before being opened its chemical content would combine with the water to discharge the explosives. The ordinary opening of the packet would nave caused an explosion. Its explosive charge was mtro-glycerine, and it had been manufactured by some person with a knowledge of chemistry. As a result of this attempt and because of written threats made against Mr Vance, detectives were sent to guard his home. A detective patrolling the grounds on March 17, shortly before midnight, discovered the fuse of a bomb burning beside the wall of the house. B/aving death, the officer rushed in and cut the burning fuse, preventing the flame reaching the explosive, which was contained in a canister. On April 17 at 9.30 p.m. the inspector discovered a prowler in the grounds of his home and made a vain attempt to capture him. It is beheved that this prowler intended to make an attempt on the life of the scientist. It is believed that the bomb was placed under the car by friends of men convicted of crimes through the criminologist’s evidence.