Omaha, NE Courthouse Explosion, Mar 1911

EXPLOSION WRECKS COURTHOUSE

New Million-Dollar Structure in Omaha Shattered by Blast of Unknow [sic] Origin Early This Morning.

[By Morning Journal Special Leased Wire]

Omaha, Neb., March 23. - Two explosions in the basement of the new million-dollar courthouse at Eighteenth and Farnum streets at 1 o'clock this morning created considerable excitement and brought out the police reserves.

Windows were shattered in buildings two blocks away and considerable damage was done.

The cement floors in the basement of the building were torn loose and an interior retaining wall was badly damaged, but the stone walls of the uncompleted building were not injured so far as could be observed.

The police were unable to account for the explosions. The contractor, who is constructing the courthouse has had some trouble with organized labor, but so far as known, this trouble had been settled.

A detail of officers was stationed at the building for the night. The police believe the explosions resulted from dynamite placed in the interior of the uncompleted building. A short piece of fuse was found in an adjoining part of the basement in the vicinity of where the explosion occurred. Two men and a woman were seen running from the fenced enclosure surrounding the building just before the explosion.

All windows in a fire house directly across the street and in adjoining buildings were shattered but the damage was not great.

The Albuquerque Morning Journal, Albuquerque, NM 24 Mar 191
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Transcribed by Tim Taugher. Thanks, Tim!