MILWAUKEE, Wis. -- A powerful anarchist bomb of strange design wrecked Central Police Station tonight, mangling every officer on the floor and wounding prisoners on the second floor. Latest estimates by the police were that 11 were dead and five injured.
The bomb was intended for the Evangelical Association church, presided over by Rev. August Giuliani, who several months ago caused the arrest of anarchist leaders. Since then Rev. Giuliani has been threatened several times and was in seclusion at Madison several weeks.
An Italian boy found the bomb in the church this afternoon and turned it over to the police.
Police believe it was set to explode at about the time church services were to open. It exploded at Central Station squad room at 7:47 o'clock while Detective Stephens Stecker was examining it.
Official reports at 10:30 showed eight dead and two injured, although police admit more may have been killed. The entire station was wrecked and those who knew details are dead. The official police lists given out at 10 o'clock gave the following dead and injured:
The dead: Detective Stephen H. Stecker, Detective Charles Seehawer, Detective David O'Brien, Detective Frank M. Caswin, Detective Albert Templin, Station Keeper Henry Deckert, Detective Paul Weiler, Detective Fred W. Kaiser, Detective Edward Spindler, Miss Catherine Walker. Unidentified boy who carried the bomb to the station.
The injured: Detective Louis Hartman, Detective Martin Fallon, Detective Herman Bergin, Station Keeper Charles Andrews, Lieut. Robert Flood.
The explosion occurred a few minutes after roll call. A large number of police and detectives had been on the first floor a few minutes prior to the blast and the casualty list would have been much larger had the bomb exploded then.
The blast smashed windows on the first floor and ripped walls and ceiling bare in the squad room. Recovering the bodies was a gruesome task. Lumps were torn from the bodies of the dead, and one man's head was blown from his shoulders.
Victims were identified with difficulty.
Five unidentified prisoners were also killed, according to police on the scene. This however has not been verified.
Miss Catherine Walker, who was in the police station making a complaint, was killed.
