business
success as the only plausible motive for the bombing last night
of the plant of the Sanitary Milk Dairies Company, at 311 Division
Street. Search was started today for a tall, heavyset man,
with mixed blue suit, as the bomber.
City
detectives mingled among the throngs of men, woman and children
who today viewed the damage caused by the bomb - a crude, home -
made time device - which, in exploding, rocked the neighborhood,
shattered window panes, doors, fences and the exteriors of
nearby properties. Machinery in the Coccia plant was damaged by
the concussion and by parts of bomb shrapnel, which pierced or
bent it.
Mrs.
Angelino Coccia, mother of the Coccia brothers, her daughter,
Theresa Coccia, 14, and Mrs. Mary De Luzzio, 59, of 317 Division
Street, were in the kitchen of the Coccia home when the bomb
exploded. The dairy is at the rear of the home of Primo Coccia,
one of the owners. His brothers -partners in the business are
Paul Coccia, 242 Pine
Street; Adam Coccia, 346 Cherry
Street, and Matthew Coccia, 941 South
Third Street.
Saw
Mysterious Stranger
Mrs.
Coccia cannot speak English, but through her son, Matthew
Coccia, it was learned today that, before the explosion, she had
seen a man passing the kitchen window.
"The
man walked down the alley at the side of the house," Mrs.
Coccia told her son in Italian. "He was a heavy - set man
and tall; I thought he was a customer who had come for milk.
People often come at night to buy milk, and I did not think it
strange about the man.
"But
then I waited for hi to knock at the back door, as customers
usually do," she continued.
"When
he did not knock, I wondered what he might be up to, and I was
just ready to leave the kitchen to see where he went when I
heard the explosion. I did not know what happened after that, I
was so nervous, I didn't even see the man leave the way he came.
But he was the one who set the bomb. Of that I am sure."
Dog
Vainly Warns
The
Coccia's have a big Italian Bulldog chained to a gasoline tank
at the rear of their home. The dog barked continually last night
to warn the Coccias, they were so used to his barks, they said
today, that they thought he had been growling at a customer, as
he sometimes does late at night.
Mrs.
Coccia said she was unable to give a detailed description of the
man she saw last night because an electric bulb in the alleyway
was not lit. It was the first time the alley was in darkness at
night. Matthew Coccia said, and this the bomber apparently took
into consideration in seeking to go about his diabolical tasks
without possible detection.
Coccia
said boys living in the neighborhood saw the man enter an
automobile, with lights out, immediately after the explosion
shook the neighborhood. The car, they said, had been parked near
the Coccia home with its front and rear lights out.
Detective Fiore
Troncone, who is investigating the bombing, informed Coccia today that
he had received a description of the automobile from Coccia's
neighbors. They said they had seen the driver put on the lights
of Fourth and Division
Street as he turned the corner to go north in his escape.
Rev.
John S. Hackett, pastor of the Wiley
M.E. Church, Third
and Berkley
Streets, who was among those viewing the damage done by the
bomb, said he saw the man acting nervously at Third
and Pine
Street last night, immediately after the explosion. His
description of the man tallied with that given by Mrs. Coccia.
"I
was waiting for the first edition of the Morning Post to arrive
at the store at that comer." Mr. Hackett said today,
"when my attention was attracted to this man. He seemed to
be very nervous about something. He was fairly tall and heavy -
set and wore a mixed blue suit, with light coloring.
"When
the papers arrived and I bought a copy, he seemed to be very
anxious to see what was on the front page. I did not know about
the bomb until I read the paper, but it occurred t me later that
perhaps this man was acting suspiciously and was eager to see
what damage had been caused. I'm sorry now I didn't question
him. But I can give police a good description of him.
The
Coccias said the only reason they could see for the bombing was
jealousy of their business success by a person with a deranged
mind.
"We
had no enemies," Matthew Coccia said, "and we never
fought with anybody. I cannot understand it. It must have been
jealousy at the way we were getting along."
Coccia
said no threatening letters had been received. He insisted that
there was no reason why the "Blackhand" should desire
to ruin Primo Coccia's home or their business.
Neighbors
called police and fireman.
Detectives
found a firemen's shovel near where the stone steps to the dairy
had been. They believed it had been used to dig a trench under
the steps in which to insert the bomb.
Primo
Coccia, who had been to the theatre, came home five minutes
after the explosion. He found a throng in front and dazedly
pushed through until his mother hysterically screamed the news
to him.
The
bomb burst in the dairy door and sprayed big pieces of the iron
pipe along the side of the house and into the room, where it
caused most of the damage to the machinery.
Fifteen
windows of the Coccia house were shattered and police believe
the foundations at the rear may have been weakened.
The
worst damage to neighboring buildings was to the rear of the Seven
Brothers Bakery, owned by the Canzanese Brothers, 318322 Pine
Street,
which backs against the dairy. Twenty windows of the bakery were
crushed in, the door was riddles with small pieces of the pipe
and the rear was peppered with the "shrapnel. "
Mario
Manarefi, 912 South Fourth
street, a bookkeeper in the bakery,
was at his home nearby. He ran to the street and looked several
minutes for the bombers before he joined the crowd.
Joseph
Scotthouse, 317 Division
Street,
ran to the yard at the rear of his home to find the fence had
been peppered with tiny pieces of the pipe, some of which had
tom into his kitchen through windows and doors.
Six
windows of the home of Sabatino Di Paolo, 321 Division
Street,
were broken. Fragments of the pipe were found on the floor of
rooms on the second floor of his house, he told police.
A
police cordon was thrown around the neighborhood by Chief
of Police Stehr, who took personal charge of the
investigation.
Where Bomb Rocked
Neighborhood |

|
Chief of Police Stehr is shown pointing to the spot
under the back steps of the Camden Sanitary Dairy
Company at 311 Division Street, Where a time bomb
exploded last night, The bomb was placed under the
steps. |
Police
from every district in the city were rushed to the scene and
patrols were dispatched to be prepared for any eventuality.
The
neighborhood was searched carefully and every resident was
questioned, but no one was able to give any clue which
might lead police to the bombers.
Squads
of detectives and police patrolled the neighborhood for hours
after the explosion, seeking objects, which might have been
dropped by the bombers. |