The Suspected Sabotage
Rumor had it that a group of saboteurs operated under the direction of Frederick Hinsch. He recruited a German national Curt Thummel, who changed his name to Charles Thorne. Hinsch instructed Thorne to obtain employment at the factory. Thorne was hired as assistant employment manager. In this position he facilitated the hiring of several operatives sent by Hinsch to infiltrate the factory. One of those employees supposedly was Theodore Wozniak.
After the Kingsland plant was completely destroyed, police and federal investigators uncovered the source of the fire. It started at Wozniak's workbench in Building 30.
Other workmen alleged that the fire began in front of Wozniak’s wooden roller. One of the company directors, Mr. Cahan, remarked about Wozniak’s nervous behavior and contradictions during an interview about the incident. Wozniak, who admitted that he had served time as a draftee in the Austrian Army, was told by Mr. Cahan that he would be needed in New York as part of the investigation into the fire. Wozniak, who lived at the Russian Immigrant House on Third Street in New York City, eluded the detectives who were watching him and disappeared.
Read more about this topic: Kingsland Explosion
Famous quotes containing the words suspected and/or sabotage:
“It is remarkable how many creatures live wild and free though secret in the woods, and still sustain themselves in the neighborhood of towns, suspected by hunters only.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The risk for a woman who considers her helpless children her “job” is that the children’s growth toward self-sufficiency may be experienced as a refutation of the mother’s indispensability, and she may unconsciously sabotage their growth as a result.”
—Letty Cottin Pogrebin (20th century)