. . ."
Fay and two confederates were arrested in a lonely spot near Grantwood,
New Jersey, while testing an explosive. During his examination at police
headquarters in Weehawken immediately after the arrest he was questioned
as follows:
Q. That large machine you have downstairs, what is that?
A. That is a patent of mine. It is a new way of getting a time fuse. ...
Q. Did you know where Scholz (Fay's brother-in-law) had this machine
made?
A. In different machine shops.
Q. What material is it you wanted (from Daeche, an accomplice)?
A. Trinitrotoluol (T. N. T.). ...
Q. How much did the machinery cost?
A. Roughly speaking, $150 or $200.
Q. What would be the cost of making one and filling it with explosives?
A. About $250 each ... If they had given me money enough I should simply
have been able to block the shipping entirely.
Q. Do you mean you could have destroyed every ship that left the harbor
by means of those bombs?
A. I would have been able to stop so many that the authorities would not
have dared (to send out any ships).
It was proved during Fay's trial that his bomb was a practical device,
and that its forty pounds of explosive would sink any ship to which it
was attached.
Fay and his accomplices, Scholz and Daeche, were convicted of conspiracy
to attach explosive bombs to the rudders of vessels, with the intention
of wrecking the same when at sea, and were sentenced, on May 9, 1916, to
terms of eight, four and two years respectively, in the federal
penitentiary at Atlanta.
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