State police in New York and New Jersey today seized four truckloads of explosives in rural areas of the two states. It is believed that the 77 tons of cyclamite, like the 30 tons of TNT found on a Jersey City pier last week-end, were destined for Palestine.
Seventeen tons of the explosive, which is more than six times as powerful as dynamite, were found in a truck belonging to a shipping company executive on whose farm an estimated 30 tons was found by the New Jersey police yesterday. The vehicle was found parked in Asbury Park in front of the office of the Charles Lowy trucking company, owner of the farm which is located a few miles outside of the town. The other three trucks, with 60 tons of cargo, were picked up near Cairo, New York, in the Catskill Mountains.
Acting on an anonymous telephoned tip the police swooped down on the farm yesterday, while the shipment, which had been brought from a government arsenal in Romulus, New York, was still being unloaded. Eight men, all of whom stated that they were unaware of the contents of the crates which they were unloading, were seized. They were released today on $500 bail each. Lowy was held in $15,000 bail.
A bill of lading discovered with the explosives listed Foundry Associates, of 41 East 42nd Street, New York City, as the owner, but no such firm was .listed in the New York telephone directory and the building management had no information concerning it. The owner of the trucking company and farm stated that he had been asked by a representative of a New York trucking concern to permit storage of the crates and had not been informed of the contents.
At Lake Success the Palestine Arab Higher Committee released a statement expressing its “appreciation and gratitude” to American authorities for the splendid work of the police in tracking down the explosives. In a lengthy statement attacking the Jewish Agency as the organization behind the shipments, the Committee called on the U.S, Government to halt U.S. citizens from aiding “aggressive Zionists.”
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
