(Deadly Times: The 1910 Bombing of the Los Angeles Times and America’s Forgotten Decade of Terror, Lew Irwin, 2013, page xi, xii)
“Until that moment, the union effort had been aimed at destroying property, sending a message to the ‘exploiting class’ in a language that they easily grasped -- money. Injuries have been few, and no one had been killed. Moreover, no one had been caught. But the plan that J.B. McNamara laid out to Clancy, Tveitmoe, Johanssen, Schmidt, and Caplan back in San Francisco amounted to nothing short of an act of war. He would plant bombs not only at the Los Angeles Times but also at the homes of the two principal business leaders in the city: Gen. Harrison Gray Otis, the owner of the Times, and Felix Zeehandelaar, head of the Merchants and Manufacturers Association and Otis’s powerful ally…
If any member of the group was disturbed over the probable loss of life, their hesitance was overcome by McNamara’s passion. In all great battles there is loss of life on both sides, he had repeatedly argued. Men must sometimes be sacrificed for the greater good of society.” (Ibid, page 83)
“Once inside, J.B. made his way directly downstairs to the belly of the beast, where he found the access to the gas cocks to the natural gas pipes. Using a set of pliers that he had brought along, he wrenched the cocks open, and then waited and listened to the hiss of the escaping gas until he could detect the unmistakable pungent odor. As he would later explain, he wanted the whole building ‘to go to hell.’” (Ibid, page 97)
“McNamara appeared downright nonchalant about it all, McManigal thought, as he pointed out that J.B. had accomplished just what he had set out to do. Those who died were ‘scabs,’ McNamara said. ‘This will make them set up and take notice.’ Indeed, he now wanted to step up the bombings.” (Ibid, page 147)
