The Mad Bomber of New York (46 page)

“Tell me something,”
: Ibid., 43–44

“By putting these theories”
: Ibid., 45.

“I guess it has to be done”
: Ibid., 46.

“When you catch him”
: Ibid.

CHAPTER XI: CHRISTMAS IN MANHATTAN

With typical holiday fanfare
: “Christmas Tree Rises in Midtown,”
New York Times
, November 27, 1956, 27.

The twenty-fourth annual
: “A Tree Is Lighted in Rockefeller Center, and Suddenly It's Christmas Time Again,”
New York Times
, December 7, 1956, 29.

“
MAD BOMBER STRIKES AGAIN
”
: “Mad Bomber Strikes Again in Main Library,”
New York Daily News
, December 25, 1956, 1.

“
BOMB IN 5TH AVE. LIBRARY
”
: “Bomb in 5th Ave. Library Spurs Hunt for Psychotic,”
New York Times
, December 25, 1956, 1.

“Yuletide gift”
: “Mad Bomber Strikes Again in Main Library,” 1.

“a kind of portrait”
: “Bomb in 5th Ave. Library Spurs Hunt for Psychotic,” 31.

“conceived this image”
: Ibid.

“Single man, between 40 and 50”
: Ibid.

“[The
Times
story] didn't contain”
: Brussel,
Casebook
, 47.

CHAPTER XII: “AN INNOCENT AND ALMOST ABSURDLY
SIMPLE THING”

“window on the world”
: William Randolph Hearst Jr.,
The Hearsts: Father and Son
(Roberts Rinehart Publishers, 1991), 301.

Later, back in New York
:
Seymour Is Dead at 53; Publisher of Journal-American
, New York Times, January 5, 1959, Page 29.

“Get it first, but first get it right”
: William Safire, No Uncertain Terms: More Writing From the Popular “On Language” Column in The New York Times Magazine
(
Simon and Schuster, 2003), 725. See also, William Safire, Words of Wisdom: More Good Advice (Simon and Schuster, 1990), 205.

“To ask Seymour Berkson to relax”
: Bob Considine,
It's All News to Me: A Reporter's Deposition
(Meredith Press, 1967), 106.

“Empress of Seventh Avenue”
: “Eleanor Lambert, Empress of Fashion, Dies at 100,”
New York Times
, October 8, 2003, C17.

In the early part of December
: See
Night Beat
, WABD-TV interview of Seymour Berkson by host Mike Wallace, Thursday, February 14, 1957, 11:00 p.m. Courtesy of the Paley Center for Media.

“rather innocent”
: Ibid.

“stab in the dark”
: “Bizarre Case Is Unique in Police Annals,”
Bridgeport Telegram
, January 23, 1957, 6 (AP).

CHAPTER XIII: “PLENTY OF WHACKS”

“At first we requested”
: “13 Bomb Threats Harry City in Day,”
New York Times
, December 5, 1956, Page 80.

“Every hopeful lead has vanished”
: “His Secret Notes Paint the Portrait of Mad Bomber,” 10C.

“Any one who has any helpful information”
: “The Search for the Bomber,”
New York Herald Tribune
, December 27, 1956, editorial page.

“This then clearly is a case”
: “The Mad Bomber,”
New York Journal-American
, December 27, 1956, editorial page.

“For more than 15 years”
: “Police Distribute Circular Warning of ‘Mad Bomber's' Deadly Danger,”
New York Journal-American
, December 11, 1956, 5.

“The hysteria”
: “Bomb Hoax Wave Compels Police to Limit Checks,”
New York Times
, December 29, 1956, 1.

As Christmas approached
: “Hoaxers Tormented Bomb Squad with 160 Calls in December, Then Shifted to Schools,”
New York Times
, January 23, 1957, 18.

One New York police officer
: Ibid.

“Every time we find a real bomb”
: “The Mad Bomber,”
New York Times
, December 30, 1956, E2.

“I paid $258 for that durned TV set”
: “Not A ‘Bomb' Just TV Tube!”
New York Journal-American
, December 31, 1956, 1.

“He's my husband”
: “Tips on Bomber Funny and Tragic,”
New York Journal-American
, January 23, 1957, 13.

Bomb scares and homemade devices
: “Hoaxers Tormented Bomb Squad with 160 Calls in December, Then Shifted to Schools,” 18.

“Not since the ‘Jack the Ripper' murders”
: “Siege by Bomber Recalls Terror of ‘Jack the Ripper,'”
New York Journal-American
, December 27, 1956, 5.

“The Mad Bomber . . . is a man”
: “Bomber Mystery Baffles Hitchcock,”
New York Journal-American
, December 30, 1956, 7.

would soon begin production
: “Fox Plans Movie on ‘Mad Bomber,'”
New York Times
, January 3, 1957, 27.

“a suitably dramatic ending”
: “Talk of the Town, Notes and Comments,” N
ew Yorker
, January 12, 1957.

“calculated risk”
: “Police Get New Leads on Bomber, Kennedy Backs Publicity Policy,”
New York Herald Tribune
, January 7, 1957, 1.

“The public can cope”
: “Hoaxers Tormented Bomb Squad with 160 Calls in December, Then Shifted to Schools,” 18.

He publicly warned
: “Hoax Calls Slow Hunt for Mad Bomber,”
New York Journal-American
, January 2, 1957, 15.

“Our policy is to arrest these people”
: “Firm Penalty Due for Bomb Cranks,”
New York Times
, January 1, 1957, 23.

and in Brooklyn two girls
: “2 B'klyn Girls in Court Today on Bomb Hoax,”
New York Journal-American
, January 5, 1957, 4.

a thirty-seven-year-old fruit store clerk
: “‘Bomb' Disrupts Subway Travel,”
New York Times
, December 31, 1956, 26.

Arraigned on a charge of disorderly conduct
: Ibid.

“If I, or any of my colleagues”
: Ibid.

In the early morning hours
: “New Bomb Found in Seat at B'Way Theatre,”
New York Journal-American
, December 28, 1956, 6.

“Fire in the Hole”
: “Bomb Hoax Wave Compels Police to Limit Checks,” 30. Also see “Explode Mad Bomber's Bombs; They're Real!”
New York Daily News
, December 29, 1956, 6.

“Resolved . . . that the City of New York”
: “26G for Bomber,”
New Daily Mirror
, December 29, 1956, 2.

“of the killer type”
: “Bomb Hoax Wave Compels Police to Limit Checks,” 30.

“atmosphere of a siege prevailed”
: James, “The Mad Bomber vs. Con Ed,” 47.

During two hours of interrogation
: “Tell of Talk in Library with Suspect,”
New York Journal-American
, December 26, 1956, 1.

Of particular interest to police
: “Pair Believe They Saw Bomber with Woman,”
New York Daily News
, December 30, 1956, 3.

The idea that the Bomber
: See “Push Bomber; Could Be a Woman,”
New York Daily News
, December 27, 1956, 2.

“poorly dressed, thin, pale-faced . . . [man]”
: “Find Pipe, Watch Mechanism at Grand Central,”
New York Journal-American
, December 27, 1956, 2.

“I am NOT the Mad Bomber”
: About New York, Itinerant Watch Repairer Is Leading a Freer Life with Arrest of the ‘Mad Bomber,'
New York Times
, January 28, 1957, 18.

As 1956 came to a close
: “Crime Sets New Record,”
New York Journal-American
, December 30, 1956, 6.

CHAPTER XIV: “THE FOUR FISHERMEN”

“uncharted course”
: “The Journal's Role—Step by Step—in Capture of Elusive Bomber,”
New York Journal-American
, January 23, 1957, 2.

“We've heard of people”
: Ibid.

“a fair deal under American justice”
: See
Night Beat
, February 14, 1957.

“pique his interest and tempt him”
: “The Journal's Role—Step by Step,” 2.

While Berkson maintained a good faith belief
: See
Night Beat
, February 14, 1957.

“four fishermen”
: Bob Considine, “How They Caught the Mad Bomber,”
American Weekly
, April 7, 1957, 25.

“
More than one rival paper”
: Ibid., 23.

Stearn had, in fact, received several letters
: “How the Journal Helped Police in Solving of Case,”
New York Journal-American
, January 22, 1957, B.

“To the sick person”
: “Walter Winchell of New York
,”
New York Daily Mirror
, January 14, 1957.

“Reporters, advertising salesmen, secretaries”
: Hearst,
The Hearsts: Father and Son
, 283.

“finest hour”
: Ibid., 293.

The building itself
: Ibid., 284.

“
Arthur, you've done it to me again!”
: Ibid.

“I MAY PAY YOU A VISIT”
: “How the Journal Helped Police,” B.

“TO JOURNAL-AMERICAN”
: Ibid.

“BEFORE I AM FINISHED”
: Ibid.

“Unquestionably genuine”
: Considine, “How They Caught the Mad Bomber,” 23.

130 from Christmas Eve
: “‘Bomb' on 57th St. Is a Firecracker,”
New York Times
, January 2, 1957, 48.

The task of distinguishing
: Considine, “How They Caught the Mad Bomber,” 24.

Each of the three politicians
: “City Tests Clear Dead Bronx Man,”
New York Journal-American
, January 12, 1957, 10.

“blind alley”
: Ibid., 1.

Investigators had always found
: “Bomber Hunted in White Plains,”
New York Times
, January 4, 1957, 42.

Samples of the Bomber's distinctive block printing
: See “Search for the Bomber,” E2; “Cops Check Jury List In Search for Bomber,”
New York Journal-American
, January 9, 1957, 1; “150,000 Jury Forms Sifted for Bomber,”
New York Times
, January 18, 1957, 14; and “Comb Alien Files for Bomber Clue,”
New York Journal-American
, January 16, 1957, 1.

To aid in this monumental task
: “Police Rush New Search for Bomber,”
New York Journal-American
, January 9, 1957, 1.

Meanwhile, the department
: “‘Bomber' Presses Threat on Utility,”
New York Times
, January 11, 1957, 16.

The resulting list of forty-two matches
: “Suspects Tailed by Top Sleuths,”
World-Telegram and Sun
, January 11, 1957, 1.

On the recommendation of Dr. Brussel
: “Bomber Hunt Centers on Doctors, Hospitals,”
New York Daily Mirror
, January 11, 1957, 3.

Initial descriptions of Kleewen's handwriting
: “Mystery Man Dies—Sparks Bomber Hunt,”
New York Daily Mirror
, January 12, 1957, 3. See also “Dead Bronx Machinist's Home Searched for Clues to Bomber,”
New York Times
, January 12, 1957, 10.

when a stack of bills
: “Dead Bronx Machinist's Home Searched for Clues to Bomber,” 10.

The following day
: “Mad Bomber's Letter Hints Brief Truce,”
New York World-Telegram and Sun
, January 7, 1957, 1.

“psychopathic ‘enemy of society'”
: “Hunt Workshop of Mad Bomber in White Plains,”
New York Journal-American
, January 4, 1957, 1.

“TO NEW YORK JOURNAL AMERICAN”
: Considine, “How They Caught the Mad Bomber,” 23.

“F. P. We are publishing for you”
: “An Open Letter to the Mad Bomber,”
New York Journal-American
, January 10, 1957, 1.

The January 10, 1957, issue
: Considine, “How They Caught the Mad Bomber,” 23.

“I WILL EXTEND THIS ONE SIDED ‘TRUSE'
”
: “Bomber's New Letter Tells Motive, Extends His ‘Truce,'”
New York Journal-American
, January 15, 1957, 1; “The Bomber's Grievances Came to Light in a Series of Letters,”
New York Times
, January 23, 1957, 19.

Lehman, Pelotti, and Andrews
: Ibid.

“I DID NOT GET A SINGLE PENNY
”
:
Ibid.

“
WHEN A MOTORIST INJURES A DOG”
: Ibid.

The embossed postal cancellation
: “Bomber Tells Motives in New Note to Journal,”
New York Journal-American
, January 15, 1957, 6.

“Can you name the perjurers?”
: “Another Open Letter to F.P.,”
New York Journal-American
, January 15, 1957, 1.

“Your story is convincing”
: Ibid.

“On January 16, the paper published”
: “We Want to Help,”
New York Journal-American
, January 16, 1957, 1.

“If an injustice has been done”
: “State Promises Review of Case,”
New York Journal-American
, January 16, 1957, 1.

As with the letter from Con Ed
: Ibid., 11.

“the most scientific medical care”
: “Wait Reply to Promise of Fairness,”
New York Journal-American
, January 17, 1957, 1.

opinions from lawyers
: “Check Old Files to Help Bomber Get Fair Hearing,”
New York Journal-American
, January 18, 1957, Page 1.

Perhaps overstepping its journalistic bounds
: “Wait Reply to Promise of Fairness,” 11.

“top legal counsel”
:
State Spurs Effort To Help ‘Bomber,' New York Journal-American
, January 21, 1957, Page 3.