It appears that the Bremerhaven assassin, Thommsen, who was supposed
to be an American, is now known to have been a sub- ject of the Queen, and to have been born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where his father was a brewer. His real name was Alexander Keith. Before attempting the destruction of the Mosel,' he had attempted the destruction of the Ger- man Lloyd steamer Rhine,' on which he had shipped an infernal machine, insuring the chest for 19,000. The machine, however, reached New York without exploding, the machinery having got jammed in packing. It is worth notice how very seldom infernal machines do achieve precisely and effectually the work for which they are designed. The truth is, there is too much hurry and agitation about the designing and preparation of them. Hardly any machine ever answers its purpose precisely until it has been tried, and has failed, a good many times, and the causes of the failure have been carefully ascertained and provided against. But in the case of infernal maohines, this is impossible. Their first failure is apt to be their last chance of success.
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