It Was A . . . 'Bomb' Joke
THAT’S A JOKE? Detective Lt. George L. Stauch (seated) holds the “bomb” a prankster placed on the trunk of a local woman’s car this morning. Patrolman Ronald Donaldson (left), and Sgt. Walter V. Hawkins pulled the phony bomb from an ash barrel and brought it to headquarters.
It Was A . . .
‘Bomb’ Joke
Prankster Puts Fake Explosive On Woman’s Car
A prankster with a weird sense of humor this morning left a make-believe time bomb on the trunk of a car parked in a garage on St. Main St.
Miss Voca L. Smith, a medical technician living at 822 S. Main, found the practical joker’s work on the trunk of her car shortly before 8 a.m.
The “bomb” consisted of a cardboard shoebox with a clock, inserted in a hole cut in one end of the cover. At the other
end an ordinary light bulb had been placed in a hole and a pair of wires connected the bulb with the clock.
However, police said the only machinery inside the box was attached to the clock face itself. They said there was no explosive or other material in the box which could be detonated.
When Miss Smith found the mechanism, she picked it up and carried it outside. There she placed it in a barrel filled with ashes and then called the manager of her apartment house. He summoned police.
When Sgt. Walter V. Hawkins and Patrolman Ronald Donaldson approached the barrel, the clock atop the shoebox was still ticking. The officers reached in and gingerly lifted a corner of the box’s cover. When they saw there was nothing inside, they picked up the mechanism and brought it to headquarters.
The person who made the “bomb” apparently went to a lot of trouble to place a message on the cover of the box, police said. In letters cut from newspaper headlines were the words “Good Mourning.”
Miss Smith said she knew of no one who could be responsible for the prank. She said she noticed when she went out to the garage to get her car this morning that lights, normally left on outside the garage, had been turned off. Police said an investigation is continuing.