alternatehistory.com

Yes, a horrible subject, but there is a dark curiosity in me to wonder...

The Galleanist anarchists mailed thirty explosive devices to a wide cross-section of prominent politicians on April 28, 1919. It was hoped that they would all be delivered by May Day for one horrible blow against the US bureaucracy. The main problem in this plan was, fortunately, that the anarchists often forgot to include proper postage for their packages: the post office intercepted one and compared its distinctive markings to others and were able to reach all but two before they detonated.

What if the Galleanist ring-leader that organized a good deal of the plot, Carlo Valdinoci, was able to make the necessary changes to include proper packaging? How might the bombings be different? Let's assume that the post office doesn't intercept any of the packages and they all manage to find their way to their intended targets.

The one bomb that detonated was able to blow the hands off of the housekeeper that opened it, and severely burnt the wife of the Congressman it was intended for. With these kind of results, its probably that some of the following list could have died, though more than likely they will be in the minority.

  • A Mitchell Palmer, Attorney General of the United States
  • Albert S. Burleson, Postmaster General of the United States
  • William H. Lamar, Solicitor of the Post Office
  • Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr, United States Supreme Court justice
  • William B. Wilson, United States Secretary of Labor
  • Anthony Caminetti, Commissioner General of Immigration
  • Fredric C. Howe, Port of New York Commissioner of Immigration
  • Lee S. Overman, United States senator, North Carolina
  • William H. King, United States senator, Utah
  • Reed Smoot, United States senator, Utah
  • Thomas W. Hardwick, former United States senator, Georgia
  • John L. Burnett, United States congressman, Alabama
  • Albert Johnson, United States congressman, Washington
  • Kenesaw Mountain Landis, U.S. District Judge, Chicago
  • Frank K. Nebeker, Special Assistant to the Attorney General
  • Charles M. Fickert, District Attorney, San Francisco
  • Edward A. Cunha, Assistant District Attorney, San Francisco
  • John F. Hylan, mayor, New York City
  • Richard E. Enright, Police Commissioner, New York City
  • R.W. Finch, field agent, Bureau of Investigation
  • Ole Hanson, mayor, Seattle, Washington
  • William C. Sproul, Governor of Pennsylvania
  • William I. Schaffer, Attorney General, State of Pennsylvania
  • T. Larry Eyre, Pennsylvania state senator
  • John D. Rockefeller, businessman
  • J. P. Morgan, Jr., businessman
  • William Madison Wood, president, American Woolen Company
  • Theodore G. Bilbo, Governor of Mississippi
  • Walter Scott, mayor, Jackson, Mississippi
  • Frederick Bullmers, editor, Jackson, Mississippi Daily News

What do you think?
Top