's rudder, it would
tear open the stern and destroy the entire ship, if not its passengers
and crew, so devastating would be the explosive force. A mine of the
size Fay used, three feet long and ten inches by ten inches, he said,
would contain over two cubic feet:

"If the mine was filled with trinitrotoluol the weight of the high
explosive would be about 180 pounds. If it was filled with a mixture
of chlorate of potash and benzol the weight would be probably 110
pounds. Either charge if exploded on the rudder post would blow a hole
in the ship.

"The amount of high explosive put into a torpedo or a submarine mine
is only about 200 pounds. It must not be forgotten that water is
practically noncompressible, and that even if the explosion did not
take place against the ship the effect would be practically the same.
Oftentimes a ship is sunk by the explosion of a torpedo or a mine
several feet from the hull.

"Furthermore, if the ship loaded with dynamite or high explosive, and
the detonating wave of the first explosion reaches that cargo, the
cargo also would explode. In high explosives the detonating wave in
the percussion cap explodes the charge in much the same manner in
which a chord struck on a piano will make a picture wire on the wall
vibrate if both the wire and the piano string are tuned alike.

"Accordingly, if a ship carrying tons of high explosive is attacked
from the outside by a mine containing 100 pounds of similar explosive,
the whole cargo would go up and nothing would remain of either ship or
cargo."

Therefore the charge made against Fay and Scholz, and four other men
later arrested, Daeche, Kienzie, Bronkhorst, and Breitung, namely,
conspiracy to "destroy a ship," meant that and all the consequences to
the lives of those on board. Breitung was a nephew of Edward N.
Breitung, the purchaser of the ship _Dacia_ from German ownership,
which was seized by the French on the suspicion that its transfer to
American registry was not bona fide.

The plot was viewed as the most serious yet bared. Fay and his
confederates were credited with having spent some $30,000 on their
experiments and preparations, and rumor credited them with having
larger sums of money at their command.

The press generally doubted if they could have conducted their
operations without such financial support being extended them in the
United States. A design therefore was seen in Fay's statement that he
was financed from Germany t