"The Murat Temple was erected open shop in our city in 1909. The only union trades employed on it were bricklayers and ironworkers. One Friday afternoon the contractor advised us that the nineteen ironworkers and hoisting engineers had struck to unionize the job. This was during the nation-wide dynamiting reign and before the dynamiters had been imprisoned. Fearing an explosion we had electric arc lights strung about the Masonic Temple inside and out. Guardhouses were erected at each corner of the building and armed men were stationed there day and night.
One night exactly on the stroke of twelve, four destructive explosions in as many parts of the city occurred simultaneously. The contractors' planing mill, his private garage at his home, a branch library he was building and a telephone exchange he had about completed, were all blown up."