<P> At noon, a horse - drawn wagon passed by lunchtime crowds on Wall Street and stopped across the street from the headquarters of the J.P. Morgan bank at 23 Wall Street, on the Financial District's busiest corner . Inside the wagon, 100 pounds (45 kg) of dynamite with 500 pounds (230 kg) of heavy, cast - iron sash weights exploded in a timer - set detonation, sending the weights tearing through the air . The horse and wagon were blasted into small fragments, but the driver was believed to have left the vehicle and escaped . </P> <P> The 38 fatalities, most of whom died within moments of the blast, were mostly young people who worked as messengers, stenographers, clerks, and brokers . Many of the wounded suffered severe injuries . The bomb caused more than $2 million in property damage ($24.4 million today) and destroyed most of the interior spaces of the Morgan building . </P> <P> Within one minute of the explosion, William H. Remick, president of the New York Stock Exchange, suspended trading in order to prevent a panic . Outside, rescuers worked feverishly to transport the wounded to the hospital . James Saul, a 17 - year - old messenger, commandeered a parked car and transported 30 injured people to an area hospital . Police officers rushed to the scene, performed first aid, and appropriated all nearby automobiles as emergency transport vehicles . </P> <P> The Justice Department's Bureau of Investigation (BOI, the forerunner of the Federal Bureau of Investigation) did not immediately conclude that the bomb was an act of terrorism . Investigators were puzzled by the number of innocent people killed and the lack of a specific target, other than buildings that suffered relatively superficial, non-structural damage . Exploring the possibility of an accident, police contacted businesses that sold and transported explosives . By 3: 30 pm, the board of governors of the New York Stock Exchange had met and decided to open for business the next day . Crews cleaned up the area overnight to allow for normal business operations the next day, but in doing so they destroyed physical evidence that might have helped police investigators solve the crime . The New York assistant district attorney noted that the timing, location, and method of delivery all pointed to Wall Street and J.P. Morgan as the targets of the bomb, suggesting in turn that it was planted by radical opponents of capitalism, such as Bolsheviks, anarchists, communists, or militant socialists . </P>

Attorney general during wall street bombing of 1920