Bomb scare evacuates city bldg.

A bomb scare at the Penn Mutual Building at Sixth and Walnut streets yesterday afternoon turned out to be nothing more than a "milk carton of crap," Philadelphia Police Lieutenant William Schmin said. Hundreds of lawyers, judges, CoreStates bankers and administrative employees working in the Penn Mutual Building were forced to evacuate at noon when a bank worker found a "suspicious package" sent though the mail on the second floor. The package -- which bore no return address -- contained a milk carton filled with "wires and rocks and black granules of powder that were made of components similar to gun powder," Philadelphia Police Lieutenant Jim McGinty said. "Nothing in the package was explosive," McGinty said, adding that the package seemed to be a "hoax just to give them a scare." But, few people working at CoreStates or in other parts of the tall office building seemed scared. Larry Keller, an attorney working on the 12th floor of the building, said he "didn't make too much of it" when the fire alarms began to sound. He thought from the beginning that the bomb scare was "phony." CoreStates employee Laura Hammer said she thought the evacuation was "only a drill." But even when she learned the reason for the evacuation, Hammer was not fazed. "I've got my coat, my purse and my social security check, and that's all I need," she said. As firefighters and police officers searched the building for any signs of danger, most of the Penn Mutual Building tenants -- who were able to enjoy a prolonged lunch hour at the Independence Hall park opposite the building -- seemed anything but concerned about the threat. Although some lounged on the benches and historic statues in the park and others stood crowding the walkways and chattering, the question on everyone's mind was "Whodunnit." And everyone had a different theory about who placed the package. Joel LaMona, who works on the 14th floor of the building,jokingly said he thought the culprit was the same person who "did such a lousy job on the World Trade Center in New York and decided to try again on a smaller scale." Eileen Quinn, a CoreStates employee, said she was sure the person who placed the package was just "really pissed off at CoreStates." Chris Kutufaris, who also works in the Penn Mutual Building, said he thinks the package was placed by a "disgruntled employee." Intermixed with the mob of the office building tenants were tourists who seemed bewildered by the entire event. Tammy Knoff, a housewife and Idaho State University student who hails from Pocatello, Idaho, said she thinks the bomb scare was "really exciting." "Nothing like that ever happened in Pocatello," she said. Her nine-year-old son, David, agreed. "I knew there was a lot more crime [in Philadelphia], but I didn't think it was this bad," he said.