In September 1914 Berkman and Goldman split , with Berkman hitting the road in an attempt to organize " Anti-Militarist Leagues " in opposition to World War I and to federate the dispersed array of local anarchist groups into a unified organization . He arrived in California in the spring of 1915 where he became involved in the defense of Mathew Schmidt and David Caplan , anarchists recently arrested following years living underground in connection with the October 1910 fatal bombing of the newspaper plant of the conservative '' Los Angeles Times . '' Berkman became a primary organizer of the Caplan-Schmidt Defense League in the summer of 1915 and henceforth devoted the bulk of his time to this legal fight , ending his formal editorial connection with '' Mother Earth . '' The first issue of '' The Blast '' appeared dated January 15 , 1916 with cover art by anarchist cartoonist Robert Minor . Joining Editor and Publisher Berkman at the time of the 8-page magazine 's launch was E.B. Morton as Associate Editor and M. Eleanor Fitzgerald as Business Manager
fatal bombing
Los Angeles Times bombing
The Blast (magazine)