The Nation : Two Charged in Gun Blast

A part-time congressional aide and a decorated former Army helicopter pilot were arraigned on charges they carried a homemade 30-millimeter anti-tank cannon to a gasoline station in Arlington, Va., where it set off a gas pump explosion. Four people were injured. Officials said they were investigating what Robert G. Dilger, 54, a retired Air Force colonel, of Xenia, Ohio, and Joseph R. Donahue, 40, of Killeen, Tex., were doing with the 8-foot-long device when it accidentally discharged. Dilger had been working in the office of Rep. Denny Smith (R-Ore.) since May, 1985, said Greg Walden, a spokesman for Smith.