Democratic Sentinel, Volume 13, Number 20, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 June 1889 — A CELEBRATED CASE. [ARTICLE]

A CELEBRATED CASE.

DR. CRONIN’S STRANGE DISAPPEARANCE AND DEATH. Friends of the Dead Man Openly Charge that a Deep Conspiracy Led to His Mar-der-Chicago Police Searching for the Assassins—Many Theories. There are more rumors about than developements in the circumstances concerning the certainly brutal late of Dr. P. H. Cronin, says a Chicago telegram of Friday, May 21. That he was the victim of a murderous band of conspirators was not doubted. His brother, John J. Cronin, came here from Arkansas, viewel the bleated corpse under the trickling waters in ihe basement morgue of Lake View, and positively dec.ared that it was the remains of his I rother. Chief Deputy* Coroner Eckhardt will hold the inquest. The j urors . chosen by him are: R. S. Twitchell, Justice Killian, J. H. Vaz Duzen, H. A. Hangen, Victor U. Sutler, and Randolph Seifert. After viewing the body the inquest was adjourned to Tuesday at 10 a. m. The post-mortem examination of the remains began at 2:45 o’clock. It was conducted by County Physician Todd, Dr. F. G. Porter, city physician of Lake View, a nd Dr. L. L. Gregory. The doctors were occupied in making it until 5 o’clock. They examined the broken finger, the teeth, and other marks of identification, and made a record of their observations. They refused to say what the result of the examination was, for the reason, as they said, that they could not disclose their information until it was put in the possession of the coroner’s jury. The police have done nothing to cast light on the dark mystery. So far as capturing any one who might know anything of the foul means adopted in consummating the “removal” of Cronin, the police have accomplished nothing. Indeed, Cronin’s friends are going to ignore the Chicago police in the investigations they propose to prosecute. Pinkerton detectives held surveillance over the only man put in durance yesterday. He was the iceman, P. O. Sullivan, one of the parties to the contract which blinded the eyes of the murdered physician to the fishiness of the story under which he was decoyed from his office to his fate. State’s Attorney Longenecker talked with Sullivan, apd also wth Justies Mahoney, who had helped Sallivan to make that contract. Mahoney’s statement was taken in detail by James M. Purcell, official stenographer of the criminal court; but, according to Mr. Longenecker, not an atom of information was gleaned that had not been detailed in the press reports. The State’s attorney is only hopeful that he may be able to unearch the details of a conspiracy, of the existence of which there is no apparent doubt. The Pinkerton national detective agency has several operatives at work. In explanation of their employment it was said that Cronin’s friends did not have entire confidence in the city and Lake View detective force. It is an established fact that many of the city force are ardent Irish nationalists, and it is believed that many of them opposed the faction to which Cronin belonged. Money is rapidly pouring into the fund now being accumulated for the puipxses of investigation, and the promoters oi the investigation say there will be $50,000 easily raised for the cause. They appear determined to go to bedrock for facts, and the result of their investigation is awaited with keen impatience, as the general im pres don is that facts peculiarly startling and sensational will be spru»g. The Rev. Father Dorney, pastor of St. Gabriel’s church, who became famous in the “Times-Parnell” case, discussed the Cronin mystery yesterday. During his talk with a reporter he said: “I have formed no theory about this terrible matter and I must say that I have not had time to keep myself posted. It was a terrible surprise to me. The theory that his death was caused by his enemies in the Irish movement is absurd. If there was a semblance of truth in it I am sure that my connection with such affairs and my intimate relationship with those prominent in ti e Irish movement would have - enabled me to know something about it. It is ab- . surd from the fact that all those who were opposed to Cronin in such matters have dropped out ana have ceased to’ take any interest in it, leaving Cronin andjhis friends in control. To say that he was killed by any one connected with an Irish society would be to say that he has killed by his friends.” The possibility that the English government through its secret agents may have 1 had something to do with the Cronin mystery is not being lost sight of. IrishAmer leans generally, with this thought in view, have been closely watching developments. One well-posted gentleman said: “Scotland yard has a finger in every Irish pie. It would be queer indeed if the Cronin business proved the first ext eption. Improbable, you say—not a bit of it. Who would have believed beforehand for a moment in the horrible truth about Pifcott? There was an instance where, with the funds of the British exchequer, the highest Tory officials joined in a far-reaching, cunningly devised plot to destroy the Irish movement by ruining the leader, Parnell. Forgery, perjury, absolutely nq crime necessary was stopped at. Parnell, by whatever means, was to be shown up virtually an assassin, the confederate of the Phoenix park murderers. Details were wrought out with the utmost nicety. Climax followed c limax in a-manner dramatic beyond precedent, and slowly but surely the coils tightened around the great leader. He was delivered only by an accident. “Now,” said the speaker, warmly, “who is the beneficiary in this Cronin bus-iness—-who is the loser? Let it hurt or help person it may. the chief gain, immeasurably, is. to the Tory government of England} the main harm, far exceeding the disgrace of any individual is to the Irish national movement in America. “Let me tell you something peculiar and perhaps not a little significant The very date of Cronin's disappearance was the anniversary of the Phoenix park assassination, the identical odious event with which it was sought to connect Parnell. The London Times’ conspiracy to destroy the Irish movement at home was opportunely sprung in a time of sore need for the Tories. If the Irish movement could be ruined in America at such a crisis as the present would not the Pigott fiasco be re-

trieved and with a vengeatee* Granting the possibility of another Pigott affair, no better intended victim could have been chosen than the ex-president of the Irish National League of America. An incident, well known his career, once put him on trial for murder. Placed undet suspicion of a sirni ar crime the man would be fearfully handicapped. Cronin hat lor years boasted openly and ofien of possessing proofs of rottenness i i Irish organizations and alleged misconduct by the’ ex-pres’dent. If anything happered to Cronin, who delighted to pose as a mighty antagonist of tin Land L ague official, what could b* eas e • than to have it appear that the latter wa; responsilli? This phase of the mystery will not escape attention, I assure you, and to Irishman who bitterly ie number Pigott and Le Caron and hundreds of lesser demon; working systematica ly for years, the idea is no mere idle theory. “A check to the Parnellites now would be worth heaven itself to the Tories. Their London Times case is daily nearing an ignominious end, and closely following comes the great congress of Irish-Americans at Philadelphia, where thousands upon thousands of dollars, it has been expected, would be subscribed for Parnell. At this momentous juncture suddenly stanas revealed a horror and scandal second to none in the history of politics. A’on can draw your own conclusions. I more than half have mine.” People who are investigating and discussing the problem of Cronin s death are not dealing with those things which are intimately connected with his disappearance. They are leaving that to the detectives. They are taking facts, conditions, and theories prior to his disappearance. They point to the accepted facts that Dr. Cronin and bis friends anticipated that he would be killed. The apprehension was induced because he had been engaged for years in a relentless pursuit of others charged with a certain offense. That offense was the misappropriation of money collected by the Irish people for the Irish cause. His endeavors were directed largely against one man. He was using every means at his command ’to ruin and discredit that man among his fellow-Irish-men. These a-priori facts in the minds of these friends of Cronin indicate to them what vras done with him, why it was done, and the men who did it. But circumstantial evidence may be fatally misleading. Dr. Cronin had been for years the personal and political—lrish political—enemy of Alexander Sullivan of Chicago, expresident of the Land League. He had at • one time accused Sullivan of the misappropriation of Irish funds to the amount of about SBO,OOO. Sullivan was tried in the Clan-na-Gael for this alleged offense and acquitted. Cronin presided at that trial. The acquittal of Sullivan did not satisfy either Cronin or Sullivan. They went at each other again. Cronin was forced to the walk He was found guilty of treason to the Irish cause. But time brought swift changes. Cronin recovered himself and rallied his friends. He was reinstated ii the Clan-na-Gael. The charge of treason was wiped out. He resumed his relentless pursuit of Sullivan with an ardor intensified by the bitterness of his experience. By an accident of business the Traders’ bank of Chicago failed. It was at this bank that Mr. Sallivan did business. The books fell into the hands of a bailiff named Mortimer Soanlan. He found, it is said, that, or at about the time Sullivan was accused of having appropriated the Irish funds, he had deposited $82,000 to his personal credit. This is Cronin’s story. The murdered man’s friends now hold out an intimation that Cronin had*ecquired other proofs against Sullivan. All of these proofs he had promised to submit to a meeting the Irish National league to take place at Philadelphia in June. A trial is now in progress in London which has for its object the connection of Par/ell with the Irish secret or assassination societies. There is no prospect that it will sue eed.. There is rumor that some of the friends of Mr. Sullivan say that this $82,000 was paid to Parnell for use in those societies. They say that this being the fact, the trial being in progress, Mr. Sullivan cannot disclose what he did with this money. It wou d, they say, supply the British Government with the missing link of evidence. Among the rumo.-q is o e to this effect: When Le Caron was testifying in the Parnell trial he was asked the names of the other spies besides h m-elf. These mes that were asked for were the names of Irishmen in the employ of the British government to inform upon their fellowcountrymen. Le Caron expostulated against naming them, saying if he did so they would be killed. It was then agreed that he should submit a list of these names to the court and Queen’s counsel. This was done. From no one knows where, impalpable, unsustained, startling, the statement has gone forth that the name of Dr. Cronin was on this list of British spies. The story carries with it the statement that Cronin’s duty was to spy u| on the financial methods of the Irish societies and incidentally to create doubt and suspicion concerning the proper disposition of the money raised. Ai acceptance of this belief 4 . would make Mr. Sullivan a martyr to the machinations of a British spy. At any rate this story that Cronin was a spy is afloat. He might have been a spy. If he was a spy and was found to be one, it became the duty of patriot Irishmen to “remove” him. That, at all events, if understood to be their belief. There is provision, it is said, for just such emergencies in the constitutions of the Irish societies. “Remove” means kill, abduct, assassinate—anything to put a man out of the way. It might te that he was killed because he was indeed an informer. Or, it might be that in order to secure his “removal” this story about his being a Spy was fabricated and launched upon the sea of rumor. It might be that Cronin was not a spy but that the men men who killed him believed that he was. They might have been deceived.

Henry Irving and Ellen Terry talk of making a tour through the chief cities of Germany, playing “Faust.” Miss Nellie Cushman is said to he rt fine mining expert. She is knowi* throughout Arizona. The famous Portland necklace will at last be worn by the Duchess of Portland.