The Emporia weekly news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1881-1889, 1889-05-30
The Missouri Mail Route Contractors
in Trouble.
A Whole Family Poisoned Other
News From the Wires.

skin suspended about his Eeck was I'M
touched. On the dead mans head
were dozen deep cuts which had sew
cred the scalp and indented the skull. |
1t is the opinion of the police that Gro
min was foully murdered and by some
man who could not bring himself
to disturb Catholic trinket.
Much excitement was shown at detec-
tive headquarters when doubt as to the
identity of the body was finally remov-
ed by definite messages from Lake
view. 1t was evident from the express
sions of the officials that one of the first
objects of the police will be to investi-
gate number of suspicious assertions,
made by supposed friends OF
Cronin. Lieutenant Elliott VIII
have these people at the inquest and
detective claims that they have been
handicapped from the start by lack
of assistance from those who claimed
to know all concerning the Doctors
disappearance. Lieutenant Elliott
said soon after the finding of the body:
L will have this information
now OF there will be some ar
rests Wholly accidental circum-
stances brought the corpse to
ploy of the Lake View suburban
government have been cleaning the
bitches along Evanston avenue dur
ing the week. To-day the foreman,
Henry Roach, and two men were work
ing north of the east side of Evanston
avenue towards Fifty-ninth street and.
as they neaTed the catch basin
at the corner they noticed
strong smell of purifying flesh and
basin with his spade and uncovered
the body of DIR. CrOnin. 1t had APP
parently been hastily pitched into the
basin, for the head was underneath
and the feet and legs were up in the
opening. The place where the
corpse was discovered is about
three hundred yards from the
Argyll Park station of the Chicago &
Evanston branch of the Chicago, Mil
two or three blocks from the lake and
nearly a mile north from the corner of
SulZer street and Evanston avenue,
where the mysterious bloOd-stained
empty trunk was found on
the day after Cornin's disap-
pearance. There are four catch basins.
at the intersections OF the street, and
the body was in the one on the south
east corner. 1t seems altogether re-
markable that it was not sooner dis
covered, for the Lake View police
started out to search all the catch
basins in the big suburb the week after
| the trunk was found.
Alderman Maxwell of the Lake
View council, who was one of
the searching committee said
tonight. I'VE started out two days af-
ter Cronin's disappearance to search
every catch basin along Evanston Ave
nue.. There were fifteen men under
Captain Wing and half dozen Volun-
teers engaged in the hunt for the body.
We looked first through all the catch
/ basins in the neighbOrhOod of SulZer
| street and Evanston avenue where
the trunk was found and east
/ and west from that corner.
Then we looked through the basins
north and south along Evanston ave-
nue. but finally came to the conclusion
that the trunk bad been left for blind
and that in all likelihood the body had
been hidden some distance away. We
then went to Graceland and looked
| through the basins for half mile up
| and down the avenue and along
| the cross streets and worked FIVE or six
days before giving up the search. By
more bad luck we stopped two blocks
! north of Fifty-ninth street and cOnse-
| quently missed the catch basin where
the body was hid.
Immediately on taking the body out
1 the Lake View police station and sum-
moned patrol wagon. The body
| was stretched out in the Lake View
morgue which occupies the front room
i in the basement under the station.
The telephone messages were sent to
L the city police and an hour after the find
/ of the body dozen of CrOnin'S friends
were at the station. The three Seaman
brothers who have been intimate with
4 fI,sA- h.
| arrived. They all but positively iden-
titled the body as that of Cronin upon
| first sight. Later it was unQualifiedly
by COnkling the saloon keeper with
whom Cronin lived and by Jas. Boland
and Patrick mccarthy. During the
| evening DIR. j II. Brandt, president OF
the Cook county hospital staff who was
an acquaintance of Cronin'S carefully
examined the body and positively iden-
titled it as that of the missing man.
CHICAGO, May pa can unravel
this trunk my stery in forty eight hours
and when you clear that up you cleaI
| uD the Cronin my stery." This is what
Frank Woodruff, or Black, he some
times calls himslf, said to reporter
last night in the county jail were he is
prisoner. why do you say that?'
askt the reporter. because | know
it. 1 won't give my reasons, but know
| L
| gestions, and not thought me liar.
the whole affair would have been
cleared,up week ago. I'll admit that
l know more than have thus far told
/ of this whole business, but if l do tell
all l know, and the officers run it down.
I'll still be held for horse stealing. .
The reporter here suggested that the
friends of the doctor would see him
through this horse stealing business if
Il hn nj
min mystery. Yes, perhaps
they would" Woodruff answered.
slowly And I'll tell you what I'll do.
If the police will send two men dressed
as citizens to accompany me apparent
ly free, I'll agree to turn up such evil
dence as will clear the mystery up in
forty eight hours. l ask no reward
except my liberty. l maintain that il
the body found was that OF Cronin he
must have been killed later than the
date on which 1 hauled the trunk
A close examination of the body will
no donbt reveal this" Woodruff said
all this very slowly and seemed as
though making up and weighing
carefully every word he uttered
One OF the strongest points against ths
prisoner was his description of Cronin
1t was in fact the only accurate des
cr1ption furnished of the doctor wheI
last seen. When Woodruff stated thai
the man he claimed was Cronin wore
goatee the friends of CroniT
laughed at the statement ant
said the doctor never Wort
goatee. Yet when the body wa,
found yesterday there was a goatee O
only few weeks growth. The con
clusion is drawn by the reporter tina
if Woodruff had not seen DIR. CrOniI
before the night of his mysterious dis
appearance. he must have had a care
full look at him that night, that the ap
pearance of a dead person is apt to i'm
press one most viVidly, and that wheI
! he described the man he saw at tn,
barn called DOC" it is probable tina
j Woodruff had a good view of the doc