Morning journal and courier., 1889-06-17
News by Telegraph FROM ALL QUARTERS. WOODRUFF's CONFESSION Some Startling Disclosures In The Cronin Mystery. JOHNSTOWN BADLY SHAKEN UP. Property And Life Endan-
 gered By Dynamite. IA FLOOD AND CYCLONE IN KANSAS. Baccalaureate Sermons At
 The Colleges Yesterday.
IA FLOOD AND CYCLONE IN KANSAS.

| DetCCt1h UTC CtGO SC1 NAO1S At
 The Colleges Yesterday. THE GRONIN MYSTERY.
 pr, Cronfn,s Blood-Stafned Clothes l Supposed to be tn Englnnd-A New ! Confession by Wo0druM-SoMe Start- | ling nfscIosures-Hts Connections | With Ren1ans.
 ! CHICAGO, June 16.-Dr. Cronin's blood
 stained clothes are probably in London, Eng land. They were shipped, it is claimed from ! Chicago to London and consigned to some ! unknown conspirator on the other side of the ! Atlantic. This remarkable statement was ! made to the police yesterday by a man who ! claims to have full knowledge of what he is 1 talking about. According to this unknown | informant Dr. Cronin's clothes were taken 1 from his dead body and placed in box that | had been provided for the purpose. In this i box were placed all the clothes worn by the doctor at the time of his death his watch and
 chain and in fact every article of weaing ap- \ parel found on his person. This box was ! expressed to man in New York city and ! sent by him to London. It was first sent to. | New York as precautionary measure in the event that any question should arise or an l attempt be made to trace the clothes outside | of Chicago. Ia few weeks at an opportune | moment Dr. Cronin's body was to have been ! found on the banks of the Thames river in \ England.
 The body would have been in an advanced | stage of decomposition. In every material par ! ticulsr this body would have corresponded l exactly with that of P. H. Cronin, who sud- ! denly disappeared from Chicago on the night ! of May 4, 1889, who was in Toronto a few | days later and who several weeks after YVES | entertained in Paris. Uron his person pas pers were to be found which would have re- ! vealed the motive of his murder and branded | him as British spy and Irish traitor.
 Such was to have been the denouement of ! the Cronln mystery.
 NEW CONFESSION BY WOODRUFF. All previous 'confessions' of Wood1 dff, | the horse thief, who had been indicted for ! complicity in the Cronin tragedy, were eclipsed this morning in an entirely new story from him published in an extra edition ! of the Times. He contradicts and discredits ! every other statement" heretofore attlibut- | ed to him, and now appears in the role of an | ex-member of the Canadian militia, claiming | that he was trusted by Cronin's alleged mur- derers because he furnished Fenian spies ' with valuable information during one of the military raids into Canada.
 \ Woodruff says he arrived in Chicago March 26 and obtained work from a gardener on South Portage avenue not far from the Carl | son cottage, where he was taken sick. His ! narrative says: "With the intention of go- \ ing to the county hospital I drifted into ' O'Sullivsn's place. I made up my mind that ! he was fenian and reminded him of certain ' scenes during the fenian raid into Canada. | I went over during that raid as volunteer in the 24th Kent battalion, whose headquar- | ters were at Chatham. We went as far as ' fhofS T So ! the adjutant's department, and gave to \ some fenian spies who came to our camp \ such points I learned while in that ' place. That was my first connection with
 the Glan-na-G Gael. O'sullivan told me he ! would get me some work if possible. From ' there came down and went to work at Dean's livery stable.
 Woodruff says he met Detective Coughlin \ soon afterward and had drink with him, ' conveying the impression that Coughlan knew Woodruff to be 8 thief, and Woodruff \ believed the detective to be "fence". \ While walking together they met O'Sullivan, \ the ice man. O'Sullivan mentioned Wood \ ruff's request for employment and Coughlin \ quizzed Woodruff that a man in his line should want "work" Woodruff persisted \ that he wes laboring for his board and \ clothes at the livery stable. Coughlin and O'Sullivan went of together.
 "That was about the 2d of April" contin- ued Woodruff. "Melville arrived in Chicago \ about this time (this is the first mention of Melville in the 'confessionD and know this | because a day or two afterward was over on \ the south side and vent into the Owl (sa- loon), which is kept by Sol. Van Praeg. I ' went into back room and saw Melville and \ Coughlin drinking together. This was in \ the evening. I knew Melville, as had met ' him in California. He was @ great friend of Desmond and Sand Lot Kearney during the labor troubles there. After taking several | drinks together Coughlin left us, saying he had to keep an engagement" Melville and \ Woodruff, so the latter says, made the rounds E of the disreputaple houses in the neighbor- hood for an hour or more and then Melville \ took leave, saying he was stopping at Mo- Coy's hotel. Woodruff complained of being "broka" and Melville gave him g or s say ing '1 want to see you again" Two days \ after Woodruff attempted to see Melville at
 McCoy's and looked over the register and \ made inquiries of the clerk, but did not press, to see Melville, not wishing to create \ suspicion "Going north" Woodruff con- Iinues, 'I met McDougall near the north western der ot and Coughlin was with him. (This is the first mention of McDougall.) just the man I want to see." Farming to McDougall he said: "Are you acquainted"
 I replied: "Guess I ought to know \ Mac" McDougsll lined to me and said:
 "That will do. My name is Williams" :"
 I laughed and said "A rose by any other N known MoDougall or, as he now calls him.
 self, Williams as a rough and ready spirit and an old worker for the Glan-ns-Gael, al- though daring the intermediate time he had
 worked as 8 blacksmith. Coughlin and Me- Dougall had quite talk while waited.
 After talk, which I did not hear, Coughlin
 left, saying he had some business As soon
 as Coughlin left Williams said "Come on. We went over to the West Side and stayed an hour or so Williams had been paying
 for the drinks during the afternoon, and he asked me Chow are you hxedP said "I
 am nearly busted" He said you are damned fool" replied that it was mighty hard times to make dollar unless you took desperate chances and was not quite \ prepared to do that. He said: "Why don't you go down and see Alexander Sullivana" and said was not prepared to be sent to
 Europe. Williams turned to me, and look ing me squarely in the face, said 1t would not be necessary for me to be sent out of town in this case. I asked him. "What, is there
 anything on nowa" He laughed and said we seemed to be living pretty well. "He said,
 q have Iooms1a flat; in 1;1, fact have rooms
 with you.n He said, "Al right. Come to- ! nieht.n It was between 12 and o'clock ! when we arrived at No. 117 South Clarke \ street. We went upstairs and Williams
 lighted the lamp. He said. "What do you
 think of a man who can sit here and smoke N ten cent cigars ana Set pay Aoh enoklug
 themfn The he added that something good
 was going on. Referring to copy of con spiraoy pamphlet lying on the table, asked,
 "Has this anything to do with it."
 "You need not guess again, Williams re- . piled. "Tell me about this thing" l said. , HYou need not know anything about 1t. It is a deal and you will not be implicated. , Turning around and looking me straight in the face he asked: ''Are you one of them stilla" He referred to my helping the
 Fenians at the time of the Canada raid. ]
 replied: "I am as much as I ever was if ]
 am paid for it. have been playing in des-
 perate hard luck" After talking until 3 about three o'clock we went to bed. got
 up at 9 o'clock the next morning. This must have been about the twentieth oi
 ' A,,r;I 1ookad about for some