Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1889-06-07
Sullivan 5 Friends
Begin to Give Testimony in the
Cronin inquest.
THAT MUoH-TALKED-oF 100000.

The Lawyer Put It in Railway Stocks, hui
Only Lost $1,000 Out of $3.50, 900 In.
vested-Not Clan-na-Gael Funds, So a
Friend Says. but the Money of specula-
tive syndicate-The Expected Sensation
Falls Rather Flat.
CHICAGO Jnne 7.-Instead of the Cronin
inquest presenting the public with sensa-
ton yesterday, the testimony was rather in
the nature of an anti-climax. The first wit.
ness was Willard j. Smith, friend of De.
tective Coughlin. He told nothing that was
important. Then came what was expected tc
be the sensational feature of the day-the
testimony of the clerks employed in the Office
of j. L. Lester 81 Co., brokers
Sullivan's Speculative Dealings.
Stewart L. and W. j. Moore were the men.
Their testimony in brief was that from June
l, 1882, to Feb. IS, 1888, Alexander Sullivan
paid into the brokers' office the sum of about
$500 of which he received back all but
about $1,000 which represented his losses
and commissions on deals in railway
stocks In this connection a gentle
man present told reporter that Sui
livan was acting as agent for a syndi-
cate which subscribed the funds he drew
from the Traders bank for the purpose of
operating in railway stocks The gentleman
said this would be conclusively proven before
the inquest was completed
Another Clansman on the Stand.
+. L. OConnor, a member of the Clan ma
Gael, testified that Cronin had told him he
was afraid of his life on account of certain
exposures he had made of misrepresentation
Of Clan funds. He went on to say that Gro
min was tried on charge of reading some
circular to his camp. Witness said the Clan
jury was packed. and the result was the ex-
pulsion of the doctor Witness had been in
structed by man from Philadelphia whose
name he could not now remember, to hold
himself in readiness to go to England to do
secret work for the order He consulted
with Dr. Cronin about it, and the doctor
told him not to go; that there had already
been too many good men sent over
there who were now behind British bars: they
had been arrested as soon as they landed, and
the doctor intimated that they had been be-
trayed. This could only have been done by
the executive committee, as they were the
only ones who knew the names of the men
sent on this work. Witness knew Coughlin,
but had never heard him express any enmity
to DIR. Cronin. Expulsion was the highest
penalty known to the Clan ma Gael He knew
nothing of a secret trial of DIR. Cronin by
Camp 20, and did not believe there was such
a trial. He had heard that members of the
order talked secretly about Cronin, but did
not know it to be fact He earnestly de-
clared that he would do anything in his
RI ri fha
A Friend of Sullivan Testifies.
John F. Beggs, a lawyer who has figured
in the case as a personal friend of Alexander
Sullivan, and who went east on a mysterious
mission for the latter, was the next witness
Under a close cross-examination he admitted
that he was the present senior guardian of
Camp 20 of the Clan ma -Gaels There was
no roster of the camp in existence At A
camp meeting in January, he said, there
were several attacks by inuendo upon
Alexander Sullivan, and in response he
pitched into the speakers and handled them
without gloves, telling them that if they
wanted to abuse Sullivan they should men,
ton his name, and not attack him under
cover in cowardly manner. He detailed
his journeyings on the trip mentioned above
but there was nothing important elected.
He had talks with several members of the
Clan while absent. He had seen Alexander
Sullivan since his return, but not a word
passed about the finding of the body Replying
to final question Beggs said that he had no
theory regarding the murder
One Interesting Fact.
A. j. Ford, another member of Camp 20,
corroborated previous witnesses regarding
Cronin having been expelled at one time from
the order, and incidentally it came out that
James Murphy, father of the Miss Murphy
who claimed to have seen DIR. Cronin on a
street car on the night of the murder, was
member of the trial committee
The OConner who testified above is the
same O'Connor who was reported to have
said that when Cronin's body was found he
would point out the murderer