Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-02-27
AMERICA DID IT ALL.
Sullivan and Egan Furnished the AlI-Im-
portant Evidence-Carried to Par.
nell by a Chicago Priest-AI-
most n Romance.

portant Evidence-Carried TO Par
nell by a Chicago Priest-AI-
most a Romance.
LONDON, February 26.-From gentle
man high in the authority in the prosecu-
tion of the Parnell- Times case to-day, came
the true story of how the conspiracy against
Parnell was detected. 1t constitutes one of
the most romantic and extraordinary nara
tives in the history Of politics. The evil
dence by which the conspiracy was exploded
was sent to London from distant point in
the western portion of the United States,
and without this evidence complete in de-
tail and invincible at every point, the
Times would undoubtedly have won, not
withstanding the spuriousness of the letters.
Up to July of last year Parnell, his
counsel and colleagues were wholly at sea.
They surmised, conjectured, investigated
clues and found each of them false. They
knew the letters were forged, but the for
gerIes were so adroit and the text of the let
ters, to say nothing of their penmanship
was so like the habitual phraseology Of
Egan and Parnell that it was clear the
crime had been committed by some one
having access to the correspondence of both.
But although the most astute detectives
and the most ingenious of English solicit
tors were in the case. every effort to discover
the forger proved futile, and Parnell and
his eontidants were, if not hopeless, at least
depressed and disheartened.
AMERICA TO THE RESCUE.
One day last July young Irish-Amer-
lean priest, Rev. Maurice j. Dorney, of
Chicago, accompanied by Rev. Herbert
Dunn, of the same city, sent his card into
Parne1l at the House of Commons. When
they met Father Dorney informed Parnell
that he had package to deliver placed in
his hands the night before he sailed from
New York. It contained, he said, the evil
dence that would reveal the forgeries and
identify the forger of the letters printed in
the London Times.
The circumstances under which he came
to be the bearer were singular and almost
accidental. He received a telegram from
Alexander Sullivan, of Chicago, whose
rame has figured prominently during the
trial, asking him to meet Patrick Egan at a
railway station in New York the night be-
fore he was to sail for Liverpool. He did
so. Egan said he had come directly from
Chicago, where he had been in consultation
with Mr.. Sullivan, when he had requested,
after they had gotten the documents and
their history in form, to select trustworthy
man 10 carry IQen 10 farQell.
Sullivan learned that Fathers Dorney
aud Dunn were to take the steamer that
Saturday for Liverpool, and he selected
Father Dorney to bear the message. Mr..
Egan was met at the station by Father
Dorney, who was told the duty that had
been imposed upon him. They sat up all
night.
MORE THAN MILLIONS.
The priest learned the whole story and
was able to make it clear to Parnell. He
told Parnel1 he had carried that package
with more solicitude than if it had been
millions, for if it were lost all the gold
the Irish race could send to help him in his
trial could not replace it. He expressed to
him the anxiety of Egan and Sullivan for
the safety of the package, and when its real
nature and inestimable value became ap-
parent to Parnell, the home rule leader
was deeply affected.
The depression which had been visible on
his pale face for months began to soften,
and during the recital of the story he
yielded several times to emotion. When
the story itself was over be asked with pain
FIJI apprehension how many men in the
United States, knew what the package con-
tanned. Father Dorney replied that only
Egan, Sullivan and himself were familiar
with it, but that Patrick Ford would be
taken into confidence by Egan. Parnell
was delighted.
He inquired, fearing some one knew who
might indiscreetly tell the story to warn the
Times. He was solicitous for secrecy. But
he said the gentlemen named would under
stand the need OF secrecy without a re-
quest or word of caution, and they were
all men whose names and services insured
safety. A series of interviews followed,
participated in by Dorney, Parnell, Sir
Charles Russell, Lewis and Labouchere.
EGAN's DISCOVERY.
the discovery that Pigott was the forger
was made by Egan in Lincoln, Neb., while
detectives and experts were vainly trying to
find clue in Great Britain. Egan writes
that he was sorely perplexed by the forged
letters, fac SMILES of which he got in the
London Times. The signature of those at
tributed to him was remarkably good. Ex-
pressions and odd abbreyiations peculiar to
him were in the text.
He considered as the possible forger each
of several men whom the Parnellites sug-
gested or suspected. But none of them
could have had letters from him which
would have made the spurious connections
possible. He recalled Richard Pigott, but |
he had been so long dead in politics and
covered with accumulated shame that Egan |
dismissed him from his mind. He remcm- |
bered that Pigott had been in forgeries |
many years before. But the idea that he |
might be concerned in these seemed absurd. |
In scrutinizing the forged fac SMILES he |
finally discovered that one signed with his |
own name was written avowedly at certain |
address in Paris, and the recollection flashed |
upon him that Pigott was the only man to |
whom he had given it. Plgott had written |
him asking for a confidential address to |
which he might send important communi- |
cations.
THE IMPORTANT KEY.
This address proved the key to the forg- |
cries. Egan, who is methodical in habits, |
had saved his correspondence for years. In |
stead of keeping letter press he has been |
accustomed to writing on the fly leaf of |
letter recording his answer to it, and then |
copying the answer to be sent to his cor
respondent Thus he had letter and answer
together. He searched his volumes of let
tiers until he found Pigott's. By comparing
them with the handwriting on the forged
letters he saw that he had the forger.
He submitted letters written by Pigott to
experts, together with the fac SMILES of the
forged letters. They Immediately detected
peculiarities, which were con-
frmed under the microscope. Egan had
Pigott's letters and the forgeries photo
graphed, and started for Chicago, where he
placed all the papers before his friend,
Alexander Sullivan, who Is also solicitor.
The brief was drawn up by him and Sulli-
van in the latter's Office in Chicago.
1t related the chief incidents in Pigott's
career, and showed that he had been o
forger before. Years before, when Piggott
tried to sell the hishman, newspaper, to