St. Paul daily globe., 1890-02-19
SIMONDS RUN DOWN.
The Man Who Drove DR.. Gro
min to Carlson's Cottage
Under Arrest.
His Right Name Is Kelly, but
He Has a Good Many
Aliases.
lie Claims 1t Is All a Mistake,
and Valves EXtradi-
ton.
Miscpeants Douse a Girl With
Vitriol and Shoot Her
Lover.

CHICAGO, Feb. 1S.-A new and most
important link has been picked up in
tile Cronin murder case, and from all
appearances it is now reasonably Ger
tain that the great murder conspiracy
WIll be thoroughly exposed. This link
consists Of the arrest of one of the prin-
cipal actors in the terrible tragedy of
MAY 4. The man who is under arrest is
o.. b. Kelly, otherwise known as
''SimOndS" and Smith.
ST. LOUIS, Mo-, Feb. 1S.-Detective
Ihomas, of Chicago, accompanied by
two local detectives, made an import
ant arrest last night, which was kept
very quiet until to-day. The man is be-
Heyed t0\be one of the men badly want
ed III connection with the Cronin case,
and Thomas has been advised that par
ties Will arrive tonight from Chicago to
fully identify HIM. fhe prisoner gave
the name of j. B. Kelly, admitted
lie was man tor whom the
Chicago authorities have been looking,
but denied that he was Smith, Dan
Coughin's friend, who was believed to
have driven the buggy in which CrOnin
was conveyed 10 his home. He further
denied completely in the murder. De-
tCctive Thomas says his prisoner is
known in Chicago as j. B.sKeliy, but is
supposed to be the man known as Smith.
When questioned by reporters this
afternoon, the prisoner was very ugly.
He said he was j. B. Kelly, of Chicago,
but said that he knew nothing of the
eronin case, or the parties interested in
ii, except Tim Desmond, Of San Fran
cisco. lie never belonged to any Clan
na-Gael camp, and was not an active
Irish sympathiZer. He would not talk
further. except to say he had been in
St Louis about two weeks. This state
ment, however, is diSprOyed by the fact
that the detectives located him at the
Peoples hotel, where he registered the
first time Aug. 20 last, and has been
there almost continuously since. He
was Shabbily dressed, and to the hotel
people pretended to be a peddler of
books. He paid for his lodging regu-
larry, but never seemed to have much
uiOuey.
IDENTIFIED BY CHICAGO FLY COPS.
j. b. Kelly, or ''Smith, - the Cronin
suspect arrested by Detective Thomas,
OF Chicago, last night. was in more
talkative mood tonight, and said: 81
had nothing TO do with the murder of
pr. Crontn. | never admitted 10 any
one that was the party the Chicago
police were looking for. 1t is case of
mistaken identity. My first visit to
Chicago was about Feb. 10, 1889. and |
left there four months later. l was
there two months before and two
months later than the Cronin murder.
will tell you how they came to connect
fc with the Cronin murder. About
two months, think, before the Cronin
murder, my roommate gave me paper
KnoWn as the Irish Citizen. In this
paper l saw notice of Thomas DeS-
flOnd, of San Francisco, being in Chica-
90. l had known Desmond in the West,
and went TO the Citizen office, where [
asked Mr.. Finerty, the editor, about Des
mOnd. He answered me very gruffly
and l left. | made several visits on the
same mission, and my anxiety to see
linn may have cast suspicion on me. [
have not attempted to hide while here,
and am perfectly willing TO return to
Chicago without requisitiOn.' De-
tcctiVe Thomas said tonight that, not
Nithstanding what Kelly said, he was
of the opinion there was
A GOOD CASE AGAINST HIM.
When the Chicago & Alton train
pulled into the union depot tonight
Lieut.. Clark and Officer Collins. of the
Chicago department, who knew Kelly,
sllighted, aud accompanied by Detective
Thomas repaired to the Four Courts.
They at first gave fictitious names, but
later were recognized. When Kelly
was brought out both Clark and Bren-
nan nodded their heads and said: "Yes,
lie is the man." When Kelly was led
back to his cell he was followed by
Lieut.. Clark, who had brief talk
with the prisoner. but claimed to
have elected nothing new from him.
Kelly was seen after being identified.
and said: "If ever these men made a
mistake in their lives it is now. They
Go not know me and 1 do not know
Ihem.'' Later Kelly sent telegram to
friends in Little Rock notifying them
that he had been arrested for completely
i'm the Cronin murder. He also signed
papers agreeing to return to Chicago
without reQuisition. Accordingly, the
Chicago detectives, with Kelly in
charge, will leave here for Chicago to-
puorrOyv DOrniDC nj e O'Clock