Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1892-04-30
WROTE BIG STORIES.
A REPORTER WHO WAS A Ro-
MANcER OF GREAT ABILITY.

A REPORTER WHO WAS A RO-
MANcER OF GREAT ABILITY.
a bright Young 1Inn Who Had q PEN
chant for Turning Out Special Nows
That Startled Poopic-The Pioneer OF o
Clnss That Ii n3oro Common Today.
Crowley was rodhcadcd, frcckled
faced Irishman. 10 had the greatest
imagination that I ever knew of, and
could express himself flcently and grace
fully. lie turned tho quiet city of Roch-
ester upside down moro than once by
his imaginary stories. 10 worked along
about 1880, perhaps q little before.
When no came to work he was put on
tho regular apprentice lines, but soon
showed that he was too good q man to
be kept clubbing around after mortuary
notices and other truck of that kind.
He had genius for writing imaginary
stories and locating them somewhere,
with the invariablo effect of causing
people TO Goclr to the place where his
fairy tale was alleged to have happened.
One night, whom news was dull, the
city editor told Crowley to write q story
of some kind about column in length
to help fill up. Crowley sat down at his
desk and ground out o tale about thrill
ing experience that he had in the north
crn part of the city which ran like this:
Hc WIS walking down in that part of
tho city when ho heard the bell in one
of the stccplcs near by clang. 1t was
late at night, and he wondered at it and
straightway proceeded to investigate.
Flo found tho door of the church stand
ing wide open and went in.
Just as he entered the bell rang again,
and he heard noise up in the stceple.
He started to climb up, and when he
nearcd tho top an enormous rock came
crashing down through the stairway
and nearly struck him. He climbed far
ther, and another rock came down. At
last he reached tho top, where hc found
an escaped maniac, and after a desper-
ate struggle overpowered him. Absurd
as that story was, thousands of people
went down to that church on the next
morning prompted by that insane curl
osity that I$.kcs people flock to the
sceno OF any criino or casualty.
Tho success of this story gave Crow
ley cue. and it wasn't long until the
community was shocked beyond meas
urc by the details of n horrible murder
committed on n canal boat tied up ct
Fairport, which is litt's village ten
miles from Rochester al. on the Erie
canal The crime was described with u
minuteness and the names of the boat
and tao man murdered and everything
given with such apparent candor that
the police officers of Rochester were
amazed next morning to think that they
had not heard of it before, and detail
of mea Vas sont to the spot to investi-
gate. When they got there thcro was
nothing to investigate, and Crowley got
out of the scrape in some way or other
best known to himself.
Els most famous story was the next
one; that is to say, the next big ono, for
he was continually writing special arti-
.clcs. Forcpaugh's circus came to Roches-
ter one summer, and on the night of the
show a brilliant idea struck Crowley.
He went to work, and in couple of
hours evolved story about the escape
of the rhinoceros from tho circus. He
told graphically how it broke out of its
cage, eored a couple Of keepers and
started for Lake Ontario. He located
this story on tho BrinEcr farm, which
was then comparatively little settled
portion Of the city down il the north
orn part. He told of the chase that the
circus men and residents of that section
made after the animal, and described its
actions. Lie wrote Il paragraph or two
on the damage that the immense beast
had done to property and eloqucHtly por-
trayed the sufferings of number of
horses that it ripped MP.
The whole story WAS over two columns
long and made great sensation. People
ilocked down to the Brinlicr farm to sec
the ground Oh which the brute did its
bloody work, and while they found moth
ing, Crowley squared himself by print
ing another story the next day telling of
its capture, a:il as tie circus was miles
away nobody knew whether it was true
or not. This story was copied into every
paper in the country, and it gave old
Adam Fo-cpauSh tremendous amount
of free advertising. The old man was
immensely ticklcd with it and deter
mined to make use of Crowley.
Ono night tic re HEADED youth sailed
into the Office aftc1 his evening assign
mont and was told to do something or
other by the city editor. He started
down stairs TO the street and was met
By messenger boy, who handed him a
telegram. 1t read, Come to Philadel-
phia at once 70 go ahead of my show
around the world" and was signed by
Adam Forepaugh. Crowley started i'm
mcdiately for Philadelphia, without
even waiting to so back into the Office
and resign. lie went around the world
ahead of the show. was gone three years
or moro, and one afternoon walked into
the city room and said to the city editor,
.'If you don't mind, I'll so out and finish
that assignment now"
Bright us he was, Crowley was dissi-
pated and died within comparatively
short time after his return from his trip
around the world. As writer of purely
imaginary stories that read lllc Gospel
truth and as the inventor of schemes to
fill up 4. paper with sensational matter,
Crov.cy Las never been equaled in this
STATE 10 MY knowledge. If he had
taken care of himself he would have
been earning big money today on some
metropolitan papcr.-Interview in Buff
fclo Express.
Tho yvhitciish of tho Great Lakes.
The wliteGnh is, in the opinion of
most sourlnets, the most delicious fish
known to Americans The lake trout