The World. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1891-1896, 1893-09-08
WROTE SIC STORIES
"A REPORTER WHO WAS A no.
MANcER OF GREAT ABILITY

/ Crowley was redheaded, freckled
faced Irishman. He had the greatest
imagination that ! ever knew OF, and
could express himself fluently and grace
fully. He turned thequiet city Of Rochs
ester upside down more than once by
/ his imaginary stories. He worked along,
about 1880, perhaps a little before.
When he came to work he was pnts0n
the regular apprentice lines, but soon
showed that he was too good man to
be kept clubbing around after Inortuary
notices and other truck Of that kind.
He had genius for writing imaginary
stories and locating them somewhere,
with the inyariable effect Of causing
people TO flock to the place where his
4 fairy tale was alleged 10 have happened.
/ One night, when news was dull, tho
city editor told Crowley TO write a story
Of some kind about column in length
to help fill up. Crowley sat down at his
1 desk and ground out tale about thrill
ing experience that he had in the north.
ern part Of the city which ran like this
He was walking down in that part Of
the city when he heard the bell in one
OF the steeples near by clang IL was
late ait night, and he wondered at it and
straightway proceeded to Investigate
He found the door Of the church stand
ing wide open and went in.
just as he entered the bell rang again,
and he heard n noise up in the steeplc
He started to climb up, and when no
neared the top an enormous rock came
/ crashing down through the stairway
and nearly struck him. He climbed far
Their, and another rock came down, At
last he reached the top, where he found
an escaped maniac, and after dcsper-
ate struggle oyerpowered 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 makes people flock II the
scene Of any crime or casualty
The success Of this story gave Grow
ley acne, and it wasn't long until the
community was shocked beyond meas
4 ure by the details Of horrible murder
| committed on canal boat tied M at
Fairport, which is little village ten
miles from Rochester and on the Erie
/ canal. The crime was described with i
minuteness and the names of the boat
and the man murdered and everything
given with such apparent candor that
I the police officers Of Rochester were
amazed next morning TO think that they
had not heard Of it before, and detail
Of men was sent 10 the spot to investi-
gate. When they got there there was
4 nothing to investigate, and Crowley got
out Of the scrape in some way or other
best known to himself
His most famous story was the next
one; that is to say, the next big one, for
he was continually writing special arti-
n cles Forepaugh's circus came to Roches-
ter one summer, and on the night Of the
show a brilliant idea struck Crowley.
He went 10 work, and in couple Of
hours evolved story about the escape
Il Of the rhinoceros from the circus. He
told graphically how il broke out Of its
cage, gored a couple of keepers and
started for Lake Ontario. lie located
this story on the Brinker farm, which
was then a comparatively little settled
portion of the city down in the north
ern part. He told Of the chase that the
circus men and residents of that section
made after the animal, and described its
actions. He wrote a paragraph or two
on the damage that the immense beast
had done to property and cloquently 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
hocked down to the Brinker farm to SEQ
the ground on 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 IL
its capture, and as the circus was miles
II away nobody knew whether it was true
or not. This story was copied into every
paper In the country, and il gave old
Adam Forepaugh a tremendous amount
of free advertising. The old man was
immensely tickled with it and deter
mined to make use of Crowley
One night the relheaded youth sailed
into the Office after his evening assign
! ment and was told to do something or
other by the city editor He started
down stairs to the street and was met
by Il messenger boy, who handed him a
, telegram, II read, Come to Philadel-
phia at once to- go ahead of my show
around the world, and was signed By
Adam Forepaugh. Crowley started ian.
mediately for Philadelphia, without
even waiting to 90 back into the office
and resign. He went around the world
ahead of the showiwas gone three years
or more, and one afternoon walked into
the city room and said to the city editor,
!, IF you don't mind, Ill go out and finish
that assignment now"
Bright as 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 like Gospel
truth and as the inventor Of schemes to
fill up paper with sensational matter,
Crowley has never been equaled in this
! state tn my knowledge, II he had
{ taken care Of himself he would have
been earning big money today on some
metropolitan paper Interview in Buff
falo Express.
The whitefish Of the Great Lakes.
The whitefsh is, in the opinion Of
most gourmets the most delicious fish