The Columbus journal., 1894-01-31
HER E OF MURDER.
MRS. DINAN'S VISION OF THE
KILLING OF DR.. CRONIN.

Before 1t Was K"owa Thst the Untor-
tunate Physician Had Beea Assassin.
at.d, She Had . Nightmare In Which
h Victim Appeared.
The white horse of Patrick Oman
will forever be famous-not in ro-
nance or traditional story, but in
the criminal annals of Chicago and
of the century. No imaginary horse
is he, for he is still alive and active
the dumb witness of and unconscious
actor in q tragedy so brutal and SEN
sational in its accomplishments and
incidents that the pictured horrors of
the stage fade before 1t. Its en-
vironments . II personal hate and
social and political discord carry on Q
back. for a parallel, to the weird
atrocities of the dark ages, says the
Chicago Herald.
On the second night after the
murder of DR.. Cronin. Monday, May
6-more than two weeks before the
mutilated corpse of the doctor was
discovered--Mrs. Dinan retired to a
bedroom adjoining one in which her
h-sband was sleeping. They then
L.ed over the livery stable on the
east side of North Clark street, a
little north of Chicago avenue and
in nearly a diagonal line from the
East Chicago avenue police station.
She fell asleep with nothing unusual
Sn hnn fhn,,nhfS hut nhN,,t ~S6nSrhf
felt a horror creep into her eyes and
soul. Startled by the dread vision.
into which unuttersble pity mingled,
she thought she awOke. and there by
her bedside stood DR.. C"oniu, with
blood streaming down his face like
little rivulets. as If water had been
thrown upon his head, and beside
him was the white horse which she
knew so we'll and which had borne
the doctor in the direction of Lake
View. On one side of the forehead
of the doctor she saw q hole. from
which the life blood was flowing, and
the white horse stood there tremb-
ling and detected, with head bowed
down and pointing in a direct line
toward the East Chicago avenue po-
lice station.
Benumbed with horror and over
mastering pity she essayed to speak,
but could not. She attempted to
arise to stanch the wounds of the
doctor, whose face was sad and I'M
complaining as a martyrs, but her
efforts were i'm vain. She wished to
wipe away the blood which was
trickling into and binding the eyes
of the doctor, but she could not
move. Helpless to assist. while the
desire to do SO filled her soul and
was breaking her heart, she gazed
and suffered in agony.
The white horses head kept bowed,
never changing its direction from
the police station, and the sad face
and blood -~bestreamed body of the
doctor was mOtionless. Suddenly
but calmly he lifted his right hand.
and extending it pointed the index
finger toward her. while an expires.
sion of sorrow came owe his face.
Then in tones calm. but sur
charged with sadness and pleading.
he spoke three times distinctly and
with deliberation the words: Mrs.
Dinan. Mrs. Oman! Mrs. Dinan"
There was a brief pause between
each call. As she heard the pleading
words she tried to answer Yes, doc
tori but speech vas denied her.
Near the head of her bed was a
sofa on which was a piece of white
cloth. She tried to reach it to wipe
away the blood from his face. but
could not owe. As the sounds of
the words Mrs Dinan"' we're fading
away for the third time she awoke
with the words, Yes, DOCTOR" on
her lips, and jumping out of bed she
reached for the piece of white cloth
on the sofa. But the dream was
over, the vision had vanished. and
the doctor with his open wounds
pouring out his lies blood. and the
trembling white horse with bowed
head passed away into the night
Frightened and astounded, it was
moments before Mrs. Oman
could realize that the horrible and
pitiful picture that she had seer
was but the fabric of a vision. But
dream though it was, it was none
the less a realistic picture of a mon
strous crime. Scores of witnesses
might trace every step of the white
horse the night of May 4, 1889. but
all their conclusions could not carry
as much moral weight and effect to
the mind of Mrs. Oman as did that
startling dream. And those who
noted every fact and incident in the
tragedy regarded it at the time as a
prOvidential proof of their theory
and belief.
The dream had produced such an
impression on Mrs. Oman that all OF
that Tuesday she could neither eat
nor drink, and tears kept continually
yelling up into her eyes. Neither
could she rest until all that could he
told about the trip of the white
horse Saturday night was made
known. She insisted that her
husband should tell it to all interest
cd. and, as it appeared to do no good
to tell it to the police. she urged
him to give it to the states attorney
and those active in finding out the
murderers. This was done. and had
it not been probably the white horse
would never have figured as a feature
in the trial. That whits horse of
Oman" is still alive and doing daily
duty in q Western state.
Mary MaEdalene in France.