Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1899-09-09
ried the body to New Jersey and that he

rled the body to New Jersey and that he
at once left New York for the west.
Evidence also came into possession OF
certain parties in New York which tne
police knew of, but had kept secret.
proving that possession Of the body
might yet be had. 1t became known that
there were positive proofs Of identifcA-
ton in the teeth and mouth of Mr.. stew
art which were available for Mr.. Hilton,
and he was offered the safe return OF the
corpse upon payment Of the reward. He,
however. refused to accede to the re-
quest.
The writer visited ex-Judge Hilton in
his home with undeniable proofs OF lden-
LITIGATION and urged him to relax his de-
termination to arrest on sight the men
who might restore the remains, and give
them some time, at least, after the body
was returned. After examining closely
the evidence submitted, together with q
statement written by a life insurance de-
tective who had worked quietly on the
case, Mr.. Hilton was assured that the
expense of finding Kelly, the coachmaE,
: and the secret hiding place of the body
would be borne by the newspaper with
which the writer was engaged, and that
no money was needed from him.. The ex-
judge looked up in surprise and re-
marked:
"This is one of the very few instances
during the investigation of the grave
robbery when 1 have not been called
upon to pay out money for assistance.
I have spent already over 500. 900, with
out result. I will go so far as thls-I will
not apply for warrants for arrest until
As hours after the restoration of the body.
This is the very last offer l shall make.
and if it fails 1 will withdraw the offer
of a reward and cease further inquiries
in that direction"
The final search began. IT was learned
that the men who robbed the stewart
grave for a big ransom were becoming
| disheartened. and had removed the BODY
to Canada and secreted it on a barge.
awaiting the payment of the $25,OOO re-
ward. A private detective was started in
search of Cracksman Kelly, the belief be-
ing that word from him would influence
the custodians of the remains to surren-
der them.
When San Francisco was reached it
was learned that Kelly had been a sue
cessful butcher in Suffer market, but
within a short time had become inter-
ested in a mine near Tucson. Arlz.
Here the detective fell in with ex-Sur-
rogate Gideon j. Tucker, who also is
dead, and a Joint search was made for
Kelly. He was found in a mine, but he
could not speak. Death had %silenced his
voice only a few hours before the search
ers arrived, and his secret died, too. He
had engaged in a quarrel over a game of
cards and was shot through the heart.
Thousands of miles had been traversed
in vain, and one of the chief actors in
the most remarkable grave robbery OF
Tue present Century udu pdlO tAC pCAAOAAS
of his crime IN a violent leath.
L Ex-Judge Hilton recalled his offer OF
!, a reward and declined to make any FUR
Their effort to recover the remains, ana
the surviving members of the gang OF
grave thieves sent this message to him
from Montreal:
"AH offers are off. Have burned the
e Stewart body in quicklime."
S Mr.. Hilton read the message and re-
. marked to the writer:
'LWa11 hp we done all could to get
the body back, except to pay money to a
rack of thieves and trust to their al
+ legged honor to return the remains. I had
no proof that these scoundrels might not
palm off on me another corpse and escape
L with my cash. The dead, however, do not
e feel any outrage committed upon their
a inanimate clay"
Shortly before ex-Superintendent MUIR
= ray died. the writer talked with him over
the efforts put forth in this remarkable
case, and Mr.. Murray said:
u "Mr. Stewards body might now have
J been in the Garden City crypt had not
Mr.. Hilton been so determined not to q
: the promised reward unless the robbers
n We're arrested. The crime then was only
8 larceny, but no one could expect the
thieves to go to prison. The crypt is
II empty and sealed, and in my opinion
%quicklime destroyed the last vestige OF
d the body"