The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1905-12-31


| ing for the United States. Superin-
| tendent Gaylor himself was present to
see that everything was managed prop
! erly, and he was seconded in his over
/ sight by the former Pinkerton en-
| plOye. the. head Of the. secret police in
| Honduras. The final arrangements
had been made,s the government hav-
! ing taken advantage of law author
| izing the expulsion of "pernicious for
| eigners'' in order TO get rid of Craw-
| ford. The superintendent had actual
ly taken passage for himself and Craw-
ford, and selected berths. on an Amer
| lean vessel that was to sail on the
morning of May 2, 1890: but the night
before Crawford made hts escape from
the hotel, going without the money.
which remained in the detectives
| keeping How he escaped is still
| matter of conjecture The hotel stood
on the waters edge, and from a ball
cony to which Crawford had access he
may have managed to spring down TO
wall builA on piles From there he
may have reached the hotel yard at
! the back, and escaped over one of the
| picket fences that separated the hotel
from the adjoining property. There
| is also a possibility that the Spanish
| soldiers were bribed; but this has
never been proved, and is scarcely
| probable as Crawford at the time of
his escape had not more than 81 in
| Honduras bills in. his possession.
| During the following days and
weeks untiring efforts We're made to
recapture him. The swamps were
| searched for miles, and soldiers were
| sent out in all directions Mr.. Gaylor
| believing that Crawford succeeded In
making his escape into Guatemala.
| which was. only thirty miles distant.
! He was undoubtedly assisted In his
escape by the fact that people in the
| surrounding regions@ sympathized
| strongly with him and would have
done anything in their power TO con-
ceal him from his pursuers. At any
| rate, the man was never recovered.
Several years have passed since
| Crawford's escape, and all this time
he has been left undisturbed in Cen
| trail America, where he has been fire.
| quently seen by people who know him,
and where he seems to be thriving
At last accounts he and his brother
were engaged in business on one Of
| the islands in the Mosquito reserva-
! ton of Nicaragua, where they were
| regarded as dangerous men by the
! government, likely to incite revolu-
| ton. So strong was this feeling on
the part Of the Nicaraguan officials
| that some years ago advances were
made to the United States government
to have Crawford surrendered, the
| Nicaraguan officials declaring that
| they would gladly give him UP if
| demand for his extradition was made
| by the proper authorities in Washing
| ton For some reason the demand has
never been made, and probably never
will be-
| Immediately after Crawford had
made confession, the American Ex-
! change bank, realizing that there was
no longer any doubt that the robbery
was committed by one of its employees,
voluntarily refunded to the Adams Ex-
press company the $4,000 that had
| previously been paid to it by the COM
| pany. together with interest thereon
| for two years. and a large part of the
| expenses. Therefore the only COM
| plainant in the case now available
| would be the bank officials, who, for
| some reason. have seen nit to let the
matter drop.
Mr. Pinkertons theory Of the way in
| which this robbery was committed is
| that Crawford had an accomplice who
had previously prepared the bogus
| package, and who, by previous ap-
pointment, was standing on the stairs
| In the express office when the two mes
| sengers arrived. 1t has always been a
| question in Mr.. Pinkerton's mind
whether the old man. Dominic Earle,
| told the exact truth in his testimony
! before the bank officials Not that he
suspected Earle of having been impli
| Gated in the crime, but he has won
| dered whether Earle might not have
| been simply negligent to the extent
| Of leaving Crawford in sole possession
| of the valise at some time after they
entered the office. There is no doubt
| that Earle was very anxious to catch
| a o'clock train at one Of the New Jer-
sey ferries, in order to get home early.
He may. in his haste, have allowed
! Crawford TO go upstairs with the
valise unaccompanied.
This would explain how Crawford
| found opportunity to open the valise
and make substitution of the bogus
| for the genuine package. Assuming
! that the accomplice was standing at a
| turn Of the stairs, which are winding
| and rather dusky. it is perfectly con-
| ceivable that such a change of pack
ages might have been effected with
| scarcely moments delay.
But consenting that Earle told the
exact truth, he admitted that he lin
| gered behind Crawford a little In as
| eending the stairs. and in so doing he
may have furnished sufficient oppor-
| tunity for the substitution. An old
man going up rather steep stairs nat
urally bends his head forward TO re-
| lieve the ascent, and in such position
| he might fail to see what man close
| in front of him even wss doing. The
| trouble with this theory is that 1t sup
| poses the label on the bogus package
TO have been a forgery.
There is still another theory sug-
| gested by Mr.. Pinkerton TO account for
| the presence of the bogus money pack
| age in the valise when the two messefl-
| gers reached the counter of the receiv-
| ing department. It is that CrawfOrd's
| confederate had provided himself with
a second valise. similar in all respects
| TO the one used by the bank. and that
| in this had been placed the bogus
| package with a forged label, making
| the substitution a matter OF merely
changing valises, which could have
| been accomplished in a second. It has
| also been suggested that Crawford
! might have managed the whole scheme
| himself. by having prepared valise
| like the one he carried daily. arranged
with two compartments, in one of
which was placed the genuine package
received from the paying teller at the
| bank, while out of the other compart-
ment was taken at the express office
| bogus package previously placed there.
! What makes ii more reasonable TO sup
pose that Crawford accomplished the