Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-12-31

intendent had actually taken passage Tor
nifnseH and Crawford, and selected berths,
on an American vessel that was to sail OH
the morning of May 2 1890 but the night
before Crawford made his escape from tha
hotei, going without the money which re-
NAMED IN the detectives keeping How no
escaped Is still a matter of conjecture Tha
hotei stood on the waters edge and from
a oaicony to which Crawford had access
ne may nave managed TO spring down to a
wall built on piles. From there ho NAV
nave reached the hotel yard at the hack
ana escaped over one of the picket feucss
that separated the hotel from the adjoining
property There Is also possibility that
the Spanish soldiers were brihed: hui this
mas never been proved. and is scarcely prot.
able as Crawford at the time Of his escape
haa hot more than SO Al r.u.u,.4-,.s LIS IN
his possession.
During the following days and weeks I'M.
uring efforts were made TO recapture him.
me swamps were searched for miles, and
soldiers were sent out In all directions,
MIR. Gaylor believed that Crawford suc.
ceeded in making his escape into Guate.
mala, which was only thirty miles distant,
He was undoubtedly assisted in his escape
py the fact that people in the surrounding
region sympathized strongly with him and
would have done anything In their power to
conceal him from his pursuers. At any
rate the man was never recovered,
Several years have passed since Craw.
ford's escape. and all this time he has been
lett undisturbed in Central America where
ne has been frequently seen by people who
Ing. At last accounts he and his brother
were engaged in business on one of tho
Islands In the Mosquito Reservation OF
Nicaragua. where they were regarded "a
dangerous men by the government, likely to
lncite revolution. So strong was this feel.
ing on the part of the Nicaraguan officials
Ihat some years ago advances We're made
to the United States government to have
Crawford surrendered, the Nicaraguan Of
fcials declaring that they would gladly
give him up II a demand for his extraditiol
rl-uo 1n boz L.
Washington. For some reason the demand
has never been made, and probably never
will be.
Immediately after Crawford had made
confession, the American Exchange Bank,
realizing that there was no longer any
doubt that the robbery committed by
one of Its employees. voluntarily refunded to
the Adams Express Company the SAL 900
that had previously been paid to 1t by the
company, together with interest thereon for
two years, and large part of the expenses.
Therefore the only complainant in the case
now available would be the bank officials,
who, for some reason, have seen fit 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 pre-
Viously prepared the bogus package and
who, by previous appointment. was stand.
Ing on the stairs in the express office when
the two messengers arrived. 1t has always
been a question in Mr.. Pinkertons 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 implicated In the crime, but
he has wondered 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 az
one of the New Jersey ferries. in order to
get home early. He may, in his haste,
have allowed Crawford to go upstairs with
the vaiise unaccompanied
This would explain how Crawford found
opportunity to open the valise and make
package. Assuming that the accompltce
was standing at turn of the stairs, which
are winding and rather dusky, it is per.
fectly conceivable that such change OF
packages might have been erected with
scarcely a moments delay.
But consenting that Earle told the exact
truth. he admitted that he fingered behind
Crawford a little In ascending the stairs,
and in so doing he may have furnished
sufficient opportunity for the substitution,
AT old man going up rather steep Stars
naturally bends his head forward to relieve
the ascent, and in such position he mlghe
fail to see what a man close in front OF
Kim even was doing, The trouble with this
theory Is that 1t supposes the label on the
bogus package to have been a forgery.
There is still another theory suggested by
Mr. Pinkerton to account for the presence
of the bogus money package in the valise
when the two messengers reached the coun.
ter of the receiving department. 1t is that
Crawford's confederate had provided him-
self with second vaiise, similar In ali re,
spects 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 accomplish
ed in a second.
It has also been suggested that Crawford
might have managed the whole scheme
himself, by having prepared a valise like
the one he carried daily, arranged with two
compartments, in one of which was placed
the genuine package received from the pay
iEg-teller at the bank while out of the
other compartment was taken at the ex-
press office a bogus package previously
placed there. What makes 1t the moro
reasonable to suppose that Crawford ac-
complished the theft single-handed is the
fact that when arrested in Honduras the
bulk of the stolen money was found on his
person, while II was known that, in addi-
ton to the $4,000 then recovered he had
previously spent considerable sums in va
rious WAYS His voyage for instance must
have been expensive: and 1t was found that
he had given at various times to members
OF his family sums ranging from $50 to $50.
This would have left out of the original
Sal 900 a very meager remuneration for q
confederate.
Perhaps the most reasonable explanation
of the robbery lies In the assumption that
Dominic Earle, honest, but simple minded,
did not go upstairs at all with Crawford,
but left him at the foot of the stairs. in
fluenced by his eagerness TO get home.
beer easier than for Crawford. left alone at
the foot of the stairs, to have turned back
with the valise and gone into the back
room of some neighboring saloon or other
convenient place. where he could manipulate
the label and substitute the bogus pack
age? There is reason to think that the boz
gus package had been prepared weeks be-
fore, which would have accounted in
measure for its worn and sloyenly appear
ance. The time occupied in doing all this
need not have been over fifteen minutes,
which would not have been noticed at the
bank especially as the robbery occurred
after banking hours. 1t is highly improba-
BILE. however. that Crawford could have ac-
complished the substitution on the stairs
of the express office; for, while these are
wirding and somewhat in the shadow, they
are by no means dark. and are plainly IN
view of clerks and officials who are con-
stantIy passing. Besides that, Crawford
could not have carried the dummy package
concealed about his person without attract
ing attention, for the original package was
quite bulky being about 90 inches long, ~
inches wide and II inches thick. The boz
gus package was not quite so thick, ana
more oblong, but could not easily nave
been hidden under mans coat Finally,
even supposing Crawford did carry the bo-
gus package with him in some manner, ne