The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1906-02-17


reason Tor Crawford having concealed +
this fact was presently brought to {
light through the testimony of one Of +
the auntss who. having been induced to I
on Sunday. May 6, 1883, two days after /
the robbery, her nephew had called |
at her house, anfr given her a package, /
which he said Contained gloves. and |
which he wished her to keep for him. |
It was about this time that the papers |
contained the first news Of the robbery. /
and, her suspicious having been
aroused. she picked a hole in the pa
per covering Of the package large
enough to let her see that there was
money inside. Somewhat disturbed.
she took the package to her husband,
who opened It and found that It con
tanned 1000 In bank notes. Realfz-
ing the importance OF this discovery,
the husband told his wife that when
Crawford came back to claim the
package she should refer him to him,
which she did.
Some days later, on learning from
his aunt that she had spoken to her
husband about the package, Crawford
became greatly excited. and told her
she had made dreadful mistake. a
stormy scene followed with his un-
Gle, IN which the latter positively re-
fused to render him the money IN
I'll he was satisfied that Crawford was
Its rightful possessor. A few days
later Crawford's young friend. the
man about town. called on the uncle,
and stated that the money IN the
package belonged to him and must
be surrendered The uncle was still
obdurate; and when Crawford and his
friend became violent in manner, he
remarked meaningly that IL they made ]
any more trouble he would deliver the
package Of money to the Adams Bx-
press company and let the. company I
decide to whom 1t belonged. This
brought the angry claimants to their
senses. and Crawford's friend left the
house and never returned. Finally
CraWfordss uncle compromised the
contention by giving his nephew $500
out OF the $4,000, and retaining the
balance himself, in payment, one must
suppose for his silence. At any rate,
he kept $1,000 and also a receipt IN
Crawford's handwriting for the $500
paid to him.
Other members of the family re-
called the fact that a few days after
the robbery Crawford had left in his
aunt's storeroom valise, which he
had subsequently called for and taken
away. None of them had seen the
contents Of the valise, but they re-
mem bered that Crawford on the sec
ond visit had remained alone in the
storeroom for quite a time, perhaps
20 minutes, and after his departure
they found there a rubber band like
those used at the bank. The detec-
tives also discovered that on the 18th
of May, 1888, II days after the rob
! berry, Crawford had rented a safety
deposit box at a bank in the Fifth
Avenue Hotel Building, under the
name of Eugene Holt. On the 18th of
/ May he had exchanged this box for
/ larger one. During the following
months he made several visits to the
4 box. but for what purpose was not
/ known.
/ On presenting this accumulated evil
dence to the Adams Express company,
along with his own deductions, Robert
/ Pinkerton was not long in convincing
! n 11rrea .-sF to-
/ quired in Central America the pres
ence of some more adroit detective
than had yet been sent there. The
difficulty of the case was heightened
! by the fact that Crawford had estab-
4 lished himself in British Honduras,
and that the extradition treaty be-
] tween the United States and England
did not then, as it does now, provide
for the surrender of criminals guilty
4 of such offenses as that which Craw-
/ ford was believed to have committed.
| Crawford could be arrested therefore,
only by being gotten into another
country by some clever maneuver. The.
man best capable OF carrying out such
a maneuver was Robert Pinkerton
himself; and. accordingly, the express
4 company. despite the, very considerable
the result mus. be upcertained, author
| lied Mr. Pinkerton- to go personally
1 IN pursuit of Crawford.
Mr.. Pinkerton arrived at Balize. the
!
ruary II, 1890, nearly two years after
the date of the robbery There he
! learned that Crawford's plantation
was about 80 miles down the coast,
I a little back Of Punta Gorda. Punta
/ Gorda lies near the line separating
British Honduras from Guatemala.
and is not more than a hundred miles
| from Spanish Honduras, or Honduras
/ proper, directly across the Gulf of
/ Honduras.
Difficulties confronted Mr.. Pinkerton
4 from the very start. People were
/ dying about him every day Of yellow
/ fever. and when he started for Punta
Gorda on little steamer. the enef-
neer came aboard looking as yellow as
saffron, and Immediately began to
vomit, so that he had to be taken
ashore. Then the engine broke down
| several times on the voyage, and the
/ heat was insufferable.
AS the boat steamed slowly into
1 Punta Gorda it passed a small steam
craft loaded with bananas. Look
said one Of the passengers to Mr..
/ Pinkerton, not aware of the nature of
Mr.. Pinkertons mission, there goes
/ Crawford's launch now"
Landing at once, the detective wait
ed for the launch to come to shore,
which it presently did. The first man
! to come off was Marvin Crawford,
whom Mr.. Pinkerton recognized from
a description, although he had never
seen him. Then he saw Edward Craw-
l1ofQ step OIL dressed sInaFLiy IN
| white helmet hat, a red sash, a fine
! plated linen shirt, blue trousers, pat
/ ent-leather shoes, and so on. Mr.
Pinkerton approached and held out
| his hand.
/ 'I don't remember you" said Craw-
ford: but his face went white.
you used to know me in New
York when I examined you before the
| bank officials" said the detective
Csrawford smiled in a sicl,Iv v,-av and
said: "Oh. yes; I remember you now. -
Mr.. Pinkerton explained that he had
Travelled 5000 miles to talk with him
! about the stolen money package
Crawford expressed willingness to fur
nish any information he could, and in
L--la-..a