The St. Mary banner., 1907-11-09

, cemetery on Seneca Street. Affidavits
were made and submitted to the in
surance companies, demanding the
| payment of the policies. 1t seemed
that If a doubt had previously ex-
listed as to the death Of CrandaH, 1t
had now been finally removed by the
finding of the mutilated body and the
scar
The new proofs of Crandall's 8
| death were at once accepted by all
the insurance companies Interested,
| and payment of the insurance W: S
ordered. Up to this time the COM
panies had believed Crandall to be
alive, but the identification Of the
body rescued from the lower river
swept away their defense.
! Even with the corpse found and
buried, however, it was hard for Mr.
| Tiffany to believe that Crandall was
| dead. He was still unconvinced, and
he managed to persuade the board =.
| directors of his company to delay
| the acceptance of the proofs offered
and the payment of the money, the
result being that he was granted a
months time in which to make fur
ther investigation. Ostensibly bound
on a fishing trip, he visited the vicin-
ity of Queenston and talked with the
! fishermen who had found the body.
He discovered nothing to confirm his
opinion that Crandall was living. and
yet nothing to make him believe he
was dead. At the expiration of the
month referred to the Masonic Life
Association of Western New York
paid its policy on Crahdall's life.
This might we'll have been the final
chapter in the history of the Crandall
case, but it was not After the ir-
surance money was paid, it was gen.
orally accepted that Crandall had
died at Niagara, and that his body
had been reclaimed from the river
and had received burial. For
months the case had practically been
forgotten. until William B. STREET.,
Of Buffalo, well-known business
man. who had met Crandall many
times In Buffalo and knew him well,
was visiting in Los Angeles, Califor-
mia. There he saw a man he be-
lieved to be Crandall in the street,
and tried to greet him. The man
evaded him, however. walked rapidly
away, and was soon lost to sight. Be-
ing convinced that the man he had
seen was no other than the missing
Crandall. Mr.. STREET. telegraphed his
suspicious to Buffalo. and this re-
suited in reoponing of the search |
for the man who was supposed to
have lost his life at Niagara
AT last have clue!" said Sec
retary Tiffany, and l am deter
mined to follow it for all it is worth. "
A meeting of representatives Of !
interested insurance societies was ar
ranged, and an executive committee |
OF three appointed for the purpose |
of making systematic effort to find |
Crandall. This committee consist
ed OF John H. Mech, at that time |
Grand Master of the A.O.UW. for !
the State of New York; John Lythe,
Supreme Treasurer of the Royal /
Templars of Temperance; and Nelson
o. Tiffany, Of the Masonic Life Asso-
citation of Western New York. One
hundred thousand circulars bearing
Crandalls picture were printed. They
described the man accurately, and q
reward Of thousand dollars latter
wards increased to two thousand) |
was offered for information as to his
These circulars were
sent to every Masonic, AO.U.W., and
Royal Templar Lodge on the Pacific
Coast, including the British possess
sions and the Hawaiian Islands. They
were also sent to the police of the
entire Pacific Coas. and other sec
tions. Perhaps there never was a
gone about more system
for. in addition to the circu-
larizing detective papers took the
matter up and published Crandalls
picture.
The effect of it all was surprising,
Immediately after the circulars had
been sent out Secretary Tiffany was
flooded with letters and telegrams
concerning Crandall. Not only was
he launched in the detective field. but
he was fairly overwhelmed with busi-
ness. A Crandall was found in al
most every hamlet from the Isthmus
to Vancouver. In the dead Of night
Secretary Tiffany received !: telegram
stating that Crandall had been cap
tured in Portland, Oregon. There
could be no mistake, the officials
thought, and so Detective Thomas
Curtin was sent flying afte. him,
when .equisition papers had been
hurriedly obtained from the Gov
ernOr at ALBANY The fear was thar