New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-06-17
She Insisted That Cocchi
Cellar Should Be Thor
oughly Searched
Rescued 3 from Chair
Woman Lawyer Also Devel-
oped Peonage Cases in South
for the Government
81 must get into that cellar"

Il must get INTO tnat ceIlaT.
This was the first presentment Mrs.
Grace Humiston had when she took
charge Of the search for Ruth Cruger
on April !, and it was the idea TO which
she clung she put through seven weeks
of disbursement She was laughed
at. Her theory sounded too much like
Henry Cruger, father of the missing
girl, who had won the name of"fanatic"
for his insistence upon the hunt for
Cocchi
Get Cocchi! Get Cocchil Don't talk
10 me until you get Cocchi!" he cried
over and over again.
Finally Mr.. Cruger heard Of Mrs.
Humiston and the work she did in the
Stielow case, and he asked her to help
him find his daughter.
Swore She Would Find Girl
IN get that girl, dead or alive
Mrs Humiston said, land I'll get into
that cellar first. The place where the
girl was last seen is the place to begin
10 hunt for her"
When Mrs. Humiston was seen last
night at the Fourth Branch Detective
Bureau she refused TO take any credit
for the discovery Of Ruth Cruger's
body.
Il only want TO place the greatest
emphasis on the good character Ruth
Cruger bore until the day she disap-
peared." she said. MANY a girl who
disappears is alleged TO have gone 10
the bad willingly, and. as in similar
cases. many have said the same thing
regarding Ruth | have had this opin-
ION drummed into my head until |
nearly went crazy.
decided 10 follow all clews suggest
cd by ncighborS who limited at the
presence of bad characters in the case,
but in each Investigation found moth
ing but praiseworthy conduct on the
part of this unfortunate girl
Worked on Three Theories
"When | first took up this case | de-
cided TO work on three theories. The
first was that the girl had left home
af her own voltion; the second that
She had been abducted; the third that
she was dead.
"The first theory, decided. was un-
tenable, for the reason that the girl
was not in love, and her parents kept
watch over her. do not mean they
were strict, for they permitted young
men whose intentions were good to
visit her.
'As to the second theory, | became
convinced that if she had been alb
Quoted she would have at some time
succeeded in communicating with her
family. SO from information | had re-
ceived I decided she was dead. As a
result of this decision ! felt il was my
duty TO carry on d thorough search in
the vicinity where the girl was last
seen alive.
"A week ago I asked permission of
Police Commissioner Woods 70 investi-
gate the cellar under the Cocchi shop.
Permission was granted me. and the
courtesies shown me by the Police De-
psrtment aided me greatly in a thor
ough search
Worked Without Fee
Mrs. Felix Adler, wife of the head
of the Ethical Culture Society, and
group of her friends raised a fund
which they gave to Mrs. Humiston 70
help her defray the expenses of the
NCofs AoI Nif VI ubNl ifoNutAfS Udu lNAR
since been exhausted in the search, and
Mrs. Humiston was working without
fec.
In addition to her presentment and
the fathers insistent cry. find Cocchi."
Mrs. Humiston admitted last night that
she had two or three clews which di
Jected suspicion at the Cocchi cellar.
One came from Martin Donnelly, pri-
Vate detective, who was going past the
Cocchi place at midnight on the day
Ruth Cruger disappeared and saw the
proprietor come upstairs from the base
ment
A little boy who was accustomed to
work about the shop-run errands for
Cocchi-also described how he had seen
light burning late at night in the
basement, and how cross Cocchi had
been the next morning when the boy
wanted 20 talk about the Cruger story.
Investigated Peonage Case
Mrs. Humiston was a Deputy Attor-
ney General IN investigating the peon-
age cases in the South. Once. when
travelling from Miami 70 Key West
with her detectives, shot was fired
through a window Of the train, pre-
sumably al her. but she was unhurt.
As Mary Grace Winteron she went 70
SCHOol m New YORK, and was gradual
ed from the New York Law School in
1904. Two years later, as Mary Quack-
enbos-her name after her first mar
riage-she succeeded in getting the
death sentence Of Antoinette Tolla
ccmmuted to seven and a half years.
The sentences OF Gennare Mazzella
and Of Charles Stielow were committed
through her energies, making 20 her
credit three lives saved from the cleo
tric chair
After her marriage TO Howard Hunts
ton, a lawyer. she continued her prac-
t.ce among the poor and frienddless
who seemed 20 her 20 be suffering in
justice. She is a member Of the Mutual
Welfare League Sing Sing. and presi-
dent OF the Peoples Campaign League.
an organization formed 20 fight capital