The Washington herald., 1921-06-19
Bodies Found in Room
With Window and
Door Closed.
WIFE AND MOTHER
AWAY FROM HOME
Quartet Dead Almost Ten
Hours in G Street
Rooming House.

With the window and door closed
tightly and with Illuminating gas
escaping from an open jet, the life
less bodies Of Samuel r. Crawford.
and his three young daughters.
Caroline. years old, Charlotte. )
years old. and Evelyn. years old,
were discovered shortly before last
midnight on the third floor OF their
rooming house. sos G street south
west.
mother Of the Inflated quartet. Ia
employed at the Bureau Of EngraV-
ing and Printing. According TO the
police she left the house shortly af-
ter 8 o'clock yesterday morning for
work and had not returned 70 tho
house at an early hour this morn
ing.
Upon investigation police found
lollypops lying beside the bodies OF
the three chfldreS. The bodies OF
two of tn children were lying on
pillows. while that Of the third
stretched out on the floor.
The bodies were found by Miss
Mabel Bingler. II years old. who
also lives at the G street address
when she went to her third floor
room to retire. Upon reaching the
third floor. Miss Bingler traced an
odor of gas to the small front room
where the bodies were discovered
and pushing the door aside a short
distance she beheld the gruesoms
sight.
She notified others in the house
and a call was sent to the Fourth
precinct police station. Policeman
/. II. johnson and Precinct Detse-
tive o. w. Mansfield responded and
took charge of the investigation.
Dead About Ten Hours
An ambulance from the Emer-
gency Hospital responded to a call
and upon its arrival pronounced the
father and three children dead. Ac-
cording to Detective Mansfield. the
ambulance surgeon said that the
quartet had been dead about ten
hours.
According to the police. Crawford
had been previously separated from
his wife She went TO the G street
house about seven months ago
About seven weeks ago a recon-
cilIatica Va seected and the hus-
band who is a Capitol Traction Co.
CONDUCTOR Also went " ANN O. NHS
house
The Cranfords occupied ths sec
ond floor of the C street house
while the four bodies were found
in a vacant front room on the third
floor. Police and persons living In
the house were unable 20 explain
the fact Of the bodies being found
in the tblrd floor room
Bodies Close Together.
When discovered. Crawford han
his arm thrown over the body Of
his eldest daughter. while the body
of three-year-old Charlotte was ly-i
ing near hos head The ycungesp
child was lying about two feet away
from the body Of the father.
The fact that the door and win
dow Of the room were closed pre-
sented a puzzle to the police They
went over the ground closely fol-
lowing the finding of the bodies but
were unable to come upon a solu-
ton to the affair.
Miss Bingier. who discovered the
bodies said that she noticed an odor
of gas when she returned home
from work about o'clock but failed
10 pay any attention TO the Incident.
The -Crawfords. according to the
police. formerly lived at Dorton. Va,
but efforts TO locate their relatives
this morning were fruitless.
Officials at the Navy Yard barn OF
the Capitol Traction company, said
that Crawford had telephoned to the
barn about 1880 yesterday morning
and reported sick.
Coroner hewitt viewed the bodies
shortly after they were discovered
and Detective Sergt Fred sanberg.
hnger-print expert OF the police de-
partment. took a photograph OF the
bodies, after which the coroner or
dered the bodies removed to Tie
District morxua