The Crime of the Century Part 36

Members who know a wrong go around the street and go from one D. to another and talk about such an offense. Then they report, and the D. O. is a figure head. I will take no notice of any complaint unless made to me, and if I have authority under our laws, you may depend I will be on hand. I thank you for your kindness, and discipline is our only safeguard. If you see where I can act, I am at your command. My term of office will expire at this month, and G.o.d knows I am glad. I am disgusted with the conduct of men who think they should lead the Irish people. But I think it is dangerous for decent men to a.s.sociate with such scamps. Thank G.o.d, proxies no longer prevail.

"Fraternally yours, D. O. 16."

"CHICAGO, Feb. 18, 1889.

"DEAR SIR AND BROTHER: Yours of the 17th received. I have not the const.i.tution before me, and therefore can not point out the section that would cover the matter complained of; nor am I prepared to say that the act mentioned was a violation of any written law; but that it was very unwise, and such conduct as is prejudicial to the good of the order, no man in his right senses will deny. It is just such acts that keep us continually in hot water. Why, in G.o.d's name, if men are sincere, will they insist upon opening old sores? The majority of our men believe the parties charged to be innocent of any criminal wrong, and to have the charges made continually that they are guilty, creates a bitterness and ill feeling, and the man or men who continue to bring the charges are not the friends of Irish unity. What earthly good is done in continuing the old fight.

What is the reason for it? I confess I can give no answer. If we are true men, as we profess, we will rather conciliate than keep up a war which can only lead to further disunion. The rank and file are sincere. They want peace, and the time is not far distant when they will have it, even if it has to come to war. I am anxious for a better understanding among our people, and will do anything in my power to obtain unity. The matter I wrote of, I would let pa.s.s if I could, but I was ordered to notice it. Personally I think it better not to notice such things, but I am only one. The men who are the power will in time realize the motives of those who are continually breeding disorder in their ranks, and a day of punishment will come. I am very much discouraged at the present outlook, but hope no trouble will result. Fraternally yours, J. F. BEGGS."

Of testimony against O'Sullivan, there was an abundance. Justice Mahoney told of being present when the contract for professional services was made between the iceman and the physician, and Mrs. Addie J. Farrar testified that the iceman had said to her, after the disappearance, that Dr. Cronin was a British spy, and that if he had given away any of the secrets of the secret organization he ought to have been killed. Editor R. T. Stanton, of the Lake View _Record_, showed that the particular card of O'Sullivan's that had been used to entice Dr. Cronin from his home had been printed for and delivered to the iceman two days before the murder. The first evidence connecting Kunze with the murderers, or their different places of rendezvous, was given by Willie James, a sixteen-year old stenographer, who swore that he had seen Kunze wash his feet at the window of the Clark street flat in the month of March, while Mertes, the milkman, positively identified the little German as the man who had driven a big broad-shouldered man to the Carlson cottage on the night of the murder, and likewise identified Coughlin as the man he had seen run up the steps of the slaughter-house and disappear behind the front door. Kunze rocked to and fro with fury during this testimony, and glared wickedly at the witness. Coughlin's gaze never left his accuser, but his face flushed and his deep set eyes blazed.

SURPRISES FOR THE DEFENSE.

From a medical point of view, the testimony of Microscopists Tolman and Belfield, and Chemist Haines, of the Rush Medical College was exceedingly interesting. Stains from the floor of the Carlson cottage, the hair found clinging to the trunk purchased by Simonds, the hair cut from the head of the murdered man, the single thread of hair discovered on cake of soap in the kitchen of the cottage, and fresh and dried blood from the trunk itself, were the articles on which the experts had experimented. The chemist had been requested to determine whether the reddish stains were those of blood, while the task of determining the probable origin of the blood and the relation of one hair to the other was a.s.signed to the microscopists. The evidence of all three experts was conclusive. Chemist Haines had subjected the stained chips from the floor of the cottage to four experiments, three of a chemical nature and the fourth with a microscope, and the result furnished indubitable proof that the stains were those of blood, while Microscopist Tolman, by other tests, was equally well satisfied that the blood had come from a human body. Additional tests had been made on a strand of hair found on the cake of soap, and which was lighter in color in some portions than in others, while Dr. Cronin's hair was brown. The fact that the single strand appeared light in color to the naked eye seemed to indicate that it could not have come from Dr. Cronin's head, but it was demonstrated by the experts that hairs placed on soap or other alkaline substances became bleached in a manner similar to the color of the single strand.

This evidence was of vital importance as it linked the hair found in the trunk with the hair cut from Dr. Cronin's head, and went far toward proving that one of the murderers had washed his hands with the soap after the diabolical work in the parlor had been done.

A surprise was in store for the defense at this juncture of the trial, in the form of several witnesses whose ident.i.ty and testimony had not before been made public. One of these, William Niemann, who kept a saloon a block and a half south of the Carlson cottage, swore that on the night of May 4th, between ten and eleven o'clock, O'Sullivan, the iceman, with two companions, one of whom strongly resembled Coughlin and the other Kunze, visited his place and drank several gla.s.ses of wine.

O'Sullivan paid the bill, and the three men engaged in an earnest conversation that lasted some time, although they spoke so low that the drift of what they were saying could not be learned by the saloon-keeper. This evidence demolished the claim that O'Sullivan was in bed all night on the night of the murder, and although Niemann was rigidly cross-examined he held to his story without the slightest variation.

HEARD HIS DEATH CRY.

But it remained for a poor washerwoman, who was searching for her drunken husband, to furnish the final link in the chain and discover the crowning evidence against some of the men who were on trial. She testified on November 12th, and her story was one of the most dramatic and sensational of the trial. Paulina h.o.e.rtel was her name, and she was a little German woman, poorly but neatly dressed, with a thin, pinched face, but with considerably more intelligence than is usually found among people in her station of life. She wept bitterly at times while telling her story. For several years, owing to the drunken habits of her husband, her life had been full of trouble. At one time he visited a saloon near the Carlson cottage with nearly five hundred dollars in his pockets, fell into a drunken stupor, and remained in the place four days and nights. When his wife, after considerable searching, finally discovered his whereabouts, the saloon-keeper first attempted to shoot her, and then secured her arrest on a charge of disorderly conduct.

From a long recital of her domestic misery, Mrs. h.o.e.rtel went on to tell, how on the night of the murder she had started out to find her husband, who, as usual, was away from home. After going some distance her heart failed her, and she started to return. As she entered North Ashland avenue from Cornelia street, she saw a white horse attached to a top-buggy, coming toward her at a lively pace from the direction of the city. There were two men in the vehicle, and the horse was brought to a full stop immediately in front of the Carlson cottage. A tall man, with a black satchel or box in his left hand, jumped from the vehicle, and, after reaching out his arm toward the buggy as if to take something, crossed over the sidewalk toward the steps. Mrs. h.o.e.rtel was at this time on the same side of the street and walking in the direction of the cottage. As soon as the man had gotten out of the vehicle, his companion lashed the white horse into a gallop, and started back toward the town.

The tall man walked briskly up the long flight of stairs, and, upon reaching the threshold of the cottage, the door was opened by somebody within. A bright light was burning in the front room of the building, and when the door was opened its reflection was seen on the steps. Mrs.

h.o.e.rtel reached the front of the cottage just as the door closed. An instant later she heard some one cry in a loud voice, "Oh, G.o.d!" Then there was a noise that sounded like a blow, followed by a heavy fall, and again the now frightened woman heard the exclamation, "Jesus!"

The woman stood still for an instant. The light was still s.h.i.+ning through the slats of the tightly-drawn blinds, but all was as still as the grave, and, thinking that the sounds which she had heard were only those of an ordinary quarrel, she resumed the journey toward her home. A block distant, between the Carlson cottage and the little building in the rear where the Carlsons lived, she saw in the starlight the outlines of a man who was evidently on watch. Upon reaching her home she could not open the doors, her husband having changed the locks in her absence, and she was compelled to sit all night on her door-step. It was not until three days later that she was able to obtain access to her home.

Told through an interpreter, for the woman's efforts to make her broken English understood failed almost from the start, this story created a painful impression in the court-room. Every one within hearing recognized its vital interest. The white horse that had carried the physician away from his house had been traced to the door of the Carlson cottage, and the exclamation, "Oh, G.o.d!" must have been wrung from the Doctor the instant he entered the door and saw that a trap had been set for him. But it was too late to retreat, and, with a last cry of "Jesus," he had fallen beneath the blow of one of his a.s.sa.s.sins, with the name of his Saviour upon his lips.

"I heard the far-away cry of Jesus," was the way in which the interpreter made a literal translation of the statement, and every eye was turned on the prisoners. Burke's mouth opened, his face turned scarlet and his eyes rolled wildly around the court-room. Coughlin's jaws were set tightly, and he glared savagely at the witness. Beggs, O'Sullivan and Kunze, however, sat like stoics, and did not move a muscle or change a shade in color. Judge Wing, who was chosen to cross-examine the witness, occupied over an hour in an effort to confuse her as to dates and a.s.sail her as to character, but the replies were prompt and unanswerable, and when she left the stand not a word of her story had been shaken.

THE STATE RESTS ITS CASE.

[Ill.u.s.tration: c.o.o.nEY, "THE FOX."]

By this time the State had almost exhausted its list of witnesses. John E. McKennon, of the police department of Winnipeg, told about the arrest of Burke at that place, and Henry Plainskef testified that on the morning after Dr. Cronin's murder, Burke and another man whom he recognized from a photograph as c.o.o.ney, entered a store on Clark street and purchased a cheap white s.h.i.+rt and two collars. Burke, he said, kept his coat b.u.t.toned closely about his throat, and acted in a suspicious manner. Gus Klahre testified that on May 6th Burke had brought to him to be soldered a galvanized iron box fourteen by twenty-six inches, and weighing about forty pounds. He was very particular that the contents of the box should not be seen, and while the work was being done, talked freely about Dr. Cronin's disappearance, saying that he was a British spy and deserved to be killed. The clothing, instrument case and other articles found in the Lake View sewer were exhibited to the jury and identified by several witnesses. As a finale to its case, the State endeavored to introduce the inside history of the Clan-na-gael, with a view of showing Coughlin's bitter hatred for Dr. Cronin, and ex-Police Officer Daniel Brown was called to testify on this point. Strenuous objections, however, were offered by the defense, and argument on the question extended over an entire afternoon. The State's Attorney insisted upon his right to show that four years before, Alexander Sullivan, who was on the Executive Committee at that time, and was charged with the fraudulent appropriation of funds, prosecuted Cronin, that Coughlin was on the trial committee, that Dr. Cronin was tried for reading a circular that reflected on Sullivan's character, and that notwithstanding this, four years later, Beggs stood up in his camp and defended Sullivan. To this Mr. Forrest responded that the defense had no vindication to offer for the triangle, nor any attack to make on it.

They did ask, however, that Coughlin and his fellow-prisoners be tried for their own sins, and not for those of Alexander Sullivan. So far as counsel for the defendants were concerned they were willing to say "to perdition with Alexander Sullivan." They were not responsible for his acts, they did not appear there to apologize for him, but they did protest most solemnly as American citizens against the names of their clients being connected with that of Sullivan, and against the prejudice that existed against the latter being visited on the defenseless heads of the poor men who were on trial for their lives.

At the conclusion of the arguments, the evidence was ruled out by the court. The case for the State was practically closed on November 13th, and an adjournment was taken until the 16th, when one more witness was called for the prosecution. This was James Clancey, a staff correspondent for the New York Herald. His testimony was to the effect that he had called upon iceman O'Sullivan twice upon the day when Dr.

Cronin's body was discovered and urged him to go and identify it. The iceman, however, had refused to do so, being greatly agitated and making several contradictory statements which to the witness, seemed additional evidence of guilt. On cross-examination it was developed that Mr.

Clancey had been a worker in the cause of Irish liberty in years gone by, that he had been sentenced to penal servitude for life, for attempting to shoot two policemen who were about to arrest him for alleged partic.i.p.ation in revolutionary schemes, and that he had been pardoned at the expiration of ten years through the intervention of several members of Parliament. When Mr. Clancey left the stand at noon on Sat.u.r.day of November 16th, the formal announcement was made:

"We rest the case for the State."

[Ill.u.s.tration: JUDGE S. P. M'CONNELL.]

CHAPTER XXII.

THE DEFENSE TAKES ITS TURN--UNSUCCESSFUL EFFORTS TO EXCLUDE THE BULK OF THE EVIDENCE GIVEN FOR THE STATE--ALIBIS FOR THE PRISONERS AND THE WHITE HORSE--A GENERAL DENIAL OF COMPLICITY IN THE TRAGEDY--REb.u.t.tAL EVIDENCE FOR THE PROSECUTION.

Only the usual recess for lunch intervened between the closing of the case for the State and the opening of that for the defense. Mr. Forrest led off with some forty motions to exclude the testimony of as many witnesses who had been called by the prosecution, but each motion was overruled, and the usual exception taken. The first witness for the defense, Frederick J. Squibb, a stenographer, was examined with a view of showing that the evidence of several of the preceding witnesses differed materially from that which they had given at the coroner's inquest. Ex-Police Captain Michael J. Schaack, testified that Mrs.

Conklin had absolutely failed to identify the white horse and buggy, and his testimony was corroborated in some parts by Lieutenant of Police P.

G. Koch. The story of Neimann, the saloon-keeper, that O'Sullivan, Coughlin and Kunze were in his place drinking sherry wine late on the night of the murder was impeached by Jeremiah and James Hyland, cousins, both of whom swore that they visited O'Sullivan at his house on the night of Sunday, May 5th, took supper with him, remained several hours and then went over in a body to Neimann's saloon. The two men were placed alongside of Coughlin and Kunze for purposes of comparison, but few, if any, points of resemblance were to be seen between them. An alibi for Coughlin was the next thing in order, and ex-Detective Michael Whalen laid the foundation for it by swearing that he saw his brother detective at the Chicago avenue station from half-past seven until midnight on the night of the murder.

John Stift, a police officer, corroborated Whalen, but on cross-examination he destroyed the entire value of his testimony by stating that on the morning of May 5th he was put to work by Captain Schaack on the disappearance of the physician, while, as a matter of record the disappearance was not reported to the police until nearly twelve hours later in the day. Peter Koch was called in behalf of Kunze, with a view of showing that the a.s.sociation of the little German with Coughlin was due to the fact that both were working on a distillery explosion case. On the following day William Mulcahey, one of O'Sullivan's employes, testified that the iceman had told him of the contract with Dr. Cronin, and also declared that he was out delivering ice with O'Sullivan until after six o'clock on the night of the murder, that they all had supper together and that he and O'Sullivan slept together that night, both retiring late. Mulcahey positively swore that the iceman did not leave the house during the night. His testimony was corroborated by Thomas Whalen, O'Sullivan's cousin, who had lived with him for six years, and by James Knight, James Menahan and Patrick Brennan, all of whom were employed by O'Sullivan at the time of the murder. Robert Boyington, a carpenter, who boarded at the O'Sullivan residence, told the same story. Miss Kate McCormick, sister of Mrs.

Thomas Whalen, as well as the latter, were examined on the same line, and both insisted, despite the sharpest kind of cross-examination, that the iceman did not leave the house on the fatal night. The alibi for Martin Burke was started by Mat. Danahy, who testified that the defendant was at his house from six to nine o'clock on the night of May 4th, and that he shook dice with him for a long time. He added that Burke and c.o.o.ney came to his saloon on the following morning (Sunday), and remained until late in the evening, during which time they engaged in several games of "cut-throat" euchre.

Other witnesses testified regarding seeing Burke in the saloon.

Ex-Congressman John F. Finerty, M. J. Keane, John Dwyer and Matthew Brady all gave evidence to the effect that there was no inner circle in the Clan-na-Gael. Justice David J. Lyon testified that on the 22d of February in company with Beggs he called on Benjamin Harrison, at that time the President elect of the United States, at the latter's residence in Indianapolis, in reference to the procurement of an appointment for a friend to the office of sub-treasurer at Chicago. Witnesses were also called with a view of showing that the committee appointed by Beggs was a perfectly innocent one, and had no relation whatever to Dr. Cronin. An alibi for Dinan's white horse was furnished by Louis Budenbender, who had been brought all the way from Hoboken, N. J., to testify. His story was, that he was standing nearly opposite the Conklin residence on the night of May 4th, that he saw the buggy drive up and Dr. Cronin driven away; and that, having since seen Dinan's white horse, he was certain that it was not the same animal. The horse in the buggy according to Budenbender was a dark speckled gray with white legs and very different in appearance to Dinan's nag. Prof. Marshall D. Ewell, Dr. Harold H.

Moyer and Prof. Lester Curtis were called to rebut the expert testimony for the State. Mrs. h.o.e.rtel was also recalled in behalf of the defense, with a view of showing that she had made a mistake in the dates upon which she had seen the men enter the Carlson cottage, and August S.

Saltzman, a German, was positive that it was after the 8th of May when the two locks were changed on the doors of the h.o.e.rtel residence.

Additional expert testimony was given by Dr. Edmond Andrews, who said that the wounds on the body of Dr. Cronin when it was found, were not necessarily fatal. Police Officer Stift, on being recalled, admitted that he had made a mistake in his previous testimony, and that it was on Monday instead of on Sunday that the orders concerning the search for the missing physician had been issued.

The case for the defense was practically closed on November 25th. Four additional witnesses were introduced, to support the previous testimony to the effect that O'Sullivan was at home on the night of the murder, and Mertes, the milkman was recalled with a view of showing that the version of what he saw on the night of May 4th in front of the Carlson cottage, as given on the stand, was materially different from the story he had told officers Rohan and Crowe two days after the body was found.

In behalf of Kunze, J. W. Fralick, a master painter, swore that the defendant worked for him under the name of John Krogel, from April 20th to June 20th, and that on May 4th he was doing work for him in a house on 16th Street until after half past five o'clock in the evening. No evidence was submitted however, tending to show Kunze's whereabouts after that hour. Several witnesses were called to impeach the statement of old man Carlson, that when Burke rented the cottage on March 20th he went directly over to O'Sullivan's house and reported his success to the iceman. According to their statements, O'Sullivan was engaged that day in unloading several car-loads of ice at the freight depot of the Chicago & Northwestern Railway some miles away.

THE STATE ON REb.u.t.tAL.

The reb.u.t.tal evidence for the prosecution was now in order. Dr. Patrick Curran was called for the purpose of showing that James Lyman, a veteran member of Camp 20, had publicly stated that Dr. Cronin's death had been ordered by the executive, but the defense protested so emphatically against the admission of this testimony that Judge McConnell, after mature deliberation, decided that it was not admissible. Bailey Dawson, the veteran Chicago politician, whom Beggs claimed to have met in the rotunda of the Grand Pacific Hotel on the night of May 4th, was put on the stand and swore he was a patient in the Emergency Hospital on that date, and that he did not reach the Grand Pacific Hotel until May 11th, when he was introduced to Beggs by a mutual friend. This testimony was corroborated by Col. A. C. Babc.o.c.k. The story told by the Hylands was torn to pieces by A. B. Anderson, a liveryman, from whose evidence appeared that on the night they claimed to have visited Niemann's saloon in company with O'Sullivan, the place was crowded with patrons. Niemann also stated that so far as he could remember, he had never seen the Hylands in his place. Numerous witnesses swore that Salzman, who had been introduced by the defense to impeach Mrs. h.o.e.rtel, had a bad reputation for truth and veracity, was utterly unworthy of belief, and had no regard whatever for the sanct.i.ty of the oath. Numerous other witnesses were introduced to disprove various statements that were made in behalf of the prisoners.

CRONIN'S KNIVES FOUND.

One more sensation was to be added to the many startling developments of the trial, in its last stages. There was no session of court on November 27th, in order that the attorneys for the State might be afforded an opportunity to arrange the order of their arguments, and, as the following day, Thursday, was the day of National Thanksgiving, the case went over until Friday morning, November 29th. On the afternoon of Thursday, Barney Flynn, a detective in the employ of the city, and connected with the Chicago Avenue Station, went to Chief Hubbard with a remarkable story. Flynn was the man who arrested Coughlin, after the latter had concluded his interview with Chief of Police Hubbard. He took him to the armory police station and searched him in the presence of Captain Bartram. Among the other things he found in Coughlin's pockets were two pocket-knives and a revolver. These Flynn carried with him to the central station and placed in his box for safe keeping, and, when, a few months later, he was transferred to the Chicago Avenue Station, he placed them in a vault which he rented in the Fidelity Bank. There they had remained undisturbed ever since. When Chief Hubbard heard this story, he ordered the knives to be produced without delay. The attorneys for the State were advised of the facts, and T. T. Conklin, who was sent for, unhesitatingly declared that both knives had been the property of Dr. Cronin. Flynn was placed upon the stand after the noon recess on the following day and told his story.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FLYNN.]

Mr. Conklin followed the detective, and the knives were handed to him by Judge Longenecker. He glanced at the larger one, which was medium sized and with a pearl handle, and unhesitatingly declared that he himself had given it to Dr. Cronin about a year before. "I ought to know it," said the witness, emphatically, "for I carried it myself for nearly two years."

The smaller knife, a little bone handled affair, of rather a peculiar shape, was also identified by Mr. Conklin, as one he had found on the street about nine months before. He had carried it home and placed it on the mantle, where Dr. Cronin had found it and appropriated it to his own uses. Both of these knives the physician had been in the habit of carrying in the right-hand pocket of his vest.

The cross-examination by Mr. Forrest was extremely light, the witness being simply asked whether the knives were not of a very ordinary pattern. The witness admitted that he would not swear they were the identical knives that Dr. Cronin had carried, because there were many like them in the market, but he was positive that they resembled them as closely as they could do even to the number of the blades. On re-examination by the State's Attorney, Conklin said that no such knives were found at his house after Dr. Cronin had disappeared. Prior to this, at the morning session of court, Barnard F. Carberry, a bright looking young fellow, gave evidence concerning a visit he had made to Matt Danahy's saloon on the evening of May 4th, which appeared to put an end to the last vestige of Martin Burke's alibi. Lawyer Forrest was then given another inning, and introduced a long string of witnesses to counteract the evidence which the State had submitted on reb.u.t.tal.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE KNIVES.]