The Crime of the Century Part 19

I have often heard him urge those who are poor and of little means to join those a.s.sociations, in order to make themselves thrifty and better, and to build up for themselves a home here, and provide for their children a means to live decently afterward. Was not this patriotic? Was not this the best thing a human being can do on earth, to strive with all his power to better his fellow-man, to make his home more agreeable, and leave an inheritance to posterity? Most a.s.suredly it was; and most a.s.suredly we must conclude that his life was righteous, good and holy. And did he preserve himself unspotted from the world? He lived a public life, a life with the people and among the people. He was in every sense of the word a public man, known of thousands, as the thousands here to-day testify; and if there was anything wrong or sinful in his life, long ere this it would have been brought forward in triumph.

But now no single finger of scorn or imputation can be pointed toward him. After his life has been laid before you we know that he had a good, Christian, Catholic heart, and that his heart went out to his fellow-men, and that in all his dealings with his fellow-men he was never in any sense greatly sinful--that he was not small or mean toward or in his dealings with his fellow-men.

What better eulogy can we p.r.o.nounce upon him than this? None. We have forgotten half our duty to-day if in our presence here whilst the priest has offered up for him the holy sacrament of the ma.s.s, we have not let our own hearts go out in charity, holiness and love toward him that is gone.

Now he is powerless; his days are past, and the church has done what she possibly can for him through her prayers and sacrifices.

It remains for you to do something for him. We believe that there is a hereafter, and that there is a probation for the small defects and defilements of sin that may be upon the soul after death.

It remains for us, his friends--for there is a communion of saints--to offer up our alms, to offer our prayers and the holy sacrifice of the ma.s.s that his soul may quickly and surely find rest and peace with G.o.d eternal. That is your duty, my friends, to-day. As Catholics and Christians this is imposed upon you, and if you forget it or neglect it you are not truly his friends.

Any more words of praise will be useless for him. But your prayers, the prayers of the poor and defenseless that he helped, will go as a sacred cry to the throne of G.o.d and will not be resisted, for G.o.d will hear it and take him to the bosom of his fathers. Let us then not forget to promise that we will as friends and Christians do something for him, and in the purity of our faith let us imitate the purity of his faith, the faith that he drank in with his mother's milk and that lasted him through life. There never was a time in the a.s.sociations or organizations to which he belonged, or anywhere else, that he denied that faith, that he ever was ashamed to acknowledge that he was a Catholic and held to the tenets and belief of the church. He could say: "After my t.i.tle of Catholic my t.i.tle of patriot is prominent, and I am not ashamed to confess it to the world. I am willing to sacrifice anything in order to defend my term of Catholicity, and I am willing to do all in my power to help along the poor men of our country."

Therefore, my friends, pray for him who is gone. Let your prayers be that his soul may find rest. Remember him in your daily prayers.

Remember him in the places you used to meet him. Remember him when on your knees before the throne of G.o.d. He was s.n.a.t.c.hed from the earth without the sacraments of the church; he had not even the soothing words of the priest to bring him more quietly to his end, to help him on the perilous journey toward another life; but, as I said, he met his death in the performance of his duty, and that supplied in part the place of the sacrament.

Pray for him. Breathe his name with love; and as his body moulders in the earth, he may say to you: "Have pity upon me, you, my friends. Have pity on me, for I am now helpless and defenseless. I have no power in my own hands, but your hands are full of alms, deeds and of blessings and prayers, and let them ascend before the throne of Almighty G.o.d that I may have rest and peace. Treat all with kindness as my life has been one of kindness--treat them with charity, as my life has been one of charity. If any one say aught against me let it pa.s.s forgiven. The words of man are nothing, and pa.s.s away as the wind from the mouth. Receive them, then, and mind them not, and those who have injured me most, in the name of mercy have pity on them."

Receive, then, O G.o.d, his soul. Be merciful to him for his faith and his hope and his love.

Every head was bowed while the Chancellor gave the benediction. The strains of the organ as it rendered the dead march in Saul filled the edifice, the congregation rose to its feet, the casket was borne out, and the service was at an end.

AT REST IN CALVARY.

While the services were in progress the throng in the street had been swollen by thousands of new comers, until it extended in an unbroken ma.s.s along State street, from Chicago Avenue to Huron street. The people waited patiently for the conclusion of the church ceremony. Considerable difficulty was experienced in reforming the procession in consequence of the crush, and many old men and women, barely able to walk without a.s.sistance, were pressed against the hea.r.s.e and carriages, and with difficulty rescued from under the wheels. One hour was occupied in reaching the depot of the Milwaukee and St. Paul road--the streets, as before, being packed with spectators. Three special trains, aggregating thirty-six cars, were in waiting. On the first of these the casket was placed, the others following at intervals of a few minutes. At the stations along the route, as well as on house-tops, street crossings and vacant lots, crowds of people had congregated to see the funeral train go by. Five thousand people had gathered at the cemetery. The Hibernian Rifles formed in double column, and presented arms as the casket, and its small following of mourners pa.s.sed within the gates. This was the most solemn part of the days' proceedings. In the city the uniforms and regalia of the various organizations, the dirges of the numerous bands, and the great concourse of people had somewhat dissipated the sad thoughts and sentiments of those who had been near and dear to the dead man; but now these accessories no longer exercised their effect. Slowly the small procession, consisting only of the pallbearers with the casket, and the few chief mourners, moved toward the vault. There was not a sound save sobs, not even the mournful strains of a funeral march were heard to relieve the intensity of the silence. At the door the rifles had formed an arch with their swords, and the air was laden with the perfume of floral tributes from far and near. One of these, a magnificent lyre of roses, bore the inscription in immortelles:

THE PHILADELPHIA

CLAN-NA-GAEL

MOURN THEIR PATRIOT BROTHER.

and on the base in blue violets the single word

MARTYR.

There were no speeches, no requiem songs, no final benediction. Amid profound darkness the casket and mourners disappeared within the darkness of the receiving vault, and for a moment all was still. Then the mourners re-appeared, the gates swung to on their hinges, the key was turned in the lock, and all that was mortal of the patriot Irishman was at rest in the house of the dead. A sudden gust of wind shook the trees, large drops of rain began to fall, and the weeping of the dead man's sister was drowned by the wail of nature.

CHAPTER X.

THE CORONER'S INQUEST OPENS--A MODEL JURY--VISITING THE SCENE OF THE TRAGEDY--TAKING THE EVIDENCE--CAPTAIN SCHAACK'S COMPROMISING ADMISSIONS--PROMINENT CLAN-NA-GAEL MEN PUT ON THE STAND--ALEXANDER SULLIVAN'S THREATS--LUKE DILLON TELLS WHAT HE KNOWS--THE DOc.u.mENTS LEFT BY THE MURDERED MAN READ BY THE CORONER--A SENSATIONAL INQUIRY.

The Coroner's investigation followed close on the action of the grand jury. It was probably one of the most sensational inquests on record in this country. It occupied eight days, and the s.p.a.cious court room in the county building, which was placed at the disposal of Coroner Henry L.

Hertz, was crowded to suffocation at every session. Six men, all well-known citizens, and of a high grade of intelligence, were sworn in on May 28 to determine as to the cause of the physician's death. Their names were: R. S. Critch.e.l.l, Victor U. Sutter, Justus Killian, John H.

Van Husen, H. H. Haughan and Rudolph Seifert. On the first day, May 28, the jurors visited the Carlson cottage, the catch-basin, and the spot where the trunk was discovered. They also examined the furniture left in the cottage, the trunk, cotton batting, and other links in the chain of circ.u.mstantial evidence. Several adjournments were then taken at the instance of State's Attorney Longenecker, who held to the wise opinion that in a case of so much national importance it was best to "make haste slowly," and it was not until June 3d that the taking of evidence commenced in earnest. Mrs. Conklin, Frank T. Scanlan, Patrick Dinan (the liveryman), Jonas Carlson, Justice Mahoney, John T. Cronin (brother of the dead man), and the employes of A. H. Revell & Co., were among the first witnesses examined. They gave their evidence clearly and without reserve and produced a favorable impression upon the jury. A profound sensation was created when the blood-stained trunk was brought into the room. Police Captain Schaack was upon the stand, and his testimony developed so strongly the fact, that, through willful disobedience of instructions and gross mismanagement, the murderers had been enabled to escape, that before the close of the day an order was issued by Chief of Police Hubbard suspending him from the service for an indefinite period for "apparent wilful neglect of duty." From his own evidence, it was clear that he had failed to obey the Chief's instructions to ascertain the livery stable from which the white horse had been hired, that he had failed to call upon several witnesses whose names had been given him, and that he had allowed Detective Coughlin to pull the wool over his eyes in the most extraordinary fas.h.i.+on. The examination of the officer who had made himself famous by his work in the Anarchist case, was thorough, searching and merciless. He reluctantly admitted, that for ten days following Dr. Cronin's disappearance he did little or nothing on the case, because he did not believe that the doctor was dead. He had also allowed wilful disobedience to his orders by Detective Coughlin to pa.s.s unrebuked. After the jury had gotten through with the Captain, John Sampson, an individual not unknown to the police, swore that Coughlin had tried to hire him over a year before to waylay the physician as he was returning from a meeting at McCoy's Hotel, and "do him up." This evidence was corroborated, and it was further shown that Sampson, actuated by a sense of grat.i.tude--Dr. Cronin having at one time refused to accept compensation for medical attendance upon one of his (Sampson's) relatives--had informed the physician of his peril.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

[Ill.u.s.tration: JURORS EXAMINING BLOOD-STAINS IN THE PARLOR OF COTTAGE.]

But the most sensational features of the inquiry were yet to come.

ALEXANDER SULLIVAN AND DR. CRONIN.

Witness, after witness, many of them men of high standing in the community, as well as of unimpeachable veracity, went upon the witness stand and swore, that upon scores of occasions, the physician had expressed the opinion that Alexander Sullivan was his mortal enemy, and that he stood in eternal dread of the ex-Irish leader. Patrick McGarry for instance, an honest homespun Irishman, who, by industry, had acc.u.mulated considerable property, and who was one of the warmest friends of the murdered man, testified that on numerous occasions the physician had said to him, that Alexander Sullivan would be the instigator of his death. Less than three weeks before his disappearance, referring to the fact, that he had asked for an investigation of Sullivan's accounts, he had said, "I am taking my life in my hands.

That may prove to have been a fatal night for me, but I am determined to show up Alexander Sullivan's thievery and treachery to the Irish people, even if my life is taken for it."

The buzz which invariably denotes the presence of suppressed excitement went through the court-room when the witness made this statement, and, catching the prevalent feeling, McGarry exclaimed with fervor:

"Thank G.o.d I don't belong to any organization of which that man is a member. For I consider Alexander Sullivan to be the man who has brought shame and disgrace on the Irish name in America."

To Joseph O'Byrne, the Senior guardian of Camp 234, of the Clan-na-Gael, Dr. Cronin had said that he knew that he was to be sacrificed. To Michael McNulty, another member of camp 234, he had insisted upon more than one occasion, that he knew that Alexander Sullivan and Lawrence R.

Buckley, (the latter being a prominent member of the Clan-na-Gael) "were going to kill him." That the latter had made many violent speeches against the physician, was sworn to by Thomas J. Conway, an insurance agent. A previous witness, by the way, had testified that it was generally understood among the members of the organization, that Lawrence Buckley had given to the spy Le Caron, the credentials upon which the latter had attended a secret convention of the Clan-na-Gael.

[Ill.u.s.tration: LAWRENCE R. BUCKLEY.]

Testimony was given by a large number of witnesses, to the effect that both Alexander Sullivan and numerous members of the organization, had denounced the physician in the most vigorous terms, questioning his loyalty to the Irish cause, and expressing sentiments, which generally a.n.a.lyzed, seemed to indicate that they would be glad to see him out of the way.

SELECTED FOR A FOREIGN MISSION.

One of the most sensational episodes of the enquiry, was the examination of Capt. Thomas F. O'Connor. He had been intimately acquainted with Dr.

Cronin for several years, and firmly believing that the physician's life was in danger, had advised him to go armed at all times. O'Connor had been present at a meeting of camp 20, when charges had been made against Dr. Cronin, and a committee consisting of Buckley, Coughlin, Frank Murray, John F. O'Malley, and another man had been appointed to investigate them. These charges were to the effect that he had read, before another camp, a circular which was antagonistic to the spirit of the order. After the physician's disappearance, he had seen Coughlin, who had expressed the opinion, that he had gone to London to follow in the foot-steps of Le Caron, as a witness before the Parnell commission.

"Have you ever been requested as a member of this order," asked Coroner Hertz, "to do some secret work."

"Yes, I have," said the witness, after considerable hesitation.

"Can you tell me who asked you to do this work."

"I can not."

"Did you consult any one about doing this work."

"I did sir."

"Whom."

"I consulted Dr. Cronin."