The evening times., 1901-01-10

PHILADELPHIA. Jan. i0.-It is now
positively asserted that Rev Father Rfe-
gel was murdered and the police are said
to be in possession of conclusive prooE
that the crime was committed with
knockout drors The detectives are On
the track Of the person or persons who
administered the drug. as the identity Of
at least cae OF the guilty parties is
known and no effort is being spared TO ef-
feet his capture.
The wires have been kept hot for two
days with instructions to the police n
adjacent tiles, and detailed descriptions
CT the .a4n or men wanted have Teen
spread throughout the country On word
from the Chief of Police OF South BethIe-
hem detectives from this city were there
all yesterday, securing the outskirts cf
that city So far as could be ascertaired
last night no arrests have been made.
The information on which the police are
working was obtained from Ethel Henry
and Maud Zedwick, who were apprehended
early on Tuesday morning. and who al
terward made a confession or statement
to superintendent Quirk. Captain Miller
! said last night that no suspects were IN
confinement at the Central. but he admit
! ted that valuable information had been
! received by the police from witnesses who
had volunteered the statements The two
women are said 10 have been sent to
Mcyamensing prison
II has been known ever since the sud
| den adjournment of the inquest that the
/ coroner was in possession CT facts which
left no doubt that Father RiegeI was mur-
Z =
was permitted TO be made public that con
gestion Of the brain and heart disease were
the causes Of DEATH and that the body
/ had been robbed after II had fallen to the
pavement In explaining the reason for
! the adjournment Of the inquest, the coro-
/ ner stated that 1t was for the purpose Of
| ascerJaiaing where the priest had spent
| the early hours OF Friday night. That in
! formal ion was in the possession of the
| coroner al the time of the inquest huL
| the startling revelation made by the au-
topSy was also known. and IL WAS deter
/ mined in the interest of justice TO make
! the statement public in order TO throw the
u2urderers on the track ard allsy any sus-
piciOns they might have regarding the aC-
ticns OF the police This was only rar-
tally successful. as the perpetratcr of the
/ deed and his associate in crime If ne had
one. succeeded in escaping from the city.
All the circumstances connected with the
| finding OF the body. and tho environments
/ point directly to murder. In the first
/ place the neighborhood is one that is
/ known to the police 10 be freQuented by
most desperate gang of knockout crooks.
I II was only few months ago that one OF
/ them, who Is known 70 the police all over
the country as the leader OF q desperate
! gang CT knockout men. was arrested and
| compelled 10 leave the city for time
There we're other evidences of uur-
der which confirmed the theory OF the pc
| lice The manner in which part OF the
| clothing OF the dead priest had beeu TORI
| and disheTeled showed plainly that il wF5
| the purpose OF the murdereTS 10 show taa-
tie body had been robbed in a hurried
manner The tearing ont Of the insignih-
cant studs which fastened the yest al the
| top was another apparent attempt 10 show
| that undue haste had been used. Father
| Rifgei was heavy man, and the fact that
| he was dragged up the two steps into tn
hallway. as the police have suggested is
! not consistent with the theory OF haste II
the priest had dropped dead On the pave
| ment and afterward robbed, il Is more
| than likely that the robbers would hay-
let the body lie. and would have fed as
/ soon they had secured the pIunder. again
! Il the oyercoat had been removed on the
street It would have been necessary to
have lifted the dead body partially clear
! OF ths ground IN order to remove the coat
The theory upon which the police start
ed 70 wGTk was an entirely different ore
from that Of robbery after death They
Immediately suspected the knockout game
and proceeded accordingly. II IS q known
fact that after a man has been dcsed with
the knockout drops he sinks slowly into
a. unconscious state. He is capable Of
walking 10 a considerable distance. with
aid, before he entirely loses consciousness
The police consider that this method
vas employed in the case CT Father Rie-
gel In fact. il is considered as certain
/ that he priest was enticed 10 location
near by was given knockout drops and
robbed OF his clothing. money and jeWelrT.
/ Then he was supported TO the hallway
/ before he had become entirely helpless
aud was LETT Il his fate. IN the weak COZ
dition Of Father Riegel-s heart the dose
! proved fatal
/ Another thing which holsters up the
| theory OF the police IS The fact that there
/ were no marks on the body that indicated
a fall. heavy or light II would not have
| been possible for man to have fallen
| in such a place AMI have no marks 10
show for il The assertion that he was
dragged into the h>Il from the pavement
vas also exploded. IS there we're no
marks on the ciotling % Indicate Il
The police are satisfied that the priest
vas lured to his death by a woman
There are Witnesses who saw him on
Eighth Street with . female This was
at a late hour OF tha night. and no par
ticular attention would be attracted TO
such q common occurrence. At the time
Father RiegeI was conducted to the
hallway the streets were probably de-
serted, and II any chance passer had
seen the occurrence ne might easily con-
cIud that an intoxicated man was being
taken to his lodging by friends.
Nearly all the plunGer taken from the
person of Father RIegel has been re
covered
Virginia Board of Agriculture.
RICHMOND. Va. Jan. 1o-At a meeting
yestardav of he State Board of AgrIcuI-