The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1902-02-09

Her In Helping the biouies 10 nres~
.saiI and Joining Then In Their Dee
perate flight . Tragedy Almost With
eut Precedent in Some Aspects-Ed
DiddIe's Mysterious influence over
Women shown With Fatal Force IN
Her Sase-Her Surprising Desertion
OF Husband, children and Home-Btd
dies Conquest OF Her Begun with
Looks and Continued by Chats At His
Cell Doer-Their Codes OF Signals
Miserable Ending Of the Drama.
PIrTsBURo. Feb. Sit Is only now, with
the first thrilling excitement OF the event
over, that people are beginning fully 70
grasp the astounding character OF the
Biddle tragedy and to marvel at the psy-
Geological conditions which made 1t pos
sible. With probably every material fact
and incident that led up to II at present
revealed, there is still lowering over the
entire affair an atmosphere OF mystery
which cannot be fully Illuminated by any
of the ordinary processes OF plain, matter
of-ract reasoning.
There are in IL tho manifestations OF
strange Observation-Disclosures which do not
submit themselves to satisfactory analysis
or explanation. With every minute fact
Of the beginning. the growth and the climax
of that wretohed woman's infatuation re-
yealed, there still remains a certain dark,
uncanny something to be for
some power in itself undiscoverable to
reason, but lone the less startling in its
manifestations.
The more people ponder over IL, the more
Inclined they become 10 yield 20 that sort
Of vague uneasiness natural to the ordinary
run of mankind when brought face to face
with that which seems u~naccountable
under any known laws Of nature. And OF
one thing all are convinced, and hat is,
hat asthe like OF this story never was known
in real life before, so, in all human proba-
bility, will ii never again be matched within
the experience Of anybody now living.
1t stands alone and apart, q very epoch In
the psychology Of crime.
M THE AMAZING TORY.
It is only when told in its continuity that
the astonishing character Of the story can
be fully appreciated. As the thrilling Incl
dents of the closing act came tumbling over
each others heels ron the Geographic wires,
until the bloody climax OF the battle from
the sl~eighs-during all this swift whirl OF
action 1t was only the ~extravagantly melo-
dramatic character OF the affair that held
the attention. With this all over now, and
the two turbulent spirits who were the
cause Of 1t all asleep In one grave In Calvary
cemetery, the other side OF the strange story
the side that involves the mystery Is the
absorbing feature.
People for the first time are going back
over the whole marvellous narrative and
trying to put it all together In come sort
OF logical sequence. Furthermore. by the
light OF what she is saying from day TO day
AZ she approaches convalescenoe, they are
trying to fathom the character OF the I'M
happy creature who Is the most astonishing
personality In all the drama.
Since the tragedy on the highway which
ended in the deaths Of Edward and John
Blddle many things have been discovered
at the jail by the aid of which the full story
OF the infatuation of Mrs. Soffel. so far as
out wardly manifested, is pretty infinitely
known, BY what mental process she was
transformed from a decent wife and mother
into the mere dumb, driven slave Of a scoun-
drel and murderer whom she had only seen
through prison bars while he was await
ing the hanging that had long been his due
how this change was wrought is some
thing which the woman herself probably
would find it as hard TO explain as do others.
Leading up to this dark region Of mys-
terry in the story, every fact and incident
known must be set down in due order and
sequence in order TO understand how really
marvellous the entire story is.
THE BrDDLE BRoTHE RS.
In to first place, who were these two
criminal brothers, Edward and John Bid
die? As with most of their class, their
origin Is more or less uncertain.
Since a romantic sort OF interest began
to attach 10 them, the stories nave varied
somewhat to suit their newer and more
interesting attitude. When they were
plain burglars roaming through Wisconsin,
Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania
and leaving a wake Of pillage and prob
ably murder behind them, the commonly
accepted story about them was that they
were the sous Of a low character who lived
at one time at Amherst Vile, near Windsor,
Canada, and later near Detroit, where he
kept a drinking resort which r~ejoiced in the
name of "Biddio's He'll"
Out Of this Hell according to this
version OF their lives, the two boys, Ed
warn ara JOnh, ana sun another DrOtncr,
likewise a criminal, emerged and began
their depredations on society when they
were barely in their teens.
After their trial and conviction here for
the murders Of Kahney, the grocer, and
Fitzgerald, the detective, and %coincident
with the morbid interest which their fate
at once aroused in the minds Of a surprising
number Of women-coincident with this,
there was published a story TO the ell ect
thai the young mon were of excellent
family, but had gone wrong and had con-
cealed their real name. There IL abso-
lutely nothing to support this latter theory,
save the fact that Edward was an easy and
fluent tslker with a quick kuack for ac-
quhring tho Use Of language thai, suggested
more or less refinement, and that he had
a certain cleverness in sketchiug and in
turning verses.
The plain fact Of the case is that the
Biddles were Of low origin and did come
from Amherstville. Canada, originally.
They were Of pleasing appearance and
Edward was a maj of quick mind and de-
cided force OF character.
l.