The silver blade. (Rathdrum, Idaho) 1895-1903, 1902-02-08
The EAST HAS A Blizzard BOTH THE B|DlLE BOYS DIE
THEIR WOUNDS PROVE FATAL.
Mrs. SOfrel Has "a Chance of Her Life
jack. as Long as Able, Was Very
in GOd-StOry of Their Love Az
fairs and Escape From Prison.


Butler, Pa, Feb. Sat the close of
a day of intense excitement and many
conflicting stories concerning the
chances for life of the wounded Bid
die brothers and Mrs. Kate Soffel, the
unexpected has happened. John Bid
die, who was considered the more
likely of the brothers to escape pres
ent death, succumbed first and died
at 1885 p. m. His brother Ed, who has
been unconscious all day and who was
considered in dying condition last
night, survived until IL o'clock. when
he. too, went over the great divide.
Both men died without any apparent
suffering at the close.
Mrs. Soffel developed symptoms of
pneumonia after passing through an
operation for the extraction of the
bullet. She has a chance for her life,
and unless some unforeseen complica-
tion sets in she will recover.
The death of Jack Biddle was caus-
ed by the bullet wounds in his abdo-
men and body. Early in the day
physicians thought peritonitis was the
principal danger in his case. but in
ternal hemorrhage set in and proved
fatal in short while.
AS long as he was able, Jack was
extremely talkative and was at times
boastful. But as soon as the shadow
of death began to fall on him and he
4 nvt
II know" said he, that my time is
short. and you can say for me that
am Christian and will die sincere
believer in God and hope l will have
strength enough to say SO at the last.
| know l have taken part in many
any man, and was never implicated
with any one who did. l wish l could
see Mrs. Kahney. | would tell her the
truth about the killing of her husband.
This life has been pretty tough to me,
and the end can not come too quick,
and l don't care how
| A sister of the Biddles arrived in
town and was admitted to the jail, but
Ed was unable to recognize her.
After a consultation at the hospital
in the case of Mrs. Soffel District At
torney Haymaker decided to allow the
woman to remain here, as her condi-
ton is such that the trip to Pittsburg
might be attended with fatal results.
Mrs. Soffel is suffering much from her
wound, and the attending physicians
fear that her removal now would
cause gangrene to set in.
Excitement continued unabated and
a dense crowd of people hung about
the jail doors all day trying to get in
to see the two criminals. The most
persistent of the crowd were women,
many of whom expressed the deepest
concern and sympathy for Ed Biddle,
and declared their belief in his inno-
cence. This belief seemed to deepen
when it became known that Ed Bid
die made a deathbed confession to
Rev. Father Walsh of this place last
night, declaring his innocence of the
crime of shooting Groceryman Kah-
ney and Detective Fitzgerald.
A lost letter from Ed Biddle to his
prison sweetheart, Mrs. Kate Soffel,
found in the snow near the bloody
scene of their capture, reveals the
long, careful plot for their escape
from the Allegheny county Jail. The
letter clearly shows the hazardous un,
dertakings of the infatuated woman
to secure the escape of the Biddles
Since December 2, 1901, they had been
making preparations to escape. The
epistle tells how Mrs. Soffel carried
the saws to the cells of the Biddles
. 1t manifests the extreme infatuation
of Mrs. Soffel for the murderer and
burglar. 1t clearly shows the wonder
, full influence Ed Biddle had over Mrs
Soffel.
, Mrs. Soffel fell in love with Ed Bid
die in November. The burglar soon
realized his power over her. It was
, not long until he started to write love
letters to her. His affection was re
: ciprocated. Mrs. Soffel fell madly ir
. love with Ed Biddle and about the
Z early part of December he proposed 6
t plan of escape to her.
: She consented to lend him her aid
/. Between December IA and 16 they hat
e completed all arrangements to escape
from the Jail. Then they learned o.
: the governors respite. After this Et
e Biddle almost persuaded Mrs. Soffel t.
Q fly with him and his brother. Th'
e contents of the letter show it was or
+ iginally agreed that Mrs. Soffel wal
e to leave the city for Canada on th'
eve of the boys escape.
The letter in part follows:
l. 1--WE were searched pretty close to
} day and these fellows would swear ol
s a stack of Bibles 10 feet high that w
S could not have the stuff on us sine
e Saturday. See that you clear your
d self of all suspicion, without the felloy
y where you bought the saws woul
l. come to the surface. They neve
n could convict you. but some peopl
might suspect you. That would Gu