The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1904-11-22
THEIR DEATH PATH.
Continued from Page one.)

{ Continued from Page One.)
man, Princess She also sometimes
was known as Rose Tracy. Gottlieb
Gesterling, her stepfather, was a bar
tender in the Lemp saloon in the Colo
RADIO capital, a position which he still
holds. He had married the girls
mother soon after h arrived from
Germany.
high in the railroad world and living
happily in Denver with his wife, daugh-
ter, and a 1~7-year-old son. His social
standing was of the best, and he occu-
pied a leading position in the Denver
club, an exclusive organization. in the
Colorado city.
Parker discovered thai he needed a
stenographer. Miss Gesterling who had
secured the position. e began an
acquaintance between the girl and her
employer which attracted the
of Parker's friends. He was warned
that was being caused, ond,
yielding to the solicitations of his init
mates, dismissed the s-tenographer from.
his office. He did not, however, break
off the acquaintanceship. The girl left
ly than formerly. Mrs. Parker then
was in the east.
Mrs. Parker returned to Denver last
spring and the family tangle h found,
it is said, led her to demonstrate with
her husband and threaten a suit for d.
vorce. The result was a promise by
Parker to see no more of Miss Gester-
ling, Who with her mother, moved to
Chicago and took apartments at the
Vendome.
On October 1 Parker went from Den
yer to Cincinnati to become vice presi-
dent of the Pere Marquette railroad.
His wife frequently wrote to her for
mer friends, and the cheerful tone of
her letters led the recipients to believe
the husband had returned to his amily.
There were, however, trips taken by
.Cne railroad man TO Chicago WhlGn
threw loud on the situation.
John w. Parker, not yet q years old,
was overwhelmed by the tragedy in the
family life. On July Is he went to St.
Louis and committed suicide by swal-
lowing prussic acid. In a letter he wrote
his mother at the time he is said to
have set forth the details of his fathers
association with Miss Gesterling. 1t
reached Mrs. Parker in the same hour
with the telegram announcing that the
boy had killed himself.
Friends of the family said that Miss
GeSterling had her inten-
ton of killing herself the day she re-
ceived the letter from Parker, and had
repeated it later, on receipt of a sec.
ond letter from Cincinnati notifying
her of the death of the railway official.
There is no use talking to me-
h is said to have told her mother
Il have made up my mind. There is
nothing left for me to live for" .
Before committing suicide the girl
is said to have removed a picture of
Parker from it's frame and to. have
torn it to pieces.
Name Not Gesterling.
Denver, Nov. 22.-The suicide pact
entered into by Charles A. Parker,
who died under mysterious circum-
stances in Cincinnati, and Elsie Ges-
terling of Denver has brought to light
more details in the life of the girl and
her mother. The name of the mother,
Mrs. Gesterling, was Pieper. She was
horn in HannU0r and across the street
from her lived Gesterling. They were
childhood friends and their families
were very intimate. Gesterling avs
he came to this country several years
ago, finally locating in Denver. Some
years later Elsie Pieper came to Den
Yer and they renewed their acquaint-
ance- He proposed marriage and was
accepted She told him that she had
a ~13-year-old daughter in Germany.
She told him that she had never been
married. Gesterling suggested the
girl come to live with them and she
did So That was ten The
girl was pretty and vivacious. She
used her mothers name and after her
mother. married Gesterling o his
name, calling herself Elsie Gesterling.
Miss Gesterling always passed as the
own daughter of Gesterling. She
stenography, but she was al
ways adverse to work. Her mother
encouraged her in idleness. Whenever
they had a little money they spent it
on clothes. In May, 1903, Mrs. Gester-
ling left Denver for her old home in
Hanover, Germany. She complained
of being i'll and her husband sold
some property thai he had in Denver
and with the money his wife went to
Germany to spend several month"; 1t
was shortly after her departure, Mr..
Gesterling says he noticed that his
st~epdaughter was wearing clothes
much too expensive for her purse. He
says he took her to ask n she re-
Piled:
ooh. Mr.. Parker bought me the
ct asked her why Mr.. Parker had
bought her the clothes and h simply
laughed and tossed her head. 1 re-
monstrated with her and demanded
that she give Mr.. Parker up, but she
only laughed"
He wrote to her mother and he said
she replied: Don't worry. She's not
daughter"
tfor she bore my name and I had
heard it used in an uncomplimentary
way. I told Elsie hat 1 did not like
the circumstances, and she replied
that as long as 1 was only a bartender
I ought not to be so particular. 1 re-
piled that I was particular. However.
she did not drop my name, but kept it.
I wrote to my wife again on the sub
ject and again she answered that I
ought to be thankful that I had not
to look after Elsie any longer Both
Elsie ana her motner nad trled my pa
tience on several occasions. The
mother always passed as the sister of
Elsie and never as her mother. They
leave home in the evening and
not come home until the early morn
hours. I demonstrated time and
but they only laughed. This at
last eliminated in my securing a di-
vorce. I saw that neither Elsie or her
would give Mr.. Parker up, in
fact, that they proposed to stick to