The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1909-03-26
MUTIVE FOR MRS.
 LORILLARD'S ACT
 NOT YET APPARENT
Coroner Says Suic de But Husband Says
 Heart Disease.
All Washington Shocked at Death of We'll Known Society Woman - Dead woman Left Letter which is Not Made Public.
Special from United Press)

Washington, March 26.-Deep mys-
 tery to-day surrounds the death of i Mrs. Caroline Hamilton Lorillard, wife of Pierre Lorillard, Jr., and a promin-
 ent society woman of this city and
 New York. The house is closed to re-
 porters and police alike so that the in- vestigation is slow proceeding to-day. Coroner Nevitt found a note in the
 woman's room evidently written just before she retired. The contents of
 this note he used as a basis for the suicide theory although he stoutly maintains that there is nothing in the note that would indicate the motive for
 her act.
 MT. LorilIard declares that his wife l died from asphyxiation due to a col lapse from heart failure after she had turned on the gas in the bathroom be- fore she could strike a match. The wOman'S body was found by her huS-
 band. The butler noticed the odor of gas and notified his employer. The body was found in the bathroom off
 Mrs. Lorillard's room, face downward
 and the gas jet wide open.
 MT. Lorillard declared he believed
 his wife was still alive and he removed
 her body to her bed. The family phy- sician was summoned and then the
 coroner. A lengthy investigation was held by that official followed by an au- topsy and late in the afternoon he in 1Or1ned the ponce department IIldl lS
 had issued a certificate of. death by suicide. What transpired during the
 hours intervening between the time pr. Nevitt was called and the time he will tell. The greatest secrecy is maintained by all who were in the house at the time.
 Society in the Nations capitol is an- xiously awaiting for further develop ments. Mrs. Lorillard had been at a dinner given in honor of the Lady Pa get of England at the palatial man. sion of Richard Townsend of Massa- chsetts avenue at which senator ana Mrs. Root, Senator and Mrs. Lodge, Secretary of the Navy and Mrs. Won L. Meyer and a number of prominent physicians were present. The guests at the dinner say that she seemed in good spirits Mrs. Lorillard left her husband, locked her room and then ev- idently wrote the mysterious note and turned on the gas. The bed had not been slept in and thv body was par tia1Iy dressed. She had taken off her party gown and slipped on wrapper. The note left by her was sealed in an unaddressed envelope.
 The body will probably be buried in Irvington Cemetery. The husband of the dead woman is president or ehe Automatic Weighing Machine Co.,, and a director in the Pierre Lorillard O., American Tobacco Co.,. and Empire Trust Co. He is a member of many prominent clubs.
 Coroner Nevftt to-day filed at the district attorneys office, his cert1hcate in the case assigning as the cause Of Mrs. Lorillard's death, suicide by as- phyxiation."
 When questioned again to-day the Coroner said: There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that it was case of suicide.' He explained that his reason for not reporting the death to the police earlier in the day was that he wished first to ascertain positively the cause This was established by the autopsy, taking also into consid- eration the contents of the letter left by Mrs. Lorillard.
 "Bury this with me unopened" This was the parting request written upon the outside of an envelope. secreted m the clothing on the dead body of Mrs Pierre Iorillard, wife of Pierre Loril- lard. tobacco magnate of Washington and New York. which was found in the bathroom of her fashionable home in Hillyer Place yesterday.
 Inside the envelope was found two notes-one in her handwriting signed "C F. L." the second in the handwrit- ing of another. There were al a few trinkets This afternoon the body Of
 Mrs Lorillard will be placed in a dramatically sealed casket. The little envelope will be re-sealed and paced therein and the last wish or the Sulcloe will be granted.
 Save to the husband and the coroner. the contents of the notes are unknown. Although a woman of wealth it is said the trinketS which Mrs. Lor1l ara asked to have buried with her were small in intrinsic worth. amounting to perhaps ten dollars in all. It is be rieyed that they were prized for their associations and that if the cont nts of the notes were known the mystery surrounding her tragic death would De