The Washington times., 1909-06-21

women on whom his fancy had fallen,
Is well known 10 the denizens Of China
town, and his estimation Of Leon may
be gathered from the fact that Up to
year ago or less Leon worked for Gain
2 : q waiter
In this restaurant scene lies the be-
ginning of Elsie Sigel's tragicsl TO-
nance. The Port Arthur is directly op-
pOsite the Chinatown and Bowery set
tlement for girls. known in the quarter
as the Girls Recreation Rooms" a
place that Mrs. Sigel and her daughter
visited frequently because of their inter-
est in Chinatown life. Three years ago
Port Arthur was opened with blaze of
fireworks and Oriental celebration as
the latest thing In chop suey joints.
Gain, said to be backed by a syndicate
of Mott and PeIl street merchants, was
the manager and proprietor; Leon, in
telligent and good looking as compared
with Gain. was one OF the walters
Sjgels' Frequent Guests.
Mrs Sigel and her daughters. both
Elsie and Mabel. often dropped into the
Port Arthur after they had visited
Mother" Todd's mission across the
way. The tea and quaint Oriental
dishes seem TO have had a fascination
recognized as habitues of the place. Fol
lowed soon after an acquaintance with
Gain. who was invited TO CAN at the
Sigei home; then an acquaintance with
Leon, who was also asked to call.
The beginning OF the love affairs be
tween Elsie and the two Cinnamon and
the working out of them, leading up to
the miserable end, are best unfolded in
the letters she wrote them both. These
letters the police have in their charge
and they refuse to give them up. But
II was ascertained definitely FAST night
that Leon, driven desperate from jeal-
ousy. had written Gain a letter but
few days before Elsie Sigel was killed,
in which It was declared that unless
Gain ceased his attentions to the girl
forthwith both he and she would be put
TO death.
Threats From Leon.
This letter was anonymous, hut Gain,
unde~ the strain Of a fierce examination,
confessed last night that he knew the
writer and that the letter came from
Leon. He had paid no attention TO it
at the time, he said, and IN fact thought
1t was Joke" on Icons part. When
the Sigel crime developed he sought to
hide his connection with the parties by
assuming the Oriental cloak of silence
and stupidity. but Captain Calvin and
the headquarters men broke the China
mans compOsure down and finally made
him tell at least a part OF the facts.
He tremblingly admitted that he had
given TO Chung Sing, roommate of Leon,
who accompanied the Americanfz
Chinaman in his flight, $3.50 as a bride
10 avert the vengeance of Leon on June
3, the day Elsie Siged was killed. This
money undoubtedly financed the fight
of the pair.
The most satiSfac Glory explanation of
the girls partially dressed condition,
and the absence of her outer clothing,
the police say today, is that when the
murderer or murderers came to pack
the body in the steamer trunk they
FOUND II impossible TO crowd IL In en-
numbered by the skirts. The body fitted
tightly in the trunk, and when the
catch was released by the police who
found the body the lid of the receptacle
flew back, pressed upward by the
cramped body. To jam the body In
with the heavy outer clothing on il
had probably been impossible. These.
the police think were removed and car
Tied away with the murdeFers in their
flight, perhaps destroyed later.