The Bon Homme County independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1904-1913, 1909-06-24
GRANDDAUGHTER OF
GEN. FRANZ SIGEL IS
KILLED BY CHINAMAN
Leon, Girls Celestial Lover.
Receives Hundreds Of Love
Letters From Women.

-# L- ~ ~ ~ SShNS
Of Miss Elsie Sigel, granddaughter
of General Franz SigeL whose body
was found last night crowded into
a trunk in the roon1 OF a China.
man after she had been strangled
with a curtain cord, appears TO be
the most remarkable case the New
York police have had to investi-
gate in many years.
One of the odd phases of the case is
the failure of the murdered girls faith
or, Paul Sigel, to identtty the body as
that OF his daughter, while the girls
mother has declared that the articles
of jewelry found in the room with the
body belonged to the daughter. Ac-
q~ualntances Of Miss Sigel. who have
seen the body of the murdered girl, as
serted that 1t is that Of Miss Sigel, and
q number OF persons have been found
by the police who declare that the
young woman has been a friend of the
Chinaman, William l.. Leon, in whose
room the body was found.
Father to Washington.
Notwithstanding these id~entiications
It was stated at the home today that
! Paul Sfgel, the girls father, had gone
to washington ITO bring Elsie home"
Leon, who was also known by sew
eral Chinese names, was still unbound
today as was also Chung Sin, who oc-
cupied a room adjoining that of Leon.
Both rooms are IN the fourth floor of
1882 Eighth ave, between 47th and 4Sth
streets, over a Chinese restaurant con-
Quoted by Sur Leung.
s The police are searching for Leon,
but with scant hopes of finding him, as
It is believed the murder vas commit
ted possibly as early as Thursday. To-
day the police gave out a report that
Leon and Chung Sin had sailed last
Friday for Vancouver, b. c., on a
steamer going by the way of the 18TH
mus of Panama. Precautions have
been taken to intercept the steamer
at an intermediate port IL possible.
Girl Sends Telegram.
The police of Washington have
Deer asked to aid the New York e.
police by finding the original copy
Of a telegram which was received
by the girls parents from that
sfty last Sunday sayins:. "a will
be home by the end of the week.
Don't worry. II was signed with
the name Of "Elsie SigeT."
Miss Sigel had been engaged in mis-
sionary work among the Chinese of
this city for a few years, having be-
come interested therein by the activ-
Ity of her mother in behalf of the
Discrimination OF the orientals. Her
grandfather, General Franz Sigel, was
one OF the most picturesque figures Of
the civil war, having entered the army
as a colonel, and becoming a major
general. He was collector OF internal
revenue under President Grant, and a
statute in his memory now stands in
Riverside park, this city.
Afraid of chinaman.
Mrs. Florence Todd, one of the mis-
sionary workers in the Chinese section,
who identified Miss SigePs body, told
the police today that the girl n the
Chinaman had been thrown much to-
gether for a Jew years and that Leon
was greatly ~enamouredl of the girl;
that he was intensely jealous of her and
disliked her to receive the attentions
Of other men. This had caused Miss
Sigel to fear Leon, Mrs. Todd said.
That Leon had other corre-
s%pondents than Miss Sigel was
discovered when between 1900 and
1000 letters, mainly from various
women in New York, and other
cities, were found in his room.
Among them were some signed Ell
sic" which were described by the po-
lice as love letters. The contents of
most OF them were not revealed by the
police, but in one OF them Elsie re-
preached Leon for causing trouble be-
tween her father md herself. Just
think of the sacrifice 1 have made for
You'' she wrote in one letter. A note
book belonging to Leon and contain
Ing the names and addresses Of hun
dreds of women and girls was found
In Leon's room.
One OF the discoveries regarded by
the police as significant is that Miss
Sigels shoes and stockings were not
found in the room where her body was
discovered. 1t is inferred from this
that she had been kept a. prisoner there
and that her footwear was taken from
her to prevent her from leaving the
room. .Ut~. =. g..
New York. June 22.-Elizabeth
SigeI, daughter Of Paul Sigel, of this
city, and granddaughter Of the illus
'trious Franz Sigel, the German war
rior, who served with the union army
during the civil war, is, according to
all indications, the victim of n of
the most bloody murders in the history
Of New York. If she is not the VIC
tim the police are confronted with a
remarkable series of coincidental
facts.
In Chop Suey Joint.
Taken from a trunk in, a room of, a
chop suey restaurant in the Tender
loin, the body is in a state of decom-
position, which makes its Identified
ton difficult, and has been removed
to the morgue, while detectives are
|, collecting the threads Of a tangled
story Involving the girl and her asso-
Citations with Chinese.
An envelope addressed to the girl
found in the room where h body
lay, a locket bearing her initials, her
disappearance on June 10 and q note
found in the room signed Elsie" all
seem to indicate that Sigel's daughter
was murdered. ...E.ws. . .
The body was partly stripped OF it's
clothing, tied with ropes, wrapped in
q faded blue blanket n crammed in
to a dilapidated old trunk, where it
lay for a week at least before the
odor crept through, the building, arous-
Ing tho suspicious Of the proprietor
of the restaurant below, who sum-
moned the police and instituted an
investigation. D..
Mother Becomes Hysterieat.
Sigel had not identified the body al
O late hour last night, nor had the
J, mother, who when told that her
! daughter evidently had been muir
|, dered by a Chinaman, became hysteri-
cal. She identified the jewelry found
In the room, however, as that worn
: bY her