Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1909-02-19
Although Woman Says She
Was Victim of Man and
Woman, Police Say Discov-
cry Was Retaliatory Act.
WOMAN WAS TIED
IN BATH TUB WITH FACE
BADLY CUT AND BRUISED
Young Girl Declares That She Was
Assaulted After Pepper was
Thrown in Eyes, and Then Carried
in Cab to Hotel.
CRy Associated Prsss.)

CBy Associated Press.)
CHICAGO, Feb. ia mysterious case
developed yesterday when the body OF
Miss Ella Gingles was found dashed to
the supports of a bath tub in the Yelling
ton hotel in the heart of the city.
Whether she was the victim of plot
as she incoherently alleged, in her few
conscious moments, or chose fantastlc
means to retaliate on woman Whom
she believed to have been her enemy, is
the question that the police set about 10
solve.
Bound in Bath Tub
When a chambermaid sought to enter
the public bath room, on the fourth floor
she found the door bolted from the in
side The house carpenter orened the
door. and discovered Miss Gingles, clad
only in a nightgown, bound to the bath
tub, which was partly filled with blood
colored water. A waste sink was in the
same condition. The girls hands were
bound with light cords and fastened TO
the tub. second cord, drawn tightly
about her knees, held the lower portion
of her body to the lower legs of the
tub. Her face showed cuts and bruises,
and it was later determined that she had
been mistreated.
| The girl was also apparently suffering
| from laudanum poisoning. A two-ounce
bottle containing laudanum was found
in the room. and near it an empty claret
bottle.
Later in the day, at a hospital, whittier
she was taken, she recovered conscious
ness for several minutes. Chief of Detec-
tives O'Brien was at her bedside, and to
him she told a strange tale of having
been attacked near her rooming place,
No. 4O4 LaSalle avenue, by man and
| woman.
Threw Pepper in Eyes?
One of them struck her and the Other
threw pepper in her eyes She was then
hustled into a cab. She knew no more,
she told the captain until she regained
consciousness at 8 O'Clock in a strange
room. She recognized -the apartment as
Belonging to the Wellington hotel she
said, and wrote a note to her friend, Miss
Mary Joyce She threw il over the tran
som with penciled note on the envelope,
asking some bell boy" to mail it. The
letter ran:
| Mary: VIII be killed at Wellington
hotel. Come quick. ELLA"
1t was this note which set the police on
the trail today. At the hotel, the detec-
/ tives found that no ELLA Ginges" was
registered there. When her senseless form
was discovered later the police were ad-
vised and three detectives at once began
working on the case.
Woman Accused
The name Of Miss Agnes Barrett was
| brought into the case by Miss Gingles
who said she believed the woman who
helped seize her was Miss Barrett, who
had a shop in the Wellington Hotel build
ing. A few weeks ago Miss Barrett
caused the arrest of Miss Gingles, who
is 10 years old, on charge of stealing
$50 worth of lace in the store where she
was employed. Miss Gingles came to Chi
/ cago two months ago from Ireland, and
/ being an expert lace maker, found en-
ployment with Miss Barrett.
/ This employment ceased with the theft
| charge.
Attorney o'Donnel1. who represents the
! girl, outlined a story Of how the girls
youth, virtue and beauty made her the
object of persecution on the part of
man who. he said, was we'll known in
/ several states. This man, he declared,
was aided by at least one woman in mis-
: efforts to get unholy possession of the
/ young Irish girl. who has no relatives on
| this side of the Atlantic. Thwarted, the
conspirators multiplied troubles about
their victims head. Still she resisted, aid
ed by good friends. The unexpected end,
the lawyer concluded, came yesterday.
| Mr.. O'Donnells view of the case was
shared by the police, who were mystified
| by the circumstantial evidence.
| Chief Detective O'Brien says:
| IT believe after investigating, that the
girls story Of how she was bound and
| cut is untrue. I believe that the persons
/ named by her as her assailants are in
nocent The girl could have broken the
| cords which bound her to the bath tub"
| Agnes Barrett told in detail of where
she had been up till noon today. II have
not seen Miss Gingles for three weeks"
/ she said. THE night dress Miss Gingles
wore, marked A Barrett does not be-
| long to me- It had never been laundered,
and so there was no reason for the mark
on it,
Tragedy Was ''Frame Up"
! No theatrical producer ever set a stage
with greater care than Ella Gingles ar
ranged for the sensation created, when
| unconscious, bound and gagged, she was
found in a general bath room at the Well
ington hotel yesterday. This is the opin-
ion of Chief of Detectives O'Brien. Cap
tain O'Brien, dropping into the vernacular
Of the police. declared today the whole
thing was a frame up"
He said he had been assured by the
physicians who attended the young lace
maker that there had been no assault, al
though she may have had assistance in
| tying herself to the bath tub. Even the
| blood" in the tub and in the wash basin,
it is now asserted, was composed largely
Of port wine and water Captain O'Brien
said he hoped to clear up the mystery in
detail today by another interview with
Miss Gingles. who was reported at the
hospital little the worse for her expert
ence.