The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-12-31
POISON DEATH
REVEALS DUAL
LIFEOFLAW YER
Lorlys Elton Rogers Shown
TO Have Maintained Two
Households.
DENIES BIGAMY GUILT
OVER BODY OF HIS BABY

Lorlys Elton Rogers, one time actor.
but now a lawyer. who gained repu-
tstion in Alabama and m his State and
who maintained two households-one
luxurious apartment Tor his wife.
member Of the we'll known New Eng
land Gddings family: the other a home
iv. coscy Hat where lived another woman
bearing his name and two little babies.
stood last night by a slab in the Bronx
morsue.
ON that lab lay a tiny. fragile baby
girl. Loretta. only months old, who
had died from the effect Of bichloride
administered by the mother, Mrs. Ida
Rogers.
Rogers, who's, inheritance Of n his
trionic instinct always had made him
polished, winsome and attractive. had
lost all thought of playing "A part. Dis
iraught after many hours Of sleepless-
ness. unshaven. his hair Inkempt, Rog-
ers looked down on the little form on
which an autopsy had been performed
only few hours previously.
Forced TO Tears.
Already worn by hours OF anguish
over the condition Of Mrs, Ida Rogers.
whom he had maintained i'll little bare
Bronx Hat. and distracted over the other
woman who bore his name, he finally
burst into tears. lie buried his head in
his hands. and though all day long he
had refused to say whether the woman
lying in Lebanon Hospital. probably
.tN nc hn nf d,A
which she had taken herself after Civ
iuX large doses TO Loretta and 10 John,
Two and a half years old. was his wife.
ne blurted out between sobs
Il can't bear this any longer. ! must
tell Loretta God bless her for the hap
p!ness she has given me. is my daush-
ter But take ms away ! can't bear
10 look upon her dead
lie sobbed for time and then he said
Take me to see little John. You say
is about to die. Let me kiss him.
Yes. ! VIII admit | am his father. If
only do not have to look upon him
dead
The grief of the man was so intense
that DR.. Riegelman. Coroner's physician,
put his hand Oh RUscrss shoulder and
led him from the room. District At
iorney Martin and Coroner Healy, both
OF The Bronx, followed. their heads
bowed and silent before the anguish the
was enduring.
Two Homes Revealed.
They had been questioning him about
his relations with the woman who gave
the name OF Ida Rogers wife OF Lorys
Elton Rogers, and who said her maiden
name was Sniffen. Her attempt to end
ner life after feeding poison to her
Two children because she wished to take
1hem with her. and her efforts after
ward to relieve them from pain. had
n
Elton Rogers was maintaining two house
holds.
Il know what you want to prove" said
Rogers with tears streaming down his
cheeks. Il know YOU are thinking of
bieamy, but ! am lawyer. | know the
law and know my rights But you are
wrong there"
Those we're the broken sentences he
uttered after refusing earlier in the day
TO say whether he had married Miss Caro-
line Giddings, sister OF Prof franklin
II. Giddings of Columbia University. and
also whether he had married the woman
lying in the hospital who had insisted
She Was his wife.
His confession concerning the paternity
OF the two children left practically no
doubt, after the discovery OF a series OF
facts by THE SUN. that he was the law
yer Of 81 Park Row who had a home in
the Madrid apartments. j52 Riverside
Drive, where uutil last October he lived
WIKI Mrs Caroline Giddings Rogers and
with whom he afterWard moved TO Noun
tain View, y. j. II left no doubt that at
the same time he had been living with
Mrs Ida Rogers IN the humble fiat on the
second floor OF the bare, gray wooden
apartment house at 22i West 18th street
\ Tale of Three women.
The lawyers admission clnched a series
OF facts that presented a dramatic stu
auOn. These facts, combined with the
'Uly history of Rogers. tell OF n man who
an 1894 married Miss Annie Roquemore,
daughter of one of the most illus trious
lawyers of Alabama, and how that mar
rage ended in unnappiness. They tell Of
lis marriage to Mis- Giddings, member
OF one OF the oldest and most respected
or New England families They tell also
his living with a woman, named Ida
Suftn, who Is reported to belong to
Family Of distinction equal to that of
either the Giddings or the Roquemore
families.
Those facts tall developed as the result
OF The desperate attempt of Mrs. Ida
Rogers to take her two babies with her
.. doath) also show that all three women
were youthful friends of Rogers. They
"l kn"w him as member OF splendid
southern family: knew that his mother
.r Charlotte Thompson, one time cele-
'ri'ed actress Of Alabama and that mis-
.lHor, Lorraine Rogers. had owned a large
t.tutauun i'm the South They admired him
nuso he was clever, polished ALWAYS
"a raining and always courteous and
"'rotrd
Miss Roquemoro attracted him first and
= ." marriage seemed an ideal one. After
.''c"n years they were divorced, but they
awe q son, Lorlys Roquemore Rogers.
mo proved sort of link between them.
'u" ir,t Mrs Rogers is reported to be
wing u this city. The son is u wireless
asI.t,. Nt,...