Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-01-04
COLBERT MURDER
BATTLES SLEUTHS
Doesn't Know Who Killed
Model, Captain of De-
tectives Confesses
SECRECY CLoAKs BURIAL
Guards Keep Back Curious
Crowds to Shield Mourn
ers at Bair Parlors

Captain Of Detectives Tate admitted this
afternoon that the police do not kno" Wh"
killed Mazle Colbert
The murder evidently IS as much ny7-
terry as It was on the day the body was
round, despite rumors to the contrary.
Captain Tate was asked poIntDIank
DO you know who killed Maize Colbert
NO. don't" he replied. "ir ala, the
person would be here under arrest
This was after captain Tate had called
out the entire force of tho Detective Bureau
and assigned the men TO the case lie told
them that tho reputation Of the bureau d'-
pended on n speedy solution Of th" murder.
After urging them 10 action, ha #ald th'L
the murder was one Of the toughest nuts
the bureau has had to crack in years.
PAwNED HER DIAMONDS
It was also learned that the girl pawnoa
n diamond la vnllero for $50 shortly before
her death to make a Christmas present to
a Philadelphia politician.
Secrecy shrouded the burial today. Fu-
neral services were held in the undertake
ing establishment Of oliver II. Bair 1890
Chestnut street, but only n fcw Intimate
friends were admitted. Guards wcru sta
toned at the doors, and every cnort WAS
made to keep the Identities OF the mourn
ers unknown.
large crowd gathered at the front door
several hours before the funeral, and It
required several policemen to keep bnct:
the curious men and women, VINO pressed
forward, eager for oven glimpse of the
casket.
Those in charge of the funeral foiled the
efforts of the crowd by taking the caskot
out through a rear door Twelve autonlo-
biles carried the mOurners to Holy cross
Cemetery. where intermcnt was made Tho
automobiles all had the blinds drawn, and
q large screen placed near the rear door
of the undertaking establishment hid the
mourners from view.
BODY IN WHITE SATIN
It is known that the body was clad in
white satin White was the girls fuyortc
color There were several handsome floral
tributes, and 1t was said that nearly all
of these came without cards.
Among those grIlled by the police today
was c, Emory Ttman, widely known in
club circles here. He was CluHcted with
Captain Tate and according 20 the police.
admitted that he knew tho girl but could
throw no light on the murder.
1t developed today that tho Colbert girl
was engaged to be married about year
ago. but her hance died suddenly, This
man Is known to have given her an auto
mobile which figured in a collision uptown.
The police have found two women isis
ters), who were accompanied from the
Bellevue-Stratford by a young man I'm Il
taXicab last Thursday night After lcav-
Ing the young women mt their nome, the
young man instructed the chauffeur to
drive him to Fifteenth and Poplar streets.
DR. George s. Bricker police surgeon 1T
the Nineteenth and oxford streets station,
believes that two men might have been con-
cerued in the crime. This information was
laid before Captain Tate. and he ordered
that every chauffeur in the city be placed
under surveillance in order to learn If any
of them have been missing since the girls
body was discovered.
hl tq ba
tion of the body and clothing lie said the
rooms were not in turmoil, and that reports
that signs of a terrific struggle could be
found every hand We're false. The
apartment, he insisted was disturbed only
as much would be the case in nearly
every home. The conditions he found, the
doctor says, indicate that when the body
was carried from the dining room to the
bed, one man held the head while the other
carried the feet.