New-York tribune., 1918-02-15
Parrot Keeps Lone
Death Watch Over
Its Slain Mistress
Keeper of Lodging House
for Sailors Beaten and
Strangled

If Kaiser, the seafaring parrot, could
have found words in which to unbosom
himself yesterday he might have en-
joyed for spell the breathless atten-
tion OF Inspector Cray, Of Headquar-
ters; Captain Walsh, of the Second
Branch Bureau, and o score of lesser
detectives from all parts of town.
But Kaisers garrulity had forsaken
him.
Ordinarily he occupies the front
basement window Of the sailors lodg-
ing house at b07 West Twenty-third
Street and is only too eager to chatter
with all who turn at his call. Yester-
day he was gone from the window, and
though there was company in plenty to
warm his gregarious heart he had
nothing to say.
Beaten and Stranglcd
The woman that Kaiser had called
"Poor -ma"-Mrs Helen Hamel, the
elderly keeper of the lodging house
lay dead in her kitchen. her skull
crushed in by half dozen smashing
blows, and strangled to boot. Kaiser,
swinging i'll his cage on the kitchen
table, had seen her fight for life and
had seen her die. For many hours
thereafter he had stood death watch,
crackerless, with a hungry little
dachshund sharing his vigil and an
other dog, chained in the back yard,
bowling for rescuers who didn't come
Paddy--thc dog in the yard--had a
reputation as a bad actor Neighbors
chalked up his continued barking on
the score against him and let it go at
that. Morning found him as noisy as
he had been all night and most of
Wednesday afternoon.
Toward noon Eugene Wcndle, a
roomer, descended into the basement.
lie was on his way to his work in an
uptown restaurant, and it was his habit
when leaving the house to stop for
chat with Mrs. Hamel. After rapping
several times, he pushed in the kitchen
door. Save for Kaiser, the small room
appeared untenantcd The parrot re-
turned him stare for stare.
Wendle pceped around the door. A
moment later he was entreating Police
man Charles Left. of the West Twon-
tieth Street station, on post at the
Tenth Avenue corner, to do the same.
What Lett saw brought first an ambu-
lance and then, in succession, a nving
quadron Of detectives. Captain Walsh,
Medical Examiner Otto Schultze and
Inspector Cray.
The body of Mrs. Hamel lay on a
broken couch. A towel had been drawn
tight around her neck and tied. Be-
side the couch was chair, on which
sat pail half full of water, with a
c1o 1F
There was more cotton on the couch,
struction of a rough bandagc which
had been adjusted to cover the wounds
on the back of the woman's head
Bandage Puzzles Police
As much as anything else, this BAN
dage puzzled the detectives. The sug-
gestion that Mrs. Hamel, left Ter dead
might have recovered consciousness
and tried to staunch the flow of blood
was belicd by the presence of the towel
about the neck, which must have
strangled her had there been no other
injuries. Inspector Cray, therefore, was
forced to believe that the bandage had
been put in place by the murderer.
81 can't figure man beating some
body to death, or pretty near to death,
and then playing nurse" said Captain
Walsh, when the bandage was under
discussion. "Noticc the pail of water.
Looks like her face has been bathed,
too"
at would be a strange thing for a
man to do" mused Inspector Cray.
"But how about a woman? 2"
That was just guess, but later de-
vclopments served in measure to
bolster it into a theory.
Woman's Voice Heard
A roomcr of the name of Komm, a
night worker, said he had been awak-
cned by voices some time in mid
afternoon Wednesday. One he recog-
nzed as that Of Mrs. Hamcl. The othe 4.
was also woman's. The two, he said,
must have been close t ohis door, at
the front end of the third floor hall
Then, along with the wooden wash
stick-a sawed-off broom handle-and
the steel knife sharpener that the mur-
Gerer evidently had used, Cray picked
up in the kitchen handful of tortoise
hair pins and broken combs. All of
them, of course, might have belonged
to Mrs. Hamel. But the inspector
nevertheless thought them worthy of
preservation and thought.
The struggle, it was plain, had not
been confined to the Kitchen. Blood
stains on the walls marked its course
ur the long hall clear to the basement
door.
Edward Kelly, proprietor of base
ment pool room which adjoins the
Hamel house, remembered having heard
screams Wednesday afternoon. He
though they started about 1880 o'clock.
and said they REQUIRED at intervals for
fifteen minutes.
81 didn't pay no particular attention
at the time" he said. at sounded like
q fight. ] didn't intend to butt in.
When | passed Mrs. Hamels on my
way home I noticed the light was on
in the basement and figured everything
was all right again"
Jewels and Money Intact
At first glance the rooms looked as
if they had been ransacked. Furniture
WAS displaced Tables and floors were
strcwn with goods dumped out of
drawers. But neighbors said Mrs.
Hamcl habitually kept her rooms so.
Moreover her treasures were found in
tact. On top of wardrobe in the
front room she had hidden what in so
poverty ridden 81 place was wealth un-
accountable--a bag containing jewelry
Of value into the thousands. and an