The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1921-09-12
Of DEAD
GIRL THREATENS
ARbUCKLE' SL|FE
Lehman Denounces Comedian
as "Beast"-Tells Of Invad-
ing Dressing Rooms.
by international News Service.

by International News Service.
NEW YORK, Sept. 12.-"Oh, good
God, give justice!' was the prayer
that went up today from the lips of
Henry Lehman, motion picture pro-
Queer and fiance OF Miss Virginia
Rape, for whose alleged murder
Fatty" Arbuckle, film comedian, Is
held in San Francisco.
Lehman formerly directed Ar
buckle as a film actor.
II do not want to face Arbuckle
now. would kill him." Lehman
said. IF he wants to live he had
better be punished
Lehman was bitter.
Fatty" Was Bar Room Porter.
This is what comes of taking vul.
garians from the gutter and giving
them enormous salaries and making
idols of them. Arbuckle came iIso
the pictures nine years ago. He was
a bar boy In a San Francisco saloon.
He washed the dishes and cleaned the
spittons.
such people don't know how to get
a kick out OF life except ina beastly
way.
despite his weight. Arbuckle was
a good athlete" Lehman said. II
remember a few years ago when we
a
Mexico, he weighed $40 pounds. He
entered 100.yard dash against
Mexican athletes. They laughed at
his entry. He beat them all.
Friend Tells Of Attack.
Mrs. belmont, who accompanied
Miss Rape to Arbuckle's suite in the
St. Francis Hotel. at San Francisco.
has had several telephone talks with
me. She said: Mr.. Arbuckle tele.
phoned Miss Rape to come to see
him on business. She distrusted him
and had me come along. We had a
few drinks when he leaped UP and
seized her, carried her into another
room. and locked the door.
"I pounded on the door while I
could hear her struggle and scream.
After a quarter of an hour she gave
q terrible scream. l threatened to
telephone the office Of the hotel and
Arbuckle opened the door. Every bit
Of Miss Rappes clothes had been torn
to shreds. She was unconscious.
Lehman said Miss. Rape always
had an aversion for Aruckle. but that
when he managed Arbuskle. he had
advised her to treat him pleasantly.
but that Miss Rape replied:
"'He's coarse and vulgar! He
nauseates me. He is cheap and he
thinks he's funny.
Visualizes Girls Fight.
"I can see now, in my minds eye.
how she must have fought linn like a
tiger" Lehman added. II remember
once, when there was a terrible as
sault case in the papers, she said:
Henry, II any one ever tried to do q
think like that TO me, he'd have to
kill me-
"WeII, she's dead"
Lehman said when he first heard
Miss Rape was Ill and not knowing
she Lz==t been attacked, he had wired
Arbuckle to go to her on his behalf
and see that she was properly cared
for.
IT never suspected that. beast that
he was, he would lay finger on her.
Lehman said.
Lehrman said he would go West as
soon as permission from the au
thorities could be obtained to bury his
Hweetheart's body. He said interment
would be made in Los Angeles.
Miss Rape had been in moving
pictures four years." Lehrman went
on. She was born in New York and
brought UP in Chicago. She was
never i'll. She always held herself
aloof from the vulgar bunch in
pictures. She was a clean. decent.
high spirited girl And to think she
had to die like that!
Has Me to Reckon With!
"Arbuckle has powerful friends.
Much money and influence will be
used to save him. But he will have
me to reckon with.
when he is alone in his cell and
realizes the situation he is in, I ex-
pect to see him collapse"
TN,,,. . - s,,k 7 ~,
ously fingered a pair Of platinum cuff
buttons given him by the dead actress
The buttons bore this inscription:
ITO Henry, my first and last sacred
love. Virginia"
Lehrman raised his hollow and
weary eyes to a large photograph OF
Miss Rape. II showed her girlish
face silhouetted against a big picture
hat with two velvet cords hanging
about her neck. He read from the
affidavit of Mrs. Jean Jameson, the
nurse:
"She said she blamed Arbuckle for
her injuries and wanted him punished
for It,"
Lehman then continued:
THAT Is just like Virginia. She had
the most remarkable determination.
She would rise from the dead to de.
leIlu neE ptTSOu lEOIl lHulBHity.
Sought to Shield Name.
IT had q talk over the long distance
telephone with Mrs. Sidi Spreckels,
former wife Of John D. Spreckels, jr.
She said that before she knew she
was going to die Virginia kept saying:
Don't tell Henry! Don't tell
Henry
THAT means one thing. She had
lost the battle she made to defend
herself. She didn't want me to know.
She knew what l would do.
"Arbuckle is a beast! directed
him for a year and a half. finally
had to tell him II he didn't keep out
the women's dressing rooms I would
see that he was through. He boosted
to me that he had torn the clothing
from an unwilling girl and outraged
her.
Lehman looked around his room.
On the table were such books as II.
@. Wells Outline Of History" On