The Washington herald., 1922-02-25
CLERK WROTE
DEATH THREATS,
POLICE ALLEGE

Continued from Page One.
peated deniaIs. police say he iden-
tined all of the letters as those
he had written.
Meant No Harm.
II guess snould be ashamed of
myself. but ] wrote those letters,
but now that think of It do not
know why ! wrote them. for / GER
tainly did not mean to harm any
one" the police say Long finally ad-
mitted.
The idea OF writing the threaten
ing letters. according to the police.
grew out Of the recent incident IN
which Louis P. Gatti. 136 Fifth
street northwest, wealthy commits
sion merchant. was threatened with
death unless he complied with a
demand for a large sum OF money.
BY writing the letters Long be-
lieved that he could scare" the
persons to whom they were ad-
dressed into contributing some
money to local charities and to the
support of needy children in the
District, he is alleged to have told
the police.
The persons TO whom the letters
were addressed were:
Henry white. 213s r street north
west. former Ambassador to France
and member Of the American Peace
Commission at Versailles.
Mrs. Mary Scott Townsend. 2l2I
mother-in-law of Senator Gerry. Of
Rhode Island.
Mrs. Thomas F. Walsh. 202o
widow OF former Senator Walsh,
of Colorado.
Mime. Christian HauEe. 234S Mass
OF the former Norwegian Minister
to this country.
Several letters were also sent to
A. Stephens. butler at the White
residence. These letters threatened
the mans life unless he would i'm
mediately prevail upon his employer
to accede to the demands of the
letters which had been addressed to
him.
Suspected of Phone Message.
The inc7ient which cast suspi-
cion upon Long. occurred about one
week ago. at which time he tele-
phoned to Stephens. the butler at
the White residence-with whom
he is personally acqusinted-and
informed him that he had intended
to visit him on that night but that
he was urged not to go near the
house because it was going to be
blown up" by four men who were
standing on the corner, the police
say.
The telephone conversation was
reported to the police. and because
of the peculiarities of the call. De-
partment of Justice operatives and
local police were ordered to
man.
Since that time. the police say.
the man has been seen near the
homes of some of the threatened
persons at the time which the let
ters designated that they should
leave to deposit the ransom money
in isolated parts of the city, as
we'll as in the vicinity of the place
where the money should be placed.
Qeustiosed by Burns.
with what they believed to be
sufficient evidence at hand, Depart
ment of Justice operatives and To-
cal police visited his home shortly
after noon yesterday. and after TAX
ing him into custody went to the
once Of william J. Burns. director
of the Bureau of Investigation, De-
partment Of Justice, where he. was
questioned for more than two hours.
Failing to secure any definite in
formation from the suspect. he was
- k L. "a
quarters. where the questioning was
resumed by the officers of the two
forces, with the
final announcement that he had
confessed"
With the man at the time he is
alleged to have made his confession
was Rev. John c. Callaghan. assist
ant pastor of st Matthews Catholic
Church. of which church he was a
member. The priest agreed to
watch over" Lohs after he was
permitted to return to his home.
Tries to Avoid Cameras.
Long, a tail. well-built man. with
slightly gray hair, was in q highly
nervous condition as he departed
from the District Building, ana
made every effort to avoid the bat
terry of cameras which greeted him
as he stepped into the sunlight.
He has been connected with the
War Department for many years,
and Is well known in this city.
having served as confidential man
to Gen. Clarence r. Edwards. COM
mandant of the Twenty-sixth Divi-
sion. during the world war.
Long is the man who wrote the
letters, there is no doubt on that
score. for have enough evidence
to prove his authorship, even
though he would have maintained