Evening star., 1924-10-14
FRANK BRANDEGEE,
LEADER IN SENATE,
TAKES LIFE BY GAS
Financial Difficulties Blamed
for Act-HeaIth Declared
Poor for Long Time.
NOTE TO DRIVER LEADS
TO DISCOVERY OF BODY
Senator Was High in Republican
Councils-Aided in Fight
Against League.


from Connecticut and nationally prom
i!ent Republican leader, committed
suicide today at his home, 1900 l street.
Tine cause of death was given by Dis
srict Coroner ]. Ramsay hewitt as sui
eide from inhalation of illuminating
gas
Worried and distracted, his friends
said. over financial difficulties. he went
10 an unusued bathroom on the third
floor of his house and. just before dawn,
took his life. 1t was declared also that
lie had been in i'll health
Although he once was Il comparative
u rich man, some friends said today.
Senator Brandegee had suffered heavy
luSiSeS in recent years. He was law
ccr by profession, but for some time
has been heavily interested in real es-
tate.
Laid to Illness.
Senator Moses of New Hampshire
perhaps the closest friend Senator
Brandcgec had in the Senate, was
Informed of the latter's death over
long distance telephone in New York
Today. He could assign no reason
tor the act other than i'll health and
believed Senator Brandegee was suf-
fering from an incurable disease. He
recalled that a sister of senator
Brandegee died in the I street house
several years ago from cancer. She
was the Senator's last relative. Sen-
ator Moses said senator Brandegee
owned the L street house and d
country place in nearby Virginia and
that he possessed Il "considera bic
fortune" Senator Moses stated he
would leave New York for Washing
ION at in order n 1SSiSt n :h,,
funeral arrangements.
Left Note TO Driver.
Senator Brandegee left a note to
his chauffeur George W. Jones. in
which he told him that he would be
found up on the third floor of his
home. The note on the Senator's bed
was found about $50 this morning by
Mr.. Jones and Senator'S secretary, w.
d. Lundy, who bad just arrived.
Pinned on the note wcr-c-twe~S1G0
bills, and the note itself read as fol-
lows: Dear George, l inclose S100
for you and 500 for Rufus and En-
ma I am up in the bathroom on the
top floor, nearest Seventeenth street,
the room directly over my bedroom.
If you and Lundy come up there, be-
ware the gas. Goodbye" The note
was signed Frank B. Brandegee. The
Rufus and Emma he referred to were
servants.
Upon reading the letter Mr.. Lundy
and Jones hastened upstairs There in
the bathroom they found the body or
rug on the floor. Two pillows were
under the head and his hands held
gas tube which was connected at the
other end to a jet, which was turned
on fully. The window was tightly
closed. The body was fully clothed.
Dead Five Hours.
Immediately upon finding the body
the secretary left the house and sum-
moued pr. Kit1redse, who lives on
Seventeenth street. just around the
corner. DR.. Eittredge came at once
and after brief examination declared
the Senator probably had been dead
ahput five hours. The body was found
about $50.
Emergency Hospital and the police
headquarters were then Informed. DR..
Cohen arrived shortly afterward from
Emergency and gave the same verdict
as )r. kittredge. Sergt Pat O'Brien
followed Dr. Cohen and after a short
inspection left, when Il man detailed
from the Third precinct arrived.
hewitt Gives Verdict.
Coroner NeYitt arrived shortly
after II o'clock and half an hour
later appeared at the doorway where
he gave the verdict of suicide to
the waiting newspaper men. Mr.
1.undy also came out and showed
them the note left by the Senator.
MIR. fMndy could give no reason for
Mr. Brandcgee's act. but intimated
that the Senator had been in poor
health for NUMBER Of years and
that that could be the only reason
he could attribute. He said that
when he left the home last night
the Senator seemed to be in good
spirits.
Mr.. Brandegee was unmarried. He
leaves no living immediate relatives.
a sister died several years ago
Mr.. Lundy took charge of the fu-
neral plans and announced that the
burial probably would be in New
London, Conn, Mr.. Brandegee's birth
place and home.
The residence occupied here by
Senator Brandegee had been owned
by him some time.
Judiciary Chairman.
Senator Brandegee was chairman
of the Senate judiciary committee and
one of the Republican leaders on the
foreign relations committee A close
personal and political friend of Sena-
tor Lodge, the Republican floor lead
er. he has been one of the circle of
Senators who have had most to saw
in the conduct of Senate affairs since
the Republicans regained majority
in Congress.
A native of New Lahdon, where he
maintained his home until his death,
Senator Brandegee had risen to
prominence through succession of
minor offices, including the speakership
of the Connecticut House of Repre-
sentatives and membership in the Ma
tional House of Representatives. He
was 60 years old and had been in the
Senate for almost 20 years.
Health Was Failing.
The most conspicuous part played
by Mr.. Brandegee in recent years was
in the League of Nations fight
Taking a position from the start
with the irTeconcilable opponents of
the Versailles treaty, he threw the
powerful weight of his forensic abil-
ity against the treaty and the league
covenant during the long Senate de-
bate, and later at the Chicago Repub-
lican convention in 1920 was one OF
those irreconcilables who Laid down
before party leaders a verbal threat
to leave the ranks of Repubiicanism
unless the national platform con-