Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1924-10-16
FRANK BRANDEGEE.
LEADER IN SENATE,
COMMITS SUICIDE
High in Administration, He
Bitterly Opposed League
Entry by u. S.

WASHINGTON, Oct. Ex-senator
Frank Brandegee, of Connecticut.
prominent for years among the Re
mitted suicide at his home here to-
day.
Worried ana distracted, his friends
said. over financial difficulties, he
went to an unused bathroom on the
third floor of his house and, just be-
fore dawn. took his own life by in
haling gas.
He left in his bedroom below a
y note to his chauffeur, telling him
i where the body would be found. He
was a bachelor and for years had
. lived alone.
The note ascribed no motive. A
verdict of suicide was returned by
the coroner after he and the police
had made a complete investigation.
Pencilled in an uncertain hand
on senate stationery, the senator's
last message said:
October 1S, 1924.
Dear George:
Il inclose 500 for you and Sloo
for Emma and Rufus.
Il am up in the bathroom on the
top floor near Seventeenth street.
The top floor The floor above the
one 1 sleep on.
IF you or Lundy come up there,
beware of the gas.
"Good-by.
"FRANK 3. BRANDEGEE."
Money Pinned to Note
Pinned to the note were two $lO0
bills. Emma and Rufus, referred TO
nv the senator, are Emma and Ru-
fus Kenney negroes, servants OF
Mr.. Brandeeee. The chauffeur Is
George Jones'
The two sentences in the note
"the top floor. The floor above the
one I sleep on were in red crayon,
as though inserted as an after
thought. -.
The senator was last seen alive
by Jones and w. d. Lundy, his sec
rotary, yesterday morning. Az that
time he went for ride with Jones
about the CITY. Jones said he seemed
health. remarking time and again
IllC +liHO oEO"S
a day it was.
He was heard about the house last
night by the servants, but his bed
had been untouched except for the
note lying on it.
Lundy and Jones instituted a
search upon their arrival at the
home soon after o'clock this morn
ing. The note was found when they
went to his bedroom. In his dying
moments, the 60-year-old senator had
crumpled d bathrug beneath his
head for a pillow. The end OF
small rubber tube, attached to an
open gas jet, still was in his hand.
Senator Brandegee had no living
immediate relatives: Mr.. Lundy
took charge of the funeral 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 for some time. 1t is a rather
spacious dwelling, close to the down
town section, and had been the
scene of many important conferences
among the leaders of the senate.
Although he once was a compare
lively rich man, his friends said to-
day that he had suffered heavy losses
in recent years. He was a lawyer by
profession, but for some time has
been heavily interested in real estate
Senator Brandegee was chairman
of the senate judiciary committee and
one Of the Republican leaders on the
foreign relations committee. close
personal and political friend of Sena-
tor Lodge, the Republican floor
leader, he has been one of the circle
til he OF
to say in the conduct of senate af-
fairs since the Republicans regained
Il ma jority in congress.
A native of New London, where
he maintained his home until his
death, Senator Br1ndegee had risen
, ~ prominence Through q succession
- ~ minor offices, including the
.seaKership of the Connecticut house
&ot representatives and membership
in the national house of representa-
tVes. He was sixty years old, and
had been in the senate for almost
twenty years. He never married.
The most conspicuous part played
by MIR. Brandegee in recent years
was in the League of Nations fight.
Taking a position from the start
with the irreconcilable opponest of
the Versailles treaty, he threw the
powerful WclSAl VI Ills Gull
lty against the treaty and the league
covenant during the long senate de-
bate, and later at the Chicago Re
publican convention in 1920 was one
OF those irreconcilables who laid
down before party leaders a virtual
threat to leave the ranks of Repub-
licaniSm unless the national plat
form contained a provision which
would uphold the Republican sena-
tors opposed to ratification.
During the last session of congress
the Connecticut senator was not ac.
tive on the floor. His health had
begun to show the effects of his
Years, but he remained until the last
Il trusted conferee of Republican
congressional leaders on all impor-
tant questions of policy.
DEATH NECESSITATES
A SPECIAL ELECTION
NEW HAVEN, Conn, Oct. IA
The death of Senator Frank E.
Brandegee in washington today will
necessitate the holding of a special
election to fill the vacancy The
time for filing nominations for the
regular election November expired
today.
REALTY LOSSES CAUSED 1T,
SECRETARY WEEKS SAYS
NEW YORK. Oct. 1+-Secretary
of War John w. Weeks issued q
statement tojaY concerning the
death IF Senator Brandesee gin
Washington. in which he said: Il
know that the reason for taking this
rash step is due to personal fin3n-
cial troubles resulting from invest
ments in real estate
The following statement was is
sued by Secretary Weeks through
the Republican national committee
Il exceedingly regret to learn that
Senator Frank &. Brandegee has