The Washington times., 1929-10-18
SEE SOLUTION
Of ROTHSTE|N
MYSTERY
By JAMES L. KILGALLEN

NEW YORK, Oct. IS. - who
) shot Arnold Rothstein?" may be
) one Of the questions answered
and then again it may not-at the
trial of big George" McManus,
bookmaker, on the charge OF kill
Ing Rothstein, a. nationally known
gambler and an otherwise mys-
terious character.
For almost a year the question:
pswho killed Rothstein?" has been
bobbing up in New York and agitat-
ing the public mind. It was one
OF those murders that was discussed
for months afterward-like the IA
nous unsolved Staying of Joseph
= e. EIwell, the bridge king" and
the unsolved strangling of dot"
King.
- The Rothstein, Elwell and King
cases are the three prize Broadway
mystery cases Of the last decade.
All three victims were well known
along Americas most famous
white light district.
50 Slain In Hotel
-s-
: bf November 4 last-presumably
IN Room 349 OF the Park Central
Hotel, although this has not been
positively established. At any rate,
Rothstein was found staggering
from a bullet wound near the
heart inside the service entrance
Aof the Park Central at 1115 o'clock
that night. He was one of half
5 h. dozen men who took part in q
Ehigh stake poker game in Room
p $49.
n "Who shot you?" the police asked
Rothstein when he was removed
ht his own direction to a hospital
pf his own choice. True to his
Sode. he refused to tell.
- The police, apparently. could get
nowhere in their investigation. They
Srere accused of being dilatory. with
) having bungled the case and with
having made only halt-nearted
!, attempt to solve the crime. 1t
.Mas hinted that il all the facts
+, Eoncerning Rothstein came out. a
humber of powerful local politicians
would receive considerable unwel'
home notoriety.
80 Mayor Takes Hand
, J Mayor James ]. Walker finally
Seook a hand in the situation. This
twas 10 days after the shooting.
Public clamor was growing be-
cause no arrests had been made.
,.. The mayor was amazed to learn
The police were not certain whether
Rohtstein had been Shot while In
:, hhe hotel or on the sidewalk and
that in other respects their inves'
p, hixation was perfunctory. They
had not closely investigated bell
boys, maids, walters. or guests
In rooms adjoining Room SeS.
," The police finally announced they
krere looking for George McManus
y brother of a, police lieutenant. His
4topcoat had been found in Room
iS49, They took care to say
.c91owever, that they did not think
aMcManus did the shooting. but they
wanted him as a material witness
Investigation revealed that on the
evening Of the crime, Rothstein, eat
ing at a nearby restaurant, had beer
summoned to the hotel room by
mysterious telephone call. Presum
ably, he was asked to take a hand
in the game.
Detectives established that some
time before Rothstein had lost nearly
S3OO, 900 in a "high spade" stud poker
game in the apartment Of one Jim
my Meehan and that he refused tc
pay, or at least had delayed In doing
so. claiming he had been cheated. =.
Finally, McManus SURRENDERED
He denied he shot Rothstein and he
did not know who did, he asserted
He was held in the Tombs without
bail, while District Attorney Joat
Banton continued his investigation
hoping to bring about the appre
hension Of g. man named Hymar
C"Gillie') Biller. But Biller disap
peared. Several gamblers wers
quizzed but released. One OF them
''badly wanted" early in the 1nVesti
xation-'Tough Willie McCabe-
was questioned and released. Ulti
anately, after a hard fight on the
part Of his attorney, McManus was
released on $5o,000 bail.