Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-08-10
WAN TH|RD-DEGREE
|. CHARGES DISPUTED
BurIingame Denies Chinese
Was Abused-Kelb Recalls
No III Treatment.

Only two of the policemen who took
part in the capture and grilling of ziang
Sun Wan. denounced by the Wicker
sham Commission as a brutal affair, are
alive today Both of them deny abso-
lutely that Wan was i'll treated. al
though the United States Supreme Court
ruled out the confession they obtained
from Wan because of the "barbarous"
methods used to obtain it.
Capt Edward j. Kelly, then a head
quarters detective, said today that Wan
was not III treated as far as he knew
II he suffered any III treatment, it
must have been when Kelly was not
present.
Capt Guy Burlingame, retired, then
also q headquarters detective, said:
Wan at no time was subjected to i'll
treatment during my connection with
the investigation of the case. 1t has
been so long since the investigation was
conducted that I am unable to recall
just how long Wan was kept in the
hotel"
Denies Threats or Brutality.
When the prisoner arrived here from
New York the retired captain said. he
complained of being sick and police
surgeon was called to examine and
prescribe for him.
Vans complaint was that he was
suffering from stomach trouble and was
on a diet" the retired captain stated,
and was permitted to get the food
which agreed with him. That was
chiefly fruit.
AT no time" declared the former
police official, was Wan abused, threat
ened or beaten.
Wan was permitted to do much as
he pleased, said Burlingame. II he
wanted to converse and answer ques-
tions he was permitted to do SO, and
If he asked to be let alone and per-
mitted to rest or sleep his requests were
granted.
I'm other words, said Burlingame,
whatever he said, went
Wan. according to Burlingame. never
complained of the treatment he re-
ceived during his stay in the hotel or
after he was taken to a police cell.
Neither did he offer any objection 70
being taken TO the scene of the Staying
where. it is stated, the crime was re-
enacted
Was Held Incommunicado.
Three other officers, prominently
identified with the capture, have since
died. They were Maj. Raymond w.
Pullman, then superintendent of po-
lice; Clifford Grant, then assistant SUI
perintendent in charge of the Detective
Bureau, and Howard Vermillion, q
headquarters detective.
jail officials said today that when
Wan entered the jail February IL, 1919,
he weighed 109 pounds. No record
was kept of his weight whea he left
seven years later, after two juries hac
disagreed on their verdicts ard the
district attorney had informed the
court that it would be impossible to get
jury that would agree on a verdict.
Newspaper men who covered the trials
recall however, that he had FILED out
and weighed about 140 pounds.
When Wan was brought TO Washing
ton, strenuous efforts were made to con-
ceal the fact, and when that became
known he was whisked away to the old
Dewey Hotel, whSTe he was held incom-
municado 1t was only through the
alertness of a reporter on The Evening
Star, who became suspicious of the
movements of Inspector Grant. that the
police officers were traced TO the hotel
and VANS whereabouts became known.