MURDER OF GIRL MISSIONARY.

NZ Truth, Issue 217, 21 August 1909, Page 12

MURDER OF GIRL MISSIONARY.

Blind to the possible dangers of intimate association with men of an alien race possessing standards of morality so very different to their own, attractive young American girls, belonging to well-to-do New York families have m recent years found a strange fascination m •"slumming" m Chinatown, the notorious quartei of the great city populated by male immigrants of the Yellow Kace. The folly of their conduct has suddenly, been brought home to them m a startling and horrible manner. ' Elsie Siegel, one of the most 'zealous of these self-ap-pointed missionaries, -has been ■ murdered under circumstances so atrocious that all America has been roused to furious indignation. The story of the crime is one of reckless infatuation for an unscrupulous alien Lothario, who toyed with the girl's affection, and then foully assassinated her. For days poor Elsie Siegel's body lay undisepvered hidden away m a cord-ed-box deposited m a deserted room ofa Chinatown tenement, while Leon Ling, her murderer, was making good his escape. A hue and cry for him is going on all over the United States, but so far the police have FAILED TO DISCOVER HIM. Miss Sicgel was one of the most prominent workers m the district known as "Chinatown." She and her mother— who had lost her reason since hearing of Elsie's terrible death— organised classes for Chinese coolies. Her father, Paul Siegel, who is an employee m the. Comptroller's office, did not sympathise with this form of religious work, although he was unable to influence his wife and daughter. Among Miss Siegel's pupils was Leon Lee Ling, a Chinaman who claimed to be thoroughly Americanised. He cut off his pigtail when he became "converted," and adopted European clothes. He was interested m several business ventures; and at the time of his disappearance had an interest m • a native restaurant. Leon Ling even dropped his Chinese name, and asked his. friends at the mission school to call him "MiLeon." He .was a regular attendant at Miss Siegcl's mission classes, and the friendship which sprang up between them began through Leon Ling's apparent desire to ' educate himself according to European standards. Letters discovered at the Chinaman's rooms show that Miss Siegel was deeply devoted to him, b.ut this attachment was concealed from her parents for more than two years. About a fortnight ago Leon Ling Avent to the Siegel. residence, and DEMANDED TO SEE ELSIE. 1 According to another Chinatown mission' ary, who relates this incident, Leon was intoxicated, and. threatened to create a disturbance m front of the house unless admitted, whereupon Mr Siegel reluctantly permitted him to enter. Miss Siegel. and the Chinaman had an interview, during which the latter asked her if she believed m dreams. She replied "No." Whereupon he- said : "I had a- strange dream about you last night, Elsie. . It seerne;d itha'f I ' heard you calling for help. Iran to help you, and saw you struggling on^a: bed, a pair of hands clasped rouna your throat. You were choking. I was going to help you, when I woke up. 1 could not see who the man was that was choking you." Whether or not Leon meditated murder at the time he /related his' dream, the, statement was sttaHgely prophetic, forv'ishc police believe th^Miss Siegel was KijiM; justj.ag the Chinaman described. Air' Siegel "ordered his daughter to cease her visits to Chinatown, and even- threatened to break up the home and leave her family unless / she did so. Several storniy scenes, took place between father and daughter. Leon . called again at the Siegel residence on the night of June 8. He was insolent, and even threatening, but the police have' not been able to find that he made any specific threats against the girl. TVIr Siegel came home while he was there, and promptly ordered him out of the house. DECEIVED HER FRIENDS. The next morning — Wednesday,. June 0 —Miss Siegel left home, laughingly telling her parents that she was going to visit her grandmother m Washington. Her father warned her to give up her plan of uplifting the denizens of the scattered Chinese quarters, but- he seems to have thought she had honestly intended taking a holiday at the home \>.'here she announced her intention of visiting. She never went to 'the capital at all, although a telegram purporting to come from her, dated Washington, was received a few days after her departure. No body so • far seems to know what she was doing during the next few days. On the Friday following! her departure, however, Ling's neighbors informed thepolice that his room ,m Eighth Avenue, above a chop suey restaurant, had been locked for some da^s. Officers broke open the door, and found the apartment hung with elaborate Chinese tapestries. There was a canopied. bed with a coverlet of blue silk, while old Oriental bric-a-brac decorated the room. The police spied a portmanteau bound with a stout cord. The ropes were cut and the lock broken, whereupon the lid sprang up slightly. When thrown . back, the police found the semi-nude body of a young woman, with the knees resting against the chin. It had been .jammed so thightly into the trunk that great difficulty was experienced m removing it. The murderer must have had considerable trouble m forcing dowjn and locking the lid. It was evident that the girl had made a DESPERATE FIGHT , FOR LIFE. Her body .was covered with bruises, anti the livid Nmarjks around her throat showed that she had been strangled. The knees had toeen, f dreed up to the chin by a rope. A clumsy attempt had been made by tho murderer t'b. .maKe identification of the body impossible by springing it with quicklime, but the tace' was untouched. A search of the Chinaman's room revealed a remarkable collection of photographs of women, mostly m very decollete costume, and hundreds of affectionate letters signed by American, women living m various parts of the country. There were thirty-live letters signed "Elsie," supposedly from Miss Siegel, addressing the Chinaman m the most endearing terms, and extending over a period of two years. A statement made by the police regarding these letters is as follows .-—"There is no mention ot marriage,, but all breathe the purest love. They were ingenious love notes from a cirl who was madly m love to a man whom she evidently considered her equal. Elsie loved the Chinaman with all her neart He either returned her affection or fooled her completely. We are satisfied that Elsie's parents knew of their daughter's relations with the Chinaman. The father disapproved, and threatened to leave his family unless the visits to Chinatown ceased. Many of the photographs found m the Chinaman's rooms were of 'good-looking, WELL-DRESSED WOMEN, . Til'-h loving messages inscribed on > them. T-c Chinaman apparently did a remark- *".•!,■<■ business' in gaining women s affections " One letter written by Miss bicee' a Tew weeks ago from her parents home contained the following passage : -You seem to he growing cold to me. Just think of the sacrifice I made for you -mv family and my friends. For God's sake don't forsake me." Other letters were signed, "Your heartbroken Helen, and others signed "Ncjlie" requested money as the writer was m trouble. The police refuse to give the names of the writers, but admit that their acquaintance .with Leon arose out of the interest taken by white women m Chinese mission work. In one of the last letters received 'by Miss Siegel's parents, indeed, she renewed her dedication to her work m the following words: "1 thank

Body Found m a Trunk.

TERRIBLE TRAGEDY OF INFATUATION.

Mother Goes Mad and Society Silly.

Thee, . Father, that Thou hast given me the power to fashion my thoughts according to the patterns of beauty Thou hast set before hie to inspire me ana empower me always to use my gilt worthily, for through Thy power 1 can accomplish all things." REFUSED TO BELIEVE THE POLICE. When the police notified the dead girl's parents,- her father, who had had the police searching for his • daughter ever since she' had been missing, refused to credit the evidence produced that the body was ,hers, but he afterwards broke down and admitted the identity when shown two of her rings and a brooch that were found m the room. An attempt "was ■made to keep the news from the mother, but she learned of it, and was present at the inquest. Her grief, however, was so keen that she has since become insane, and was taken to a hospital, saying* that she had brought all this trouble about herself by allowing ILisie to assist m the mission work. The poor woman is strictly guarded to prevent her from committing suicide. Air Sicgel afterwards repudiated his identification of the girl, and declares that the- body is not . that of his daughter. The entire family also refuse to ■ accept the situation, and m spite of their previous identification now state that Elsie is on a visit to friends, and that the body is not hers. Mr Sicgel- is prostrated, and the doctors allow no communication whatever with him. The police have no doubt whatever of the identity of the girl, as some of her friends liavb visited the morgue and identified her and her jewellery. One of these, Mrs Francis Todd, who -worked with the Sicgels m THE CHINESE MISSION, has positively identified her. Mrs Todd told the. police that Elsie was engaged to a man m Chicago, but that Leon had proposed to her and been rejected. Mrs Totld's theory is thwt Elsie told Leon of her intention oi marrying the white man, and the Chinaman m his rage killed her. The police are! showing the greatest energy m trying to secure the arrest ot the fugitive murderer. Dozens o£ uninamen have been taken into custody m various parts of the North American Continent, but only one of these' has been capable of throwing light on the tragedy. This is Chung Sing, who was the associate of Leon, the '-murderer ,of Miss Siegel, ami who lived m the same lodging-house and is suspected of having a hand m the crime. Another Chinaman was arrested at the same. time,, and it was first believed that it was Leon himself. The' description of the murderer, however, did nofr exactly tally with the man arrested as Leon, and the New York police were doubtful if the Schenectady officers had captured the fight man.. A detective was despatched for Sclienectady, and he took' a photograph of Leon with him for the purpose of identifying . ■ * .. THE. DOUBTFUL PRISONER. He was described as a Chinaman whose pigtail had been cut, but denied that he was Leon, and declared that his real name was Chu Hop. The moment Chu Jock, a merchant m Mott-street, New York, saw an evening paper announcing Chu Hop's .arrest- he telephoned to tho police headtiuajSt'ers wanting to know why they had- jpcTfeti./.up his harmless and in'cfMsi vc 'brother ', '■ who had gone :to Schenectady to worfc : as a cook. Chu Hop sent a furious (telegram to his well-to-do brother, telling him that lie had been mistaken for Leon Ling, and was m Schenectady ; Gaol. Meanwhile Chung Sing, Leon's companion, had undergone the police test known as the third degree. Sing stood .the torture for .twelve hours, until those who were conducting the inquisition asserted' that he was the greatest liar ever seen m New York, which was probably saying a good deal. Then the district • Attorney, .Mr Jerome, whose cross-examination of Evelyn Thaw won him an- international reputation, took a hand m the affair, and ultimately succeeded m ' extracting the declaration that Sing knew Ling and Gain quarrelled over Miss Siegel, and, moreover, that ho was m Ling T s room when,, so he says, Ling throttled the girl m a fit of jealous rage. There has also been another development m THIS SORDID CASE. Chu Gain, the proprietor of a Chinese restaurant on the East-side, who was t arrested m the raid recently made by the police after the discovery of the crime, now admits that he not only knew the murdered girl, but that he anu Leon were rivals for her favors. Letters from the dead girl to Chu Gain, which were seized at the latter's house, suggest painful conclusions. 'Jhu Gain has made a' statement to the police m which he declares that shortly before the girl's disappearance Leon threatened to kill her because of her acquaintance with Chu Gain. He also threatened to Mil Chu Gain, and the latter gave Leon £50 to appease him. The police have now released him, as the authorities are quite satisfied that there can be no charge against him. He seems to have been more afraid of being murdered by Leon Ling than the actual victim was. Chu Gain asserts that' .he gave Ling considerable sums of money, apparently hoping that the natural Chinese cupidity would result m .jDhu Gain getting Miss Siegel to himself. By the curious irony oi events, liing, the rival lover; seems to have used Chu Gain's money to make good his escape towards the Pacific slope. Unless he commits suicide, his arrest may bo momentarily expected, for,, an Americanized Chinaman ought to be easily identified. JOURNALISTIC CRIME EXPERTS, have been turned loose m Chiinatown, and are recounting thrilling tales of their heroic efforts to outdo the police . m obtaining clues. One reporter discovered Mr San Wing m- a house m- Bayard-street. San Wing is *a Chinaman who wrote a letter to Leon Ling found m Washington on" June 11, two days after Elsie Siegel's disappearance. A newspaper sleuth discovered San Wing probably before the detectives knew where Bayard-street was. As soon as the reporter began cross-ex-amining; San- Wing regarding this undelivered letter, Wing asked him if he would like some crystallized ginger. WSng darted into the back room of his laundry and while the reporter was subsequently helping himself to ginger the Chinaman put on his hat and dashed out of the door. The reporter chased him twice across the Bowery, and finally lost 'him, but ascertained that his real name was Chen Yung. The better type of Chinese m New York are co-operating with the authorities m their efforts to capture Ling. They have issued a manifesto addressed : "To all right-minded Chinamen m New York,— Chinese Christian people, represented m meeting assembled, call upon all their countrymen who have the good name of their race at heart to join the authorities m their endeavor to apprehend Leon Ling, the suspected murderer oj Miss Ulsie Siegel. A complete description oi this man, who is of very bad reputation amongst our own people, can be had at 'the police station. The New York Chinese offer a reward of l,ooodols. for his arrest." POPULAR FEELING AROUSED. The papers are practically unanimous m condemning the way m which missionary work among Chinese is carried on, and are sceptical of any converts ever beiDg really made. They arc unanimous m demanding that the authorities take immediate and thorough steps to wage relentless war upon all ."vicious foreigners who infest our' cities, including Anar-

chists, Black Hand criminals, and . Chinese murderers of American women. ' The tragedy is once again calling attention to the readiness with which American girls volunteer for mission work m Chinatown. One elderly Bowery mission worker said : "There seems to be a sort of fascination m the Oriental character Hhat appeals to young American girls, and for that reason 1 have always believed it unwise for young women to teach the Chinese. I am equally opposed lo these slumming parties of young people that visit Chinatown. You would be surprised to know how many young girls of respectable families get their first ideas of wrong-doing from these sight-seeing trips, and return by themselves some clay to see more of this Chinatown life^ and THEN COMES THEIR RUIN." Many prominent New York clergymen, including the Rev. R. S. IVlcArthur, the Rev. .A. D. Blackburn, and the Rev. 1. M. Haldeman, severely condemn the employment of women mission teachers m Chinatown. The Rev. Mr Blackburnsaid : "If a list were compiled of the awful tragedies resulting from the system of white women teaching Chinese coolies, it; would appal the country. Something should be done to awaken the people to the realisation of what this system means. I sympathise with any measure, no matter "how drastic, which will save our young women 'from this degradation." This "terrible crime win undoubtedly put an end to' the practice of permitting unsophisticated American girls becoming teachers of adult Asiatics m mission schools. Moreover, it is having the eriecfc of making the Eastern States understand and appreciate, as they certainly declined to do two years ago, the aWtude of California towards what the 'Pacific Slope called "Oriental contamination." There was danger of international trouble owing to the stern efforts made m San Francisco to protect white children from association with members of the Yellow Race, many oi whom, as one writer points out to-day, "practice vice as a pastime, lying as an accomplishment, and excess as daily routine." The Pacific Coast point of vicav is "now more generally realised m the light of the disclosures surrounding the latest Chinatown tragedy. The following interesting telegram from Pittsburg shows tha extent of" the .public feeling that has been aroused :— "Owing to three ATTACKS UPON CHINAMEN m American clothing, here, the local rep- ! resentatives of the fci>:p Sing Tong Sol ciety met and decreed that for the present air Chili amen m Pittsburg must wear Chinese costume. Stirred by the persistent efforts of the detective bureau to find the slayers of Elsie Siegel, the citizens have become aroused, and they attacked the Chinese students at the Carnegie Technical Schools. The frightened Chinamen, with a mob of 500 persons m wild pursuit, dashed into the Berger Building, where they were rescued by the police." The newspaper with the biggest circulation m the United States observes :— "The Chinaman "who pretends that he wants to be a Christian, or that he is a Christian, is simply a smooth-faced hypocrite, and nobody 'knows this better than the missionaries among- tho CMncse. A certain number of Chinese come here, and their women are excluded, ar.d outrages of every kind, from murder down, arc the inevitable result. This country should be kept for races who can work • side by side. If that fact shall be impressed upon "the minds of the American people, especially upon the minds - of the Pccksniftian, hypocritical mission workers, this Avretclied, unfortunate girl will not have died m vain." These vehement lines show the manner m which America has been aroused by the murder. VICTIM'S DISTINGUISHED ANCESTOR. This aspect of the affair is the more painful, because the girl was a 1 member of a very good family, her grandfather being the late General Franz Sicgel. General Siegel was born m Germany m 1824, and' 'died m New York m .1902. He escaped from Baden aJ'ter the insurrections oi 1848-9, and on the outbreak oi the Civil War m 'the. United States he organise^ and became Colonel of a volunteer regiment. He won the battle of Carthage, m 1861, commanded a wing of the army at Pea Ridge tind at the second battle of Bull Run m 1802, and was commander of the Department of West Virginia m 1864, being defeated by Breckinridge at Newmarket. "