Life — October 28, 1926 — page 14: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

Fascinating Crimes III. The Missing Floor T has often been pointed out that murderers are given to re- visiting the scenes of their crimes. The case of Edny Pastelle is the only one on record where the scene of the crime revisited the mur- derer. Edny Pastelle was a Basque ele- vator woman who ran one of the first elevators installed in the old Fifth Avenue Hotel, which stood at the corner of Twenty-third Street and Fifth Avenue, New York The elevator was of the surrey ty and was pushed from floor to floor by the operator, who was underneath climbing on a ladder. It was Mlle. Pastelle’s daily task to hoist such personages as Chauncey M. Depew, Boss Tweed and Harriet Beecher Stowe up to their rooms in the Fifth Avenue Hotel. In fact, sh said to have been Miss Stowe’s model for Uncle Tom in the novel of that name (with the word “Cabin” added to it). IX the evenings, when Edny Pas- telle was not on duty, she car- ried Punch and Judy shows about town for whoever wanted them. As not many people wanted them, Edny’s evenings were pretty much her own. The evening of July 7, 1891, however, is on record as being not Edny’s, but Max Sorgossen’s. Max Sorgossen worked in the Eden Musée, which was situated By ‘Robert Benchley on Twenty-third Street just _be- low the Fifth Avenue Hotel. His job was to put fresh cuffs on the wax figure of Chester A. Arthur in the Presidential Group. At five o'clock every afternoon he also took “Ajeeb,” the mechanical chess player, out in the back-yard for his exercise. A T five-thirty on the afternoon in question Max Sorgossen had just knocked off work and was strolling up Twenty-third Street in search of di- version. In the back of his mind “EDNY’S EVENINGS WERE PRETTY MUCH HER OWN.” With Engravings by John Held, Jr. was an idea that perhaps he might find another mechanical chess player for “Ajeeb” and a girl for himself and that the four of them might go down to Coney Island for the eve- ning, as the weather was warm. As he passed the service entrance of the Fifth Avenue Hotel he met Edny Pastelle, who was likewise calling it a day. (She called it a jour, but that is the Basque of it.) Edny and Max had known each other in finishing school, and so there seemed no impropriety in his speak- ing to her and asking her if knew of a mechanical chess for “Ajeeb” and if she would look with favor on an evening at Coney. HE two were seen entering a restaurant on Twenty - first Street to talk it over at 6: At 9:20 the next morning guests of the hotel, on trying to descend in the elevator, found it stuck be- tween the first and third floors. When the car was finally dis- lodged, it was found to contain the body of Max Sorgossen. Further- more, the second floor, where the elevator should have stopped, was gone! Edny was arrested and the trial took place in the Court of Do mestic Relations, since she was 3 domestic and there had evidently been relations, albeit unfriendly. The prosecuting attorney was & young lawyer named William T. comicbooks.com