Daily globe., 1879-06-01
A PRAYER IN PRISON.
1t Attracted Attention and Established the
Innocence Of a Suspected Thief.

!
1t Attracted Attention and Established the
Innocence Of q Suspected Thief.
s$s
The case of the hotel cashier who is
accused Of making away with a fifty dol
lar note belonging to a colored sailor-boy
has brought to mind many stories Of mon
ey that was supposed to be stolen and
atterward turned up in unexpected places,
sometimes in time to save the accused
person from punishment, and sometimes
not. Amoug others is serio-comic case
in which young girl was saved from un-
just punishment through the intervention |
OF Mr.. Lewis Leland Of world wide hotel |
renown, how one of the proprietors Of the |
sturteyant House IN this city, but, at the
time OF the story, was connected with the
Metropolitan Hotel
sit was in 1862, . said Mr.. Leland to the
Times reporter yesterday, ewhen 1 was IN |
the Metropolitan Hotel. I VAS Just on
the eve of taking trip to California, and
Judge C, of Illinois, who was a
guest in the house, was going too, but he
was going one steamer ahead of me. It
was on Friday, and the Judge steamer was
to sail the next dag. On Friday evening
the Judges went out for walk, saying to
me as he left the hotel, that he was sorry
| we could not go together in the same
steamer. But had engaged passage in
steamer that was to sail the following
Monday, and could not very we'll change.
Judge C.sswent out and walked down
Broadway, toward the st. Nicholas. He
had gone only few blocks when he met
friend from Chicago, and they stopped
I on hoS ,l1ft
walk. The streets that time Of the even
ing was not crowded, and the two men,
standing there quietly, occasioned no in
convenience; but. while they were still
talking a policeman little the worse for
whiskey came up, and ordered them to
move on
- i will not move on said Judge c.,
who was not very well acquainted with
the inns and outs of Metropolitan life 4
am an American citizen, and will stand
as long asI want to-
ssThis angered the officer, and he arrest
ed the judge and took him to the old po-
lice station in Marion street of which
Captain Williamson was then in charge.
4 About an hour later I received very ur-
gent note from the judge, begging me to
hurry to the police Station and get him
out. He did not know that by a law,
then recently passed, he could not be
liberated before morning without getting
police justice to hear the charge against
him. But / went round to the police
station without delay and asked to see
him. They took me down into the pris-
on pen, and there stood the Judge, in the
middle of his cell, looking the picture of
despair.
"'For Heavens sake, Leland, SAID he,
!, get me out Of this. The place is so COW
cred with vermin, 1 don't dare to move
81 was acquainted with the captain, y
, Mr. Leland continued, "and explained to
him that the judge had been arrested on
! account of the offiiciousness Of drunken
: officer, and asked permission for him to
: spend the night up stairs, in the captain s
private room. The permission was grant
!. ed. and went out to get the judge some
refreshment.
:sWhile we were down in the prison my
attention was attracted by a young girl in
the cell nearest the door, who was down
on her knees on the stone floor praying
: earnestly that the money she was accused
of stealing might be found, and she be
liberated. sOh, my God, said she, in a
voice half smothered with tears, 'may the
: money be found and my innocence be
= proved; what will become Of my
: er if am sent to prison?' She was terri
! bly, in earnest, and used much better Ian
guage than could have been expected
! from one in her condition.
I afterward learned that her father was
!, a German and her mother an Italian, and
E that she was very bright girl. Her
: prayer made quite an impression on me
and was entirely convinced Of her limo.
: cence.
:. ssWhen I returned with the Judges
!, refreshments" Mr.. Leland went on, 81
= :, found another of the Metropolitan hote
: guests, Mr.: B, of Connecticut, talk
Z ing with the captain He said that he
: had been robbed of a pocket book con.
, tanning $400by a young waiter-girl in a
> lager-beer saloon, and that he had caused
= the girls arrest. / soon learned that the
:, . girl he complained of was the prisoner
: had heard praying in her cell. told
: Mr.. B that I was sure the girl could
/, not be the thief, for I had heard hel
:. praying so earnestly for the finding OF the
= lost money, but he was sure that she had
: : stolen it. He went into the lager-beer sa
= :. loon he said. and sat down and ordered
: some beer, and when he went to pay fol
: 1t his pocket-book was missing. No one
: had been near him in the saloon excep
i this waiter-girl, and he was very deter
- mined in branding her as the guilty per
. son, and insisted upon appearing agains
- her. Mr. 3. had only arrived from Con
), necticut that same afternoon, and I wa
. so sure Of the girls innocence that in
!, terested myself in her behalf, and ques
toned the gentleman closely as to wher
he had been since he had reached New
York. He said that he went straight t,
the Metropolitan hotel in the afternoon
went to Niblo's Garden theatre in tn
n evening, and from there went to the bee
II saloon in a Broadway basement, and ther
le discovered his loss.
" Then come along with me to tn
u hotel,' said to him, Mr. Leland con
g tinued, ssand we will go down to tn
~ theater. and see whether we can find an,
to trace Of your pocket-book there TIL
le Metropolitan hotel Office, you remember
IN has door opening directly into the thea
1e ter. l took him through the Office int
rs the lobby, and we woke up the nigh
&C watchman, who had gone to sleep, for i
" was getting late. told the watchmvl
ne that were looking for something that hat
ne been lost, and he unlocked the door an,
as lit the gas. The lower seats in Niblo'
ls, in those days were upholstered. and sepa
TO rated from the seats by space abou
to half an inch wide. Mr. B. remembcre.
to the seat he had occupied, and said tina