The Ottawa free trader., 1884-07-19
A CALIFORNIA SENSATION.
A Midnight Intruder Who Tickles Fo-
males Feet.

lSan Francisco Call
The worthy citizens living in the subur.
ban districts Of South San Francisco and
Butchertown are greatly excited at pres
ent, but their excitement amounts TO al.
most nothing when compared with their
Indignation. The peace of their homes has
been Suddenly shattered by the advent of
a crank in their midst, and all the efforts
a. Officer Bennett and the other policemen
stationed in that district have thus far
been unsuccessful in ferreting him out.
When the neighbors meet in the morning
the first question they ask one another is,
"Whose feet were tickled last night" The
cause of their uneasiness can be briefly ex-
planned. Shortly after midnight
few weeks ago a gentleman living
with his family near the slaughter-house
was awakened from his sleep by the pierre
ing shrieks of his daughter, iyouny miss
of sixteen summers. He grabbed re-
volver and hurriedly ran to her room, in
the expectation of meeting burglar. The
girl was almost dead from fright, and in
broken accents she narrated to her father
the cause of the outcry. She had been
rudely awakened from her dreams of
innocence by a tickling sensation in the
soles of her feet. When she. opened her
eyes she saw, by the aid of the pale noon
light, which was struggling through the
bedroom window, masked man standing
at the foot of her bed. She shrieked, and
the intruder sprang through the window,
out into the yard, which is "a few feet be-
low, and made his escape. The father at
first thought that the girl hal been dream
ing, but the cold night air waited up from
the bay soon made him realize tina, the
bedroom window was open and the adv, IL
ture reality. He closed the window and
sat down on chair to cositate on tie
strange affair, when his teeth began to
chatter. He started off for his own bed,
to continue his meditation, when he discov-
cred that the front door was open. He
closed and locked the door, and when lie
reached his bedroom he found his wife
closing the window in the room. A hur-
ried investigation showed that all the win
dows and doors on the lower floor of the
house had been opened by the midnight
nowler. The next day the police author.
Nss were notified of the nocturnal visitor.
Scarcely a night passes now but that some
female is awakened by the fiend tickling
her fee. As soon as the victim wakes up
the man makes his escape, either
through an open window or door. In
every instance the prowler opens all
the doors and windows in the house be.
tore he proceeds with his deviltry. The
man wears wide-brimmed hat, carries a
dark lantern, and has the lower portion of
his face concealed by towel or cloth. He
never steals anything, or at any rate moth
ing has been missed from the houses vis-
tied, except in one case, where towel was
taken. IL is probable that the fend forgot
his mask that night and took the towel to
use as mask A few nights ago a mar
ried lady felt the prowling ticker at her
feet. She quickly lit a candle, which the
intruder as promptly blew out and then
jumped through an open window. The
officers have been searching for him, and
he seems to be aware of the fact for he al
ways selects victim at distance from
where the officers are stationed. Unless
he is caught in short time the fair lassies
in the locality infested by him will be COM
PEELED to wear their shoes in bed to pre-
vent their having their sleep disturbed.
OF late cows have been stolen from sta.
bles in the vicinity, and some of them
have afterward been found shot. OF the
others no traces have been found, but
whether the cattle stealing is part OF the
programme carried out by the ''ieet tick
Ter" is not known.