Turner County herald. (Hurley, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1884-06-12
A California Sensation.
From the San F3apci.co CALI

The worthy citizens living in the
suburban districts of South San Fran
cisco and Butchertown are greatly ex-
cited at present, but there excitement
amounts to almost nothing when com.
pared with their indignation. The
peace OF their homes has been suddenly
shattered by the advent of crank in
their midst. and all the efforts of Officer
Bennett and the other policemen sta
toned in that district have thus far
been unsuccessful in ferreting him out.
When the neighbors meet in the morn
ing the first question they ask one an
other is, "Whose feet were tickled last
nightp" The cause of their uneasiness
can be briefly explained. Shortly after
midnight a few weeks ago gentleman
living with his family near the slaugh-
ter-house was awakened from his sleep
by the piercing shrieks of his daughter,
a young miss of 16 summers. He
grabbed revolver and hurriedly ran
to her room, in the expectation of meet
ing 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 rude1y
awakened from her dreams of innocence
by tickling sensation in the soles of
her feet. When she opened her eyes
she saw, by the aid of the pale moon
light, which was struggling through The
bedroom window, a masked man stand
ing at the foot of her bed. She shrieked,
and the intruder sprang through the
window, out into the yard, which is q
few feet below, and made his escape.
The father at first thought that the girl
had been dreaming, but the cold night
air waited up from the bay, soon made
him realize that the bedroom window
was open and the adventure reality,
He closed the window and sat down
on chair to cogitate on the
strange affair, when his teeth began
to chatter. He started off for his own
bed, to continue the meditation, when
he discovered that the front door was
open. He closed and locked the door.
and when he reached his bedroom he
found his wife closing the window in
the room. A hurried investigation
showed that all the windows and doors
on the lower floor of the house had
been opened by the midnight prowler.
The next day the police authorities were
notified Of the nocturnal visitor.
Scarcely night passes now but that
some, female is awakened by the fend
tickling her feet. As soon as the VIC
tim wakes up the man makes his es-
cape, either through an open window
or door. In every instance the prowler
opens all the doors and windows in the
house before heproceeds with his devil
try. The man wears wide-brimmed
hat, carries dark lantern, and has the
lower portion of his face concealed by
towel or cloth. He never steals any
thing, or at any rate nothing has been
missed from the houses visited, except
in one case, where towel was taken.
It is probable that the fiend forgot his
disguise that night and took the towel
to use as a mask. A few nights ago a
married lady felt the prowler tickling
her feet. She quickly lit candle.
which the intruder as promptly blew
out and then jumped through an open
window. The officers have been search
ing for him, and he seems to be aware
of that fact, for he always selects a vic
tim at distance from where the off
GERS are stationed. Unless he is caught
in short time the fair lassies in the To-
cality infested by him will be compelled
to wear their shoes in bed to prevent
their having their sleep disturbed.
OF late COWS have been stolen from
stables 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 a part
OF the programme carried out by the
feet ticker" is not known.