Los Angeles daily herald., 1889-07-22
A GREEN SASH.
Two Women Claim to be ats Owner
I'm Court.


I'm Court.
Gus and Belle Williams, q young mar.
ried couple of prepossessing appearance
appeared before City Justice W. G. Lock
wood Saturday, for trial upon the
charge of petit larceny, preferred against
them by Mrs. Bessie McQuilkin, it being
alleged that they had stolen several arti.
cles of wearing apparel and $25 in money
from the Novel Restaurant on Msin street
on or about May 5th last. The testimony
for the prosecution was to the effect thai
during the month of April last, Mrs
McQuikin's health was impaired by the
arduous duties imposed upon her as pro
prietress of a restaurant, and acting
on medical advice, she determined upon
taking q vacation. Accordingly she left
this city for San Bernardino on Monday
April 22d, and her husband fol
oath he returned to Los Angeles to
settle up his affairs prior to making q
prolonged visit to the sister city, and
left the restaurant in charge Of w. w.
Ledow during his absence. After few
weeks absence he again came back for
his wife's trunk, which had been left in
the bedroom at the rear of the
restaurant, and on examining it he
found that five suits of under
clothes, one green silk sash and
$25 in money had been stolen from
it; but he said nothing about the loss a,
that time, and the trunk was taken down
to San Bsrnardino, where his wife imms-
diately called his attention to the fact
that the property was missing. In the
meantime the Williams couple had been
engaged at the Novel," and had occu
pied the room in which the trunk had
been left. and suspicion fell upon them.
At the end of June, however, they left,
and Belle Williams went to work on the
4th of July in the ''steerage" at Browns
restaurant, opposite the Courthouse. She
then wore a green silk sash similar to
the one stolen from the "Novel;" and
this reaching the ears of Mrs. McQuil-
ken, who had returned to Los Angeles,
caused her to notify the police of her loss
and suspicious. A search warrant
was issued, and upon it Detec-
tive Wallin investigated the rooms
occupied by Williams and his wife at the
Millard House, on the corner of San Pc
dro and Fourth streets, but the green
silk sash was the only article on the
premises which corresponded with those
which were wanted. This was subse.
quently identified positively by Mrs. Nc
Quilkin and the dressmaker, Mrs. King,
who made it, and was found to cores
pond in every detail with piece of the
silk left over in the making. Six wit
nesses were produced to swear to the
facts as stated above. Belle Williams,
however, explained the fact of the sash
being in her possession, by asserting that
her mother gave her six yards of the elk
stuff in December last, when she bought
it in Kearney. street store in San Fran.
cisco. She had the whole six yards
made into sash, but shortly afterward
sat on some wine and grease and had to
cut off about three yards of it and re
shape it. Two or three witnesses swore
to having seen the defendant wear the
sash before her marriage, and on this
showing the court held that it was posi-
BILE for two women to procure sashes in
different places of identically the same
stuff and shade, and discharged the de-
PENDANTS, awarding the sash to Belle
Williams.