Los Angeles daily herald., 1889-06-25
NEATLY TRAPPED.
A Young Man Writes to
the Wrong Lady.
HE Is LANDED IN PRISON.
The Young Lady is Brave Enough
to Aid in His Capture
By the Police.
NEATLY TRAPPED.
HE Is LANDED IN PRISON.

calumlnatlDg IN q scene OF hne dramatic
effect, was executed in the lobby outside
The star of the performance, for whose
benefit it was all arranged, was man
who calls himself W. W. Wyman, and
who appears to be about as contemplate
a villain as ever went about unhung.
The daughter of prominent citizen ol
Los Angeles received through the mails
yesterday long letter, written in poetry
and signed merely with the name
"Clyde." She read short distance
into the document, and, becoming horri-
fed at its insolent and vulgar tone,
showed it to her parents. Her father
examined the letter carefully and then
set out for the police station to see
whether there was any method by which
the villain that had dispatched it could
be captured and punished.
The letter contained about. sixty or
eighty lines, printed in very accurate
hand and showing some skill in poetical
composition. 1t bears the date of June
22d, and opens as follows:
MY DEAR GIRL:
would crave a thousand pardons II these
verses should offend,
L
can't CON mmend;
Still, I trust your girlish nature will not urge
you to rebel
Against the sentiments and logic of the story /
shall tell.
The greater part of the letter is un-
speakably obscene. 1t is craftily ar
ranged, however, so that the victim may
be induced to read into it some distance
before discovering the nature of the
stuff.
Near the end of the document the fol-
lowing lines occur:
Let me make little programme for meeting
Monday night
And well have little racket" if you think it
is all right.
Just at o'clock. my darling-I speak candidly
Be at Main street and Commercial, on the cor
ner by the bank.
I'll be ready to receive you; there will be no
long delay;
If you'd like we'll see the opera-'Maritana"
Or, If that is not your pleasure, we will go where
e'er you please.
I've pleasant room convenient-just the place
to have Stalk-
Or we might, if you preferred it, take pleasant
little walK.
The father laid the case before Chief
Burns, and assured him that he was will
ing to do all in his power to secure the
1rrest and punishment of the
scoundrel, but that he did not
wish his daughters name mixed
up in the disagreeable affair. The
Chief examined the letter and said that
there was only one possible way of find
ing out the writer, and that was by having
the young lady keep the appointment,
and letting the fellow reveal himself to
her and be captured. To this the father
at first refused to consent, but at last
agreed to allow the chief to go out to his
house and talk the matter over with the
young lady and her mother.
The family, as has been said, is one of
wealth and social prominence. The
chiefs first plan was that the mother
should dress herself as far as possible to
resem BILE the daughter, with the plan
that, in the twilight at the time the viii
lain had set, he might mistake her for
the young lady and accost her. This was
abandoned, as the mother did not
resemble her daughter sufficiently for
the ruse to be success. At last, on a
great deal of persuasion on the part of
the chief, it being clearly shown to her
that in no other way could the fellow be
captured, the plucky young lady agreed
to play the part.
just at O'Clock yesterday evening,
anyone who had been looking from the
windows of the st. Elmo across to the
corner of Main and Commercial, would
have noticed a very well dressed young
man, tall, of slender figure, with a pale,
almost cadaverous, face, walking up
and down past the farmers and Mer-
chants Bank. He looked up and down
ha ~ and eaonrad fhn
of every lady that approached. At times
wall of the bank and twirled his long red
moustache with a self-satisfied air.
Presently the looker.on would have no
ticed a young lady approaching, dressed
in neat walking costume. AS she
came to the corner she walked little
more slowly, and glanced about her
nervously. The well-dressed man comes
up and addresses few words to her.
She answers in monosyllables, He offers
an arm, which she declines. Neverthe-
less she walks along down the street with
him.
There were several characters in this
little drama which the looker-on was not
quite SO likely to notice, as they are kept
out of sight. One was stout young
man in light suit who stood behind a
post by the Downey Block. On the
other side of the street, near the st.
Charles Hotel, stood tall man with a
long black moustache. These we're Dep
uty Chief Biles and Detective Jennings,
and it may be supposed that they
chuckled with glee when they saw the
couple meet Some distance down the
street was the father ready to be on
hand to take his daughter away the mo-
ment the arrest was made.
The scoundrel and the young lady he
had hoped to make his victim walked
down Spring street together. He pro-
posed that they should go to the theater
and she consented. This was part of
the plan to establish the fact that he was
the writer of the letter, as it had sug-
gested that they should see the opera.
AS they approached the Los Angeles
Theater the two officers who had been
following at some distance, one on each
side of the street, came up nearer. The
couple entered the lobby, where there
were but few people, as the curtain had
already gone up. The fellow
stepped up to the box office
and put down the money for two seats.
Just as they were handed across the
counter the hand of Detective Jennings
fell upon the mans shoulder.
"You are my prisoner. sir. Make no
trouble, but come quietly"
The man turned, and on the other side
saw himself confronted by Deputy Chief