San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1894-06-18
A WILD EXPERIENCE.
THEY WALKED "BY MOONLIGHT
ALONE"
And Were Held UP and Fired Upon
by Robbers Three-How Trav-
cling Man and His Lady Ex-
changed Dull Opera for
Lively Tragedy.


street, by the alleged attempted
robbery of a lady and gentleman
who were walking along the street |
in the bright moonlight.
Three men stopped them and one
of the men fired couple of pistol
shots at them. |
The gentleman and his partner
had been to the Spanish Opera |
at the Grand Opera house,
as the gentleman states, and
finding it pretty dull had decided
to walk out. They had proceeded
up Houston street and along Sole
dad to Giraud streets and turned
in toward Augusta, when they
were stopped by three men and the
man was ordered to throw up his
hands. The man did SO, but hal
looed for help, and the lady
screamed. A pistol shot was
fired by one of the men
and the gentleman then started
to run toward the Convent bridge,
while the lady screamed louder
and covered on her knees on the
sidewalk.
A negro named Adam Flood,
living at sol Main avenue, was
Just passing and started across
the street when he heard the
scream and shot, but au-
| other shot, aimed, he
thinks, at him, made him
turn about. About this time
Clarence King, who was passing,
started over to the group and the
three would-be assailants then ran
up Augusta street, separating as
they ran.
A telephone call from Col. J. H.
McLeary's house, near the rear of
whose premises this action took
place, summoned the mounted po-
lice. In the meantime Phil and 10
Wright, firemen of No. 4
company, heard the firing and
screaming and started down Sole
dad street. They met man out of
breath and who seemed to have
been running pretty hard. They
stopped him and he said he was
hunting for a policeman. They
held him and on search, which
they made of his pockets, they
found a large rock.
Further investigation Of the
matter revealed only the lady and
gentleman, who had at length re-
: gained each others company.
They gave the statement of the
stopping as detailed above, and
said they had not been robbed.
The robbers were very close to
them when the last shot was fired
and could have killed them if
murder had been intended.
They could not recognize
, them, on account of be-
ing too excited. To the officers
who arrived in the patrol wagon
they refused to divulge their
names, though Detective Hughes
learned that the gentleman was a
travelling man named Mahon
while the lady is supposed to live
at boarding house on Fourth
street. 30.
The officers finally, after search
OF the neighborhood, for the other
two men, took the captured as
sailant from the engine house, in
the patrol wagon and started for
the station. He dropped some
thing out OF his pocket while on
the way. 1t struck the iron of the
wagon and made noise enough for
the officers to hear and they made
a search of the ground, finding sew
eral new Smith & Wesson pistol
] cartridges. At the station the pris-
oner proved to be Carl Hoffman,,
a German laborer, % years Of
age. He was recognized as the
same fellow who was not long ago
fined $25 by the recorder for carry
a pistol and as the weapon was a
fine, new one, Marshal Druse
bought it of him for $3.50 and
credited him on his fine. He says
after this he tried to get work at
several of the breweries, failed and
went to Houston, and had only been
back few days. He said he was
walking along the street when he
heard shot fired by one OF two
men who had stopped gentleman
and lady. The gentleman cried
grape" and "help," and he, Hoff-
man, then picked up a rock and
ran over toward them, when they
aimed bullet at him which whis-
tied close to his head and caused
him to turn and run for an officer
| Hoffman's story was quite glib
considering he had no rehearsal,
but the cartridge incident rather