Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1897-10-13
OLD CASE REVIVED.
Waukesha Woman Charged with
Having Written Obscene
Letters.

| Waukesh6, Wis Oct S.-[Special. /
The United States grand jury, which has
been in session in Milwaukee for the
past week, has, it is reported here, re-
| turned an indictment against Miss Emma
Dingman accusing her of sending an i'm
! proper letter through the mails to Mrs.
| William CalkinS of this city AS yet no
| arrest has been made, the action of the
grand jury evidently, having been direct
Vnon the letter itself, as there were no
proceedings before a court commissioner,
! so far as any one here knows AS the
grand jury adjourned several days ago
| Waukesha people expect the arrest to be
made most any day.
| When the rumor of the Indictment
| became known it created the great
est interest here. as it opens one of
| the sensational episodes in the history of
| the city. Miss Dingman was indicted for
a similar offense a short time ago, but
Judge Seaman nOlled the case. Miss
bingham had pleaded not guilty and her
| insiStence of her innocence at the time
was quite marked. Judge Seaman. in dis
missing the case called Miss Dingman
before him and administered quite Sc
we're lecture, cautioning her, even if she
were not guilty, not to lay herself open to
the. charge, and informing her Of the Sc
verify of the sentence which would have
followed had she been found guilty.
The present letter which Miss Ding
man stands accused OF writing is
understood to have been a remark
able one. 1t is usual in such cases.
where a person is accused of writing let
ters of this kind, for the postofice in
spectOrs to cause the arrest of the per-
son accused and bring him or her before
a court commissioner for examination.
This was not done in the presentinstance.
Mrs. Calkins reported the letter to the
FOL nni+ rNl0 in
the hands of the postoffice inspector.
who, apparently, went directly before the
grand jury.
There are few cases which equal the
interest felt in the Dingman-Calkins con-
trOyerSieS. 1t is now more than two years
ago that the people of Waukesha were
astounded by the statement that Miss
Dingman was being prosecuted by I'M
known persons. The persecution came
in the form of letters that were at first
sent through the mails. Every possible
device was resOrted TO to trap the writer
and sender. POstOffice detectives watched
the letter boxes in the vicinity of the
Dingman residence, but the vigil of the
detectives were unrewarded. Whoever
wrote the letters seemed to know of ev-
cry move that was made. Finally no
more letters were received through the
mails.
Then came another sensation. The I'M
tucked under the door of the Dingman
residence, and they continued to come des-
pite the efforts made to apprehend the Of
fender. Then the whole of Waukesha
was astounded, when, one morning, Miss
Dingman charged that she discovered a
member of the CaIkins family rushing out
of the yard A search disclosed that an
other letter had been deposited and then
came the arrest of nearly every member
of the Calkins family. When the case
came on for trial, however, it failed for
lack of prosecution.
Miss Dingman afterwards left Wauke-
sha and went to Milwaukee and after
wards to Racine. At botn of these
places it was claimed her unknown per-
secutors had followed her, but the police
on each occasion were unable to find the
guilty persons, although, it is stated, they
made some discoveries that were never
made public.
Shortly after this Mrs. Calkins began
to receive letters Of an unwelcome ma
ture, and finally Miss Dingman was ar
rested as the sender. She was indicted
by the federal grand jury, but her case
never came to trial, being dropped. This
new development has awakened the
greatest curiosity and the developments
are being looked forward to with intense
interest