The herald., 1898-10-23
a MYSTERIOUS VISITOR
aTRAH0E ACTIONS OF A MAN
FROM Ell PAso, TEXAS
AN ACCIDENT THAT FAILED
d. :. Griffith or George n. Morris
Jailed ON a Charge Of Passing
a Bogus Check

uts "
station last night with charge OF forgery
against him. Whether Griffith Is his cor
rect name Is not known at present. MS
apparent reluctance to remaining more
than a short time at each place ne lodseo
and his peculiar manner OF leaving ino1-
cate that he may have reasons to rear dls-
covery; otherwise his conduct can be as
cribed to nothing but vagary.
II was last Thursday evening that thin
man of middle height, well dressed and
with rather striking air, entered the Hol-
lenbeck and registered as d. j. Griffith OF
Eel Paso, Texas. No particular attention
was paid to him and he did not attempt
to enter into any conversation with the
hotel clerks. On the following morning
about II o'clock, a telephone message was
received by the Hollenbeck hotel people.
stating that Griffith had been severely in
jured in a runaway accident and would not
be able to occupy his room any further.
He would send a messenger for his belong
ings.
The author of this rather startling piece
of information, it is supposed, was no other
than Griffith himself. and he was at Jacks
restaurant, on North Main street. He had
not been In an accident, so far as was evil
dent, and certainly was not injured. True
to his statement to the hotel people. he
summoned a messenger and sent the pay
ment for his bill by the boy, who also took
charge of the mans valise and removed it
to the Chicago lodging house, at 142 South
Main street. Griffith himself appeared
later at the Chicago house, registering by
that name and asked to be shown room.
After looking about he said the apartment
was not exactly satisfactory, but he would
change later on. He then produced several
gold pieces and a quantity of silver, and
remarked that he would pay considerable
money in advance, as he intended remain
ing until next April. On second thoughts,
however, he decided to pay for only one
night. To the landlord Griffith said he had
only recently arrived from FL Paso. Texas.
with string of fast horses. One Of them
he stated, could do mile in three minutes
which may be fast in Texas. but is very
slow in Caiforna-and he would take great
delight in driving his landlord about the
city. Griffith explained that he had not
visited Los Angeles since 1878, so naturally
was not acquainted with the place in its
present generous dimensions. He inquired
the way to the Burbank theater. saying he
had a couple of tickets to the performance.
He was directed to the theater, and as IT
was we'll toward the time for the begin
ming of the performance, he left the lodg
ing house, going, it was supposed, to the
place of amusement.
In the meantime a Herald reporter had
learned of the alleged accident, and natu-
rally went in search of Griffith, to learn
tHe extent Oh HIS injuries ana the ueldllS OIL
the affair. Griffith was absent when the
reporter called at the Chicago lodging
house, and much to his surprise learned
that Griffith was uninjured After in
forming the landlady that he desired to
speak with Griffith on business, the report
er went away. Griffith returned shortly
after the newspaper man had left, and was
infoGmed about the caller. He appeared
to be rather perturbed over the advent of
fha unknown visitor and ipuI1iraI
larly regarding him and his mission. No
further information could be given Grif-
fifth. so he went upstairs to his room. The
reporter returned and was informed that
Griffith had come back and was in his
room. There was no response to repeated
knocks however, and after waiting for
nearly an hour the reporter left the house
without seeing the mysterious Texan.
Nothing more was seen of Griffith at
the Chicago. For some reason, known only
to himself, he had evidently become
alarmed over the visit of the reporter,
whose business and mission were unknown
to him, and determined to escape him. He
picked up his valise and quietly made his
way out by the back door. The next seen
Of him was about II o'clock the same night,
when he appeared at the Arcade Depot
hotel, conducted by John Schneider at the
corner of Fifth street and Central avenue.
Griffith evidently had gone there directly
from the Chicago. The man registered
there as George II. Morris. Yesterday
Schneider met Morris up town, and the
latter invited him to take drink Schnei-
der declined, and then Morris" said that
he had been intending to notify him by
telephone that he did not want the room
any more, as he was to leave on the night
train for Fresno. Later in the day "Mor-
ris returned to the hotel took dinner and
paid for it. He then invited Schneider into
the bar room and there treated to the
drinks. He then informed Schneider tha t
he was well acquainted with the principal
people of the city, and asked the boniface
If he would object to accepting a small
check in payment of his bill. Schneider
acquiesced and was handed check for
$780, made payable to George H. Morris
and bearing the name of H. Jevne. The
amount of the bill was deducted and Nor
ris" was given the difference He then
bade farewell to Schneider The latter
later compared the writing on the check
with that of the signature on the register
and saw that they were Identical This
made him suspicious, and he telephoned TO
Jevne and was informed that no such
check had been made out by that gentle
man. Schneider notified the police of the
forgery.
The authorities had already been warned
to look out for Griffith, but for an en-
tirely different reason. The Herald report-
er had notified them regarding the strange
actions of Griffith, and the landlord OF
the Chicago had gone to the police station
with the reporter and looked through the
gallery of offenders wanted by the authori-
ties, but was unable to discover the like
ness of Griffith among them. Relying par
TALLY on the statement of Morris" 70
Schneider, about going to Fresno. detect
ives were sent to the railroad depots. and
at River station the suspect was captured.
When taken to the station he gave the
name of d. j. Griffith, the name which had
been originally signed on the hotel regis
ter. He did not offer any explanation of
his actions, and was locked up pending
further investigation into his identity. The
officers do not know exactly what to think
or the man, but will make every possible
effort to discover who he really Is