The San Francisco call., 1898-03-08
Escapes and Is Welded to the Man of Her
 Choice.
Recaptured After the Cere- mony and Again h.
 carcerated.
Will Be Free a Month Hence to Return to the Home of Her
 Husband.
Special Dispatch to The Call.

LOS ANGELES, March 7.-Former
 Helena Dahl Is in hard luck. but her husband, John H. Griffin, Is, if possible. in worse fortune than his pretty bride. A few days ago Helena and John were married in the regular way and accord ing to the rites of the Catholic church at the cathedral, all the legal reQuire-
 ments having been conformed with. And now, after enjoying married life
 for but a few days, Helena is an in
 mate of the female department of the
 Whittier Reform School.
 Helena formerly resided with her
 parents at Haywards, in Alameda County. She loved this same John H.
 Griffin. The parents of Helena de-
 clined to give their consent, and in- stead manifested their displeasure in
 very emphatic way. A complaint was sworn to and Helena appeared in the
 Superior Court of Alameda County.
 She was committed to the Whittier Re-
 form School as an incorrigible young
 lady.
 Helena came down to Whittier and
 at once won favor. She was pretty, quiet and in no sense unruly. There fore she soon gained the confidence of the officers.
 Nevertheless, she did not abandon
 the idea of marrying the man of her choice, despite all of the efforts of the instructors to prevail upon her to dis
 miss him from her thoughts. They supposed that he could do nothing, as he was 500 miles away.
 But in this they erred. He was not 800 miles away, but was right on the
 ground. The location of the girls building at Whittier is very convenient
 for those who desire to f1irt with the incorrigible females if they so desire. Of late an unusually robust young man has been seen in the vicinity of the girls department, but as he kept in the public highway and did no overt act he could not be driven away. When the girls appeared he was in the habit of performing dangerous featS upon a bicycle, and, more particularly, or at- tracting Helena'S attention. One morn ing recently Helena and her companion were missing. A search was instituted by the officers of the school, but not until the issuance of a marriage license to Helena and John was published in the local papers was any trace or her discovered.
 Investigation proved that she had
 been regularly married and was living with her husband on Macy street in
 this city, While her age in the mar
 riage license was given as Is 1t turned
 out that she lacked @ month of her ma iority so the officers proceeded to take her from her husband and return her
 to the school. Her parents were noti- fled If they desire they can have the marriage annulled, but within another | month the Whittier officials will have to give the girl her liberty. If the mar riage is annulled Mrs. Griff1n-for that is Helena's name now-will wed Griffith again.
 Griffin himself appeared before the
 officials and made a manly statement. He informed them that he had come to
 Southern California to marry the girl
 and that he had done so at his first
 opportunity. He said that she was his
 wife and he intended that she should
 remain so.