The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-07-15
MYSTERY STILL SURROUNDS
THE ASSAULT OF THE WOMAN ON
SELBY HILL EARLY YESTER-
DAY MORNING
Police Department., However, Is
Trying to Round Up the Terror of
the Hill Regardless of Who Com
mitted theoL Last Crime.

Two detectives and the entire city force
of policemen are at work trying to locate
the man five feet eight inches, with dark
clothes and dark complexion, roughly
dressed" who has been terrorizing the st.
Anthony hill district for the past three
months, by his night assaults on unpro-
tected women. Recent cases of a similar
kind in Minneapolis have spurred the de-
partment to further efforts to locate the
bastard, and there are indications at
present which indicate that his capture
will not be long deferred.
The assault upon a woman on the Selby
grade, Thursday night, was at first
thought to have been the work of the
same man who assaulted young woman
on Grand avenue a month ago, and has
committed other deeds of the same kind
at periodical intervals ever since The
police department is inclined to cast some
doubt upon the woman's account, how
ever, and it has not been proven to the
satisfaction of the police that an assault
with criminal purpose really took place.
G. E. Bartlett, 346 East Tenth street, was
on the west side of Summit avenue at
the time the assault happened, and heard
the woman scream. He hurriedIy APP
preached the edge of the hill, a distance
of not more than fifty feet but when he
looked down the hill he saw no one but
the woman. Since there is a high stone
wall on that side of the Selby grade, and
no way for man to escape except up or
down the hill the fact that after such
short interval and before man could
have made an escape, no one was seen,
casts a doubt on the story. There are
other circumstances which the public
Views with suspicion. Among them the
desperate anxiety of the woman to keep
her identity from the public, and the fact
that she refuses to inform the public at
whose house she was visiting during the
evening.
There are several instances Of assault,
however, which have come to the atten-
ton of the police department. which are
vouched for beyond doubt. In each in
stance the assault was made by man
about five feet eight inches in height
wearing dark clothes and of dark COM
pleXion. No more definite description has
been secured. Each assault shows char
acteristics which would indicate that 1t
was committed by the same man. From
Minneapolis also come reports of assaults
of the same character, and the detec-
tives are working on the supposition that
the villain who has been operating In
st. Paul has drifted to the neighboring
city as soon as an assault has been COM
mitted here to avoid arrest Two as
saults were made there on Thursday
night, one upon domestic employed at
Lincoln and Dupont streets at 1915. and
another an hour later, upon Miss Gustaf-
son, employed at Stanley Hall. There is
reason to suppose that the man who did
the work Is the same one who assaulted
the woman on Grand avenue, and in other
parts of the hill district. No additional
clues to the identity of the man had been
| mn n last niDht hut ha inf
! ton in the hands of the detectives IS be-
ing used, and inquiries are being pursued
In different quarters which are expected
| to develop leading clues.