The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-01-11
.LETTERSTOAN ACTOR
ARE USED FOR
BLkCkMAIL
Matinee Girls Love Missives
to Handsome Harry Mon
tague Cause Trouble for a
Quarter Century-St. Paul
Man Forces Blackmailers
to Give Up Billet Doux
Written by His Wife.

Two hundred letters were burned
IN the crate in the home of a promi-
nent st. Paul business man yesterday.
me mans wife sighed with relief
as the last letter was destroyed. A
score of women in different parts of
the country viii also feel happier when
they learn that the documents are
destroyed. They had been used for
Matchmaking purposes.
The letters were the remains of the
letters written to Harry Montague,
the actor, by young girls in New York
city twenty-five or thirty years ago.
Harry Montague was then in the re
NTH of his popularity on the stage.
He played at Wallacks old theater
and was one Of the first actors to be
received into society. He was a tall,
handsome man, with black, curly hair
and curling black mustache. He
was one of the first matinee idols.
Many girls in New York who are
matrons now were crazy over the hand
some actor. They flocked to the mat
inees to see him act the part Of lover
in society dramas. They hung about
the entrance to the theater to catch
a glimpse of him as he came out. They
followed him on the street. They made
eyes at him in the buses and street
cars.
And. to the sorrow of many of them
since, some wrote him notes.
They Wrote Letters.
These notes were. for the most part,
innocent enough illusions. They were
written in gushing schoolgirl style.
In fact, many of them came from
boarding schools. Some of them
quoted poetry to Montague's eyes;
some declared his mustache delicious,
and others raVed over his eyebrows.
A few of them asked for appoint
fI,o 70
ed time and place for the meeting to
take place.
These are the letters which black
mailerS have since used and it is es-
timated they have collected nearly
100000 by means of them. The
plucky action of ST. Paul woman
has stopped the scheme.
An attempt was made to hlackmail
her about a month ago. A copy Of
q letter she wrote to Montague when
she was a school girl in an Eastern
town was enclosed with demand for
$500. II was said that other letters
Of compromising nature written by
her were also in the possession Of the
blackmailer.
The Husband Lands.
Without a moments thought the
woman turned the communication
over to her husband, remarking that
he could see what a goose she was
when she was a girl. The husband
laughed at the mawkish sentiment ex-
pressed in the letter. He is keen
business man, however, and his anger
was aroused at the thought of the
contemplate use which was being
made Of the youthful correspondence
Of girls who were now staid matr0ns.
He Immediately placed the matter
in the hands Of an Eastern detective
agency. Men have been at work on
made, as it was not desirable that
publicity be given the matter. How
ever, the three principals in the con-
spiracy were brought face to face with
the officers yesterday and compelled
to disgorge all the documents. They
were warned that they would be arrest
ed if they did not leave the country
within a week.
Frenchman Heads 1t.
One of the men is a Frenchman.
He is the head of the conspiracy. The
other two are Americans. All of them
are more than sixty years old and
they have been staying in Minneapolis
ever since the first attempt at black
mail was made in st. Paul. They were
known to have worked their scheme
successfully in one case in Minneapo-
lis, obtaining $1,000 for the delivery
of three letters to a charming society
1ndltOn Oh THAT IOWus
The story of the Montague letters
reatls like a romance.
1t should be said however, that the
actor was q gentleman. He never took
advantage Of the missives written by
the foolish girls in any way. He never
even spoke Of them to his friends.
As q matter of fact, Montague was
q married man and was entirely de-
voted to his wife, to whom he never
gave the slightest cause for jealousy.
However, probably by some inadvert-
ence, he kept all the letters.
When he died his personal effects
passed into the hands of Lester Wal
lack, his executor. The veteran actor
read some of the letters and spoke to
his friends about them, announcing
his intention of burning them. A few
nights afterward they were stolen
from Wallacks dressing room. The
theft was probably committed by an
actor, though the identity Of the thief
has never been disclosed.
Whether the blackmailers attempted