The San Francisco call., 1904-02-18
THUG ATTACKS
SPEEPINC GIRL
Ruff1an Enters Room of Miss
Julia Henson at the Preside
and Tries to Strangle Her
ASSAILANT Is UNKNOWN
elimination of Depredations
Which Have Baffied the Vigi-
lance of Officers at the Post

An attempt to strangle Miss Julia
Henson at the Preside late Tuesday
night seems to be the elimination Of
thieving that has been carried on in
the post fer several days.
Although officers, on-commissioned
men and sentries have been on the
alert to catch the midnight marauder.
they have failed to locate him, and
in the midst of the populated canton
ment of the Tenth Infantry and while
the sentries were on duty a villain
eluded their watchful eyes and with
murderous intent crawled in through
an open window and approached the
bedside of his intended victim, grabbed
her hands and then tried to choke her
/ to death. The story is best told by
Miss Henson herself who stated:
With several other of the girls who
are in attendance on the officers mess,
l occupy one of the rooms which were
formerly the old clubhouse. l retired
early Tuesday night. Shortly before
midnight 1 was awakened by some one
grabbing my hands in a firm grip.
TRIES TO CHOKE HER.
Before could scream his hand was
on my throat. 1 succeeded in getting
my left hand loose and struck the thin
board Partition wall between my room
and the next a blow that awakened
the other girls, and one of them spoke
to me. With that the ruffian slightly
relaxed his hold, and l screamed and
shouted for the sentry.
Even then the fiend still tried to
choke me, and it was not until one of
the other girls commenced to scream
that he let go of me and dashed from
the room, through an adjoining unoc-
cupied room, and leaped through the
window and disappeared in the dark
ness of the night. In the meantime
the other girls were up and, hearing
the crash of the falling window, by the
dim light of the camp they could see
stalwart man run off into the trees
back of the camp. Just at this point
the colored cooks appeared, with SEN
tries with lanterns, and thoroughly
searched the place. 1 was so terrorized
that ] did not know what to do.
GIRLS SHREK WITH FEAR.
Some of the other girls were so
frightened at the rumpus that they
shrieked with fear and covered up
their heads with their bedclothes and
refused to move until the whole house
was lighted up and had been searched
by the guards from one end to the
other. | left a small amount of money
and my rings and jewelry on table at
the foot of my bed, and the girls in the
other rooms all had small sums lying
about, and some of them had put their
watches on their dressing tables. None
of these things were missing. We were
all so frightened that we sat up till
morning, fearing another attack, and a
sentry stood guard all night in front of
the house"
Miss Henson is a modest appearing
girl of perhaps 19 years of age.
and is much upset over the attack. She
has been employed at the Preside for
a year in her present position.
Colonel Noble is at a loss to under
stand how the depredations have been
going on. but thinks it must be some
discharged soldier or one of the numer-
Gus camp followers who hang around
the gates of the post. The attempted
strangulation puzzles him and he does
not know what to think of the pro-
ceedings He, however, states that any
prowier seen or caught about the camp
hereafter will come there at his own
peril.