The San Francisco call., 1904-03-21
B. J. TreeSe Receives
Wounds That MAY
Prove Fatal
PluCky Woman Stands by
Her Escort During
Trying Ordeal.
Police Believe That Revenge and Not
Robbery May Have Been
Motive for Crime.

Failure to comply with the peremp-
tory command, Hands up" and an at
tempt TO give battle to a footpad last
night, may cost L. j. Treese an iron
molder, his life AS the result of the
encounter he now lies in a precarious
condition at St Joseph's Hospital, with
the middle finger of his left hand shot
away and a bullet hole in his back.
This crime by one of the murderous
crooks that now infest the city oc-
CURED in one of the thickly settled sec
tions of the city, but as usual there is
no clew to his identity and the police
are working in the dark. The fact that
his intended victim was accompanied
by woman did not deter the thug
from attempting to carry out his plans.
Shortly after s o'clock last evening
while Treese and Mrs. A. Butler were
walking down the south side of Twen-
ty-second street, between Dolores and
Chattanooga streets, a fellow wearing
a white handkerchief across his face
stepped out Of a dark alley and or
dered them TO throw up their hands.
Instead of complying with the request
Treese, who is a powerful man. dealt
the thug a blow across the arm with
an umbrella he was carrying.
ROBBER FIRES SHOTS.
The robber backed to the edge of the
L
UP hands" Treese pluckily started to
attack him again with the umbrella
The ominous snap of the hammer of
the thugs pistol was heard. but the
cartridge failed to explode. BY this
time both men were in the street
Treese advancing and the robber re-
| treating.
Treese made a sudden lunge with the
umbrella and as he did so there was a
flash and report and the middle finger
of Treese's left hand was shot away
at the second joint. Treese whirled
around and, as he did so, the thug
fired second time, hitting him in the
back
During the enactment of this tragic
affair Mrs. Butler pluckily remained
on the scene and followed the men
into the street. Not for a moment
did she lose her self possession until
| the shots were fired; she admits that
after that the only thing she remem-
! bers is running with Treese to d
nearby drug store.
Upon being struck by the bullets
Treese considered it foolhardy to battle
further against odds and Immediately
turned and ran to the drug store at the
corner of Twenty-second and Guerrero
streets. There DR.. Joseph Brady made
an examination Of the wounds and ap-
! piled temporary dressing. Upon the
request of the wounded man he was
removed to st. Joseph's Hospital
The shots caused intense excitement
| in the neighborhood. Officer ]. T. Gal
! lagher. who was in the neighborhood.
arrived on the scene a few minutes af
| ter the shooting but could find no
Mrs. Butler agree on the description of
/ the highwayman.
DESCRIPTION OF THUG.
He is described V0IIuO M ',
dressed in a black coat, back derby
| hat and dark trousers. Owing to the
darkness neither Mrs. Butler nor
Treese were able to give the police a
description that might lead to the cap
ture of ting fellow.
! At st. Joseph's Hospital DIR. Ander-
son ascertained that the bullet had
gone through the left shoulder blade
/ from the back, but was unable to To-
cate it by probing. Treese's condi-
tion. although serious, is not neces-
sarily fatal. Detective O'Dea, who is
working on the case, stated last night
that the case did not look like one,
of holdup and intimated that revenge
may have played prominent part in
the crime.
Treese has been in the city for
about seven months and is employed
by Byron Jackson. Mrs. Butler
stated at the hospital last night that
she had only known Treese a month
and knew of no one that would shoot
him out of revenge. In telling her
story she said that they did not see a
pistol in the hand of the highwayman
when he stopped them and Ii was
only after Treese started after the
fellow that she saw the weapon and
so informed her escort It is her i'm
preston that the thug again ran into
the alleyway where he first appeared
after firing the second shot.
Detectives Graham, Fitzgerald Bun
ner. Mulcahy, Freel and O'Dea are
working on the case.