The San Francisco call., 1905-03-03

waiter observed the
r1ent and checkmated it. The foiled
actor, having no money, was forth
with consigned to the custody Of a
policeman.
Mr.. Sterling's tall and shapely figure
was in charming pose as his misde-
meanor- was recounted. With shoul-
ders and head thrown back and arms
folded-a Ia the opulent villain who
stands up stage" and mockingly in
forms the humble heroine that he
holds the mortgage on the old home
stead and will surely foreclose if she
refuses to be his wife-he hardened
to the recital and then put in his de-
fense. His wealth of black and glossy
hair waved in consonance with his
denial that he intended 10 defraud,
and his right hand stole into the
bosom of his tightly buttoned raglan
and nestled there as he unfolded his
version Of how the unfortunate affair
came to pass. Before adducing ex-
PLANTATION Of his inability to meet a
demand for two bits-ha! hai the
paltriness Of the sum was laughable-
he would like TO inform the court that
he had just concluded a highly sue
cessful engagement as a member Of
the company headed by Miss Blanche
Bates and that since the severance of
his connection with the justly famous
aggregation of legitimate mummers he
had been resting" If the court were
cognizant of those facts, he opined,
his part in the incident of the cafe
might appear less discreditable.
When he entered the rotisserie, Mr..
Sterling narrated, he had in his pos
session two hve-dollar gold coins, con-
tained in purse which was confined
in a rear. pocket Of his pantaloons.
While he was seated at the table the
purse by some means opened and as
he shifted about in his chair the coins
rolled out and into the pocket, which,
alasi contained a hole sufficiently large
TO permit of their egress. His
modest meal finished he arose and
sauntered toward the cashier, draw
ing forth his purse as he did so, and
then he. discovered he was penniless.
The coins had trundled down the in
terror of a trousers leg TO the floor,
where they were found and kept by
some dishonest person-maybe a
waiter That was the plain, unvar-
nished truth of how he came to be
caught in such an embarrassing, not to
say humiliating, predicament. Surely
the court could not suspect him of be-
ing a deliberate swindler7
Then the restaurateur spoke again,
saying that II It had not been the
fourth time Mr.. Sterling had at
tempted TO evade payment for his food
he might have been less harshly dealt
with. Indeed, no longer ago than last
Saturday evening, he ate 40 cents
worth and then sidestepped the cash
counter. However. the prosecution did
not desire TO send him to Jail. All IL
wanted was the money he owed It
would a dollar be accepted as pay
rnent IN fulI7 Sure.
Dollar paid by defendants attorney
and case dismissed by order Of bench.
For several hours of Wednesday aft
ernoon the telephone at police head
quarters was kept busy conveying
complaints from bartenders who had
been defrauded by 'Garibaldi" Flynn.
veteran xagabond. All the messages
were to the same effect-that Mr..
Flynn had ordered and consumed a
drink and hastened away without pay
ing for it-and each supplementary re-
quest that q shrewd and trusty po-
iiceman be detailed to capture the
daring mIscreant was promptly COM
piled with. Half dozen Of the bright
est and best men on the force were
seeking Mr.. Flynn in the region east
of Montgomery street, when no less
distinguished a man-hunter than De-
tectiVe Captain Burnett collared Carl
baldi,' then very much under the in
fiuence Of the libations which he had
obtained by false pretense within a
stonethrow of the Hall of Justice.
Judge Conlan gave him. six months
the maximum penalty for vagrancy.
For knocking out one OF the eyes
and breaking one Of the legs of party
of the name Of Peterson one day sew
eral weeks ago, John T. LOTUS was
adjudged guilty of mayhem and sent
TO the Superior Court by Judge Con-
Ian.
A jury In Judge Mogan's court ac-