Los Angeles herald., 1906-01-03
CHARGE MERCHANT
WITH BLACKMAIL
DETECTIVES MAKE CLEVER
ARREST
Arthur Reinhart Taken Into Custody
on Complaint of Former Part
ner--Decoy Money
Is Used

! ''"S' a. NltNeT ruSe Ilalli1cu by
Detectives Cowcn and Boyd, Arthur
Reinhart of 273l Dorchester avenue was
arrested In the parlors of the Nadeau
hotel at 6:10 o'clock last evening and
sent to the city Jail on the charge Of
attempting to blackmal David Hart
man, his former partner in the Fault
less Neckwear company Mr. Hart
man is now proprietor of the neckwear
manufacturing company occupying
rooms 256 to 25S in the Wilson building
According to the Instructions of the
ottlcerS, Hartman placed II flash" roll
OF DlllS In an arm chair in the Nadeat
! hotel parlor al $3.50 o'clock. as instruct
ed by the writer of the last anouvlnous
letter received. Forty minutes later
according to the police. Reinhart
| walked into the hotel sauntered into
! the parlor and took from the chair the
tony" roll of bills.
Before Reinhart had an opportunity
to replace the roll of greenbacks. which
! he evidently intended doing, the officers
| IRON their place of ConCcalment
walked out and quietly informed him
| that he was under arrest Startled by
! the suddenness of the capture, Rein.
hart was unable to offer any resistance
and complied with the detectives re-
! quest.
Two weeks ago Hartman received a
letter that attracted his attention be-
| cause Of it's curious addressing. Thr
| name and address We're printed in ir-
! regular letters on a plain envelope
| Opening the letter. Hartman found
that it was also printed and unsigned
Seeks Advice Of Officers
The letter purported to be from two
or more men who demanded that Hart
| man should turn over to them $500 ON
| their agreeing to keep secret "croolled'
| Insurance dealings which the writer's
alleged Hartman had been implicated
! in The letter designated a place in
the Nadcau hotel as Il repository for
| the money.
! Immediately Hartman sought tha
! local detectives and. acting on their
advice, stood in front % tho Wilson
block with n white handkerchief in his
! right hand, a sign mentioned ilSThe
| letter as the one which WOUl d44kNbw
| he was willing to pay the moueM ~
Hartman then placed the roll NSItlls
IL the Nadeau, but no ono appc SsSTAto
claim them. For q time the M Nv,
was dropped. the Officers sufposS.,NS..
Hartman received no more letters. At
/ last the following letter, printed in ink
on Hollel1beck hotel stationery. was re-
ceived by Hartman;
| Dear Strive have received your
I answer. AS we are not in this deal
simply to do you harm, but for the
( money, which we need and must have
we expect you to leave another note nt
the same place, telling us the soonest
| GATE ut which you can raise the re-
quired amount, We think that one
week woul be plenty Of time. Leave
! the note in the same arm chair not
later than Tuesday, January >. even
/ ing. We are somewhat surprised that
you did not let US know at once when
| you would have the money. We also
| think that if you are sincere YOU
should have left as much as YOU could
get last Saturday. IF you will leave
I 500 Tuesday we will give you until the
10th for 500 more, ana viii let the
| third 300 go until convenient for YOU
to pay. This is certainly u fair rropo-
sition and is absolutely the last one
we will make
/ Gives Victim Instructions
| After consulting with the officers
Hartman replied favorablv as request
ed. Immediately he received the fol-
lowing letter printed in ink on plain
| paper:
LOS ANGELES, Dec. % 1905,
! "Hartmaa--We have been too busy
with another deal to attend to your
case. DO not thili it has been dropped.
| We have made YOU fair proposition
and YOU have gone back ON your word,
as you have not given us the plain
! sign that You would act according to
! our conditions.
Take. our advice rather than that
of some Of your NOuld-be friends. We
are not bluffing. When you have LOST
| your insurance IT will be too late This
will be absolutely the last call. w"
have not changed our demands. It
will take $500. as demanded before.
We will make. however, one concession.
That is to allow you to make two
payments of $3.50 each. The first one
will have to be paid before l2 p. m.
Saturday December 80 in the follow
ing way: Near The window in the par
lor of the Nadeau hotel Is big up.
hostered arm chair slip the money
| (green ba ckS) between tho seat and the
left arm also letter, if you have any
thing to say. If YOU are willing. t1 dU
this give the same sign as heforesat on
trance of Wilson block Saturday at
neon. Hold your handkerchief i'm right
hand. The parlor is on first floor, up
one flight Of stairs. DO not try to
watch US; this is one of the condi-
TONS
Business Men Receive Letters
Again a consultation was held with
the detectives. The officers compared
the letters and found that they We're
apparently written by n business man
and were printed by the same party.
They arranged for Hartman to leave 4
roll of stage bills IN the arm chair at
the Nadeau hotel.
Behind screens the officers then Sc
cluded themselves and waited for their
man. True to the Instructions outlined
in the letter, the officers carried out
their plans. Reinhart is said to have
walked into the room and taken the
roll from the chair. His arrest fol-
lowed.
Il would not do it for that" was
Reinhart's first words TO the officers.
What else he said could not be learned.
From evidence and comparison of
letters. the police are led TO believe
that the writer Of the letters to Hart
man is the same person who has writ
ten letters To Manager II. G. Wyatt OF
the Mason opera house and others
An effort was made TO communicate
with Hartman at his home. 1926 West
Twelfth street last evening by tele-
phone but without success. Both