Los Angeles herald., 1907-01-12
CAPTAIN HALL EMPLOYS AN
ATTORNEY
Master Mariner Brands Examiners
Wild Story Of Kidnapping a
Sheer Fake-Seeks Re-
dress In Courts

Suit for damages because of alleged
libel will be filed in the superior court
, within the next few days against the
Los Angeles Examiner by Attorney A..
A. Sturges, representing Capt. A. w.
Hall of the schooner Rover.
The suit is the outcome of the Dora
Bennls jaunt and, according to the al
legations of the attorney, no man has
right to call his client a pirate and a
kidnaper without answering for the
imputation.
Attorney Sturges, who since his re-
cent arrival from New York has made
an enviable record for himself, yester-
day received telegram from Capt.
Hall at Ensenada instructing him to
take UP the legal fight Immediately
Some days before the reception of the
telegram Attorney Sturges received a
letter from Hall in which he ordered
that suit be begun and instructed At
torney Sturges to nave all criminal
suits set for hearing before United
States courts or commissioners. Hall,
in instructing relative to the libel suit,
states in his letter to Attorney Sturges
that he has no ready cash with which
u IL case Oh IndI klllu, Dul OL-
fers payment in valuable minerals
The particular article excepted to by
Capt. Hall is one appearing in the issue
of December %. Other articles are also
declared Infamous by the old seafarer
I'VE have as gool case of libel as
could imagine" said Attorney Sturges
yesterday in speaking of the case. This
man Hall is an old sailor and soldier.
He went out with the schooner Rover
to look for gold deposits on Cedros is
lands and took along as companions
James Howertor and his wife. Mrs
Howerton refused to go on a cruise
with several men unless she ha a Wo-
man companion and Capt. Hall adVer-
tised for one and consulted the en-
polyment agencies. Dora Bennis was
finally suggested and, as / understand
II, her father consented that she go,
and she went. Later they put to sea,
leaving Hall on strip of land where
he had gone to hunt geese. From that
time to this he has not known of their
whereabouts. Today 1 received tele-
gram from him and as a result l may
hold the crew of the Rover and Dora
Dennis as witnesses. ] shall probably
file the suit for libel within the next few
days
capt. a. w. Hall is at present at En-
senada and the case charging him with
some KIND or mlSQemedllOr mas pItc-
tically tagged out since the bubble has
broken.
After all the fireworks of rescuing
expeditions had been exploded Hall
wrote The Herald telling of the true
facts in the case and within two days
after the publication the Rover came
into port at San Pedro, proving Halls
story correct.
Marco Dennis Of San Diego, father of
the girl who didn't know she had been
kidnapped and needed rescuing, went to
San Pedro to take her home.
Bennis' offspring are said to num-
ber a score and it is believed the fond
parents anxiety was stimulated by the
maudlin slush about the girl being kid
naped and in need of a rescuing hero.
The "rescue" launch Orient, bearing
n topheavy deckload of commissioners"
and photographers, has not yet reached
San Pedro.
1t is doubtless a great disappoint-
ment that the "Oh, sir, save muh,' and
.Villyun, unhand that fair girrul' scene
did not come off as per schedule. 1t
may spoil the last chapters of the dime
novel dragging it's Shiny way across
the yellow pages of the local jaundiced
journal.