Los Angeles herald., 1907-02-07
PIRACY CHARGE
AGAINST CREW
Of THE ROVER
Captain Hall Will
Bring Suit
Master Mariner Declares He VIII
Push Cases Against WarneIL
One Special Cornish and
Hoist Paper


Diego, arrived in Los Angeles yesterday
to prepare three separate cases against
those whom he alleges have maligned
and libeled him until it is impossible
for him to obtain living.
AS soon as Hall arrived he went to
the Office of Attorney A. A. Sturges, an
eastern lawyer who has been at the
Los Angeles bar only for the past six
months or So and the two spent the
afternoon In consultation.
1--WE will file suit against Special
Commissioner G.. E. Van Loan of the
Los Angeles Examiner for criminal Ii
BEL said Attorney Sturges 1--WE will
further file suit against the newspaper,
including its editors, for exemplary
damages In this case, and we have al
ready begun suit in the United States
court charging the crew of the Rover
with piracy on the high seas. The trial
in the higher court will be begun in
the near future, while the suit for dam
ages outgrowlng from the publications
will be filed as soon as they can be pre-
pared
Hall Bought the Rover
Capt. Hall is not the man one would
have thought from the wild descriptions
of him and his alleged adventures, as
painted with yellow ink.
Hall is n small man, stockily built,
with thin black hair, a small black
mustache and a heavy coating of the
tan of the south seas on his face. When
he walks 1t Is with the roll of a sailor.
and when he talks he uses excellent
grammar but emphasizes 1t in spots
with big round adjectives of a salty
sea flavor.
Capt Hall had long story to tell,
and if he omitted any of the details it
was lack of memory and not of in
cination.
"I bought the boat lin San Francisco
from a man who signed his name as
John Leslie" said Capt. Hall, and he
produced a bill of sale properly made
out and bearing the government stamp,
the notary stamp and Leslie's sitnature,
and naming the owner as Capt. Hall.
The date of sale was August 9.
Capt. Hall also produced the letter
which he received when. after leaving
the boat to go hunting he returned to
find that he had been marooned on the
coast of Southern Mexico. That note
was signed by John Leslie Warnell, the
letters of the signature being identical
with those signed by John Leslie to the
bill of sale of the boat. A letter re-
ceived by Attorney Sturges from War
nell since the latter's arrival in San
Pedro also bore such a strong resem-
blance to the other letters that no dis
pute of the writer's signature can be
made.
Tells of Dora Dennis
when / bought this boat" said Capt.
Hall, sit was in good condition and we
sailed south. l picked up this man
James f. Howerton and he had a
woman with him. All l wanted was an
engineer, and Warnell, Howerton and
the woman insisted that / get girl to
go with them. The woman said she
wanted another woman with her to pro-
tect her character. l did not like the
idea of having a woman on board the
vessel, for that always creates trouble.
Finally as / was congratulating myself
that we were about to sail without get
ting anyone, a fellow came to me and
said old man Bennis' girl Dora wanted
to go with us. / went to see the girl
and her father and signed a contract
with the old man to take the girl on the
voyage, stating the length of time she
was TO be absent and her wages for the
trip.
I'VE started for Cedros island and
most of the time the two women, War
dell and Howerton were down In the
engine room. They talked among them
selves and l knew that something was
wrong On the day l went on shore
I had no idea that they would take the
boat, and l left them in charge.
when l got back to shore they had
left the note from Warnell and small
amount of provisions. and had | not
been picked up by private schooner
/ would have starved to death down in
that country.
Harsh Things About "Comish"
"Now, to get to the part that bears
directly on the suit This special COM
missioner, C. E. Van Loan, shows up
in Ensenada one day and he came up
to me and asked me if could tell him
where the American consul's Office was.
| told him that 1t was just inside, and
he went in and l heard him demand to
see the papers Then l walked in and
told him / had a word to say about
anyone seeing my papers. and he start
ed to play on my sympathies and he
told me he was a young man and
wanted to make name for himself in
the world, and that if he didn't get
something to write about he might be
fired, and finally let him have a little
interview and he went to a typewriter |
and wrote the stuff and let me read
each sheet of 1t. 1t was accurately
written He sent it north at a cost of
sos in gold, That night he went back
TO San Diego, and when | saw the pa
per II had horribly garbled account |
of the story, in which he said that the
Americans would not speak to me and |
that the MeXicans looked at me with |
suspicion.
Inen ne ndu lHe ntlNV W NOiiS poNN,
and | met him, and / told him what l
thought of him. My language was
strong, and when / suggested that we
go outside the city limits and settle
the affair right then. he didn't seem to
like the idea, and refused to light ana
wanted to take me by the arm and edge
me away from the crowd and talk pri-
Vately to me.
Accused of Murder
"ln front Of that crowd there he told |
me that had sunk my ship, the Rover,
and had murdered its crew He printed |
that statement, and that is what shall
base my suit for criminal libel against
him upon
But it was fine to see that bunch of
special commissioners the day they
arrived i'm Ensenada on the return trip.
Before they hardly were landed all the
people in the town wanted to tell them
about it. The big special commissioner