Los Angeles herald., 1908-02-15
GIRL TELLS
OF HER DUEL
WITH ROBBER
TEXAS MAIDEN is WITNESS
AGAINST BURGLAR
LOOKS LIKE A DOLL BUT SHOOTS
LIKE A coWBoY
Miss Otto Describes in Court Room
Exciting Happenings of Day When
She Chased Floyd Mitchell
from Her Home

she chased FLOYD Mltchell
from Her Home
Miss Gabrielle Otto. the pretty 20
year-old Texas girl who bravely dared
rain of bullets from a robbers re-
volver and opened fire on him with her
own gun as the would-be burglar took
to his heels, was the center of attrac-
! tion yesterday at the preliminary trial
of Floyd Mitchell, convicted by Justice
4 Rose as the man who had attempted II
rob the Otto home and who later was
put to flight by the plucky beauty from
| the Lone Star state.
! Mitchell was bound over to the su
perior court on two charges, that of
stealing a watch and other jewelry
when he is alleged to have burglarized
the home of Mr. and Mrs. George e.
/ Karstens, 1902 Arapahoe street, and of
the attempted robbery at the home of
Miss Otto. Bail was fixed in the former
case at S1400 and in the latter at $500.
Miss Otto appeared at the trial daint-
| lily attired in a stylishly cut green street
dress, with green hat to match, green
gloves and white waist.
/ At first sight she appears to be d
Verita BILE little doll, with big soft eyes,
! long dropping lashes, eyebrows so fault
4
appear to be penciled; Cupid-curved
| lips and rosy cheeks, all set off with
| light brown waving tresses that con-
+ tribute to the doll illusion; but a closer
view of the little Texas heroine, who is
but slightly over five feet tall, dispels
the first idea, for although Miss Otto
is pretty and demure she is anything
but doll.
Crowd Admires Her
AS she recited her story of the excit-
! ing encounter with the burglar yester-
day murmurs of admiration were heard
/ in every quarter of the crowded court
room.
Miss Otto has a low musical voice,
! slender little hands, well manicure1,
and a coy, modest mien; but under the
/ long lashes the big blue eyes flashed
sparks of hidden possibilities. The we'll
arched brows contracted-thoughf faint
| ly-with a suggestion OF the tearless-
ness and determination Which she
bravely demonstrated at least to one
man who sat in the prisoners chair
with shame bowed head and regretful
air. No doubt If he could have heard
/ the little Texas girl talk few mo-
ments, as she did yesterday, before he
planned the alleged attempted burg
/ larry, he would never have seriously con-
sidered it for a moment, and the ad-
venture with the bandit, which revealed
/ the pretty heroine, would not have oc-
Cured.
| only once or twice as Miss Otto told
her story-firmly, slowly but positively
did Mitchell glance up at her. Then,
as she fearlessly gazed into his face,
he dropped his head again and toyed
nervously with a sheet of paper on the
table before him.
/ Miss Otto was accompanied by her
/ father. mother and sister, and many
of her friends were in the courtroom To
hear her testimony
| Mitchell. it is said, had wanted 70
waive the preliminary trial and submit
his case on plea of guilty to the su-
perior court. but as this would have
/ been impossible under the law he was
compelled to sit through the long Tor
mality of trial, listening to the Yari-
ous witnesses who rapidly forged the
/ links in the case against him.
/ Mitchell offered no objections, re
plied lndifferently and laconically when
questioned. and at other times sat list
lessly looking down.
Goods Are Identified
The property taken from the home oil
Mrs. Karstens was identified by her
and subsequently identified by Jeweler
who purchased the watch.
Following the trial of the prisoner
on this charge he was arraigned on the
charge of attempted robbery at the
Otto home, 1915 Hoover street MISS
Otto's father and mother were also
! examined, and the prisoner was theh
bound over on the two charges.
Miss Otto told the story of her en-
counter with the burglar in quiet,
casual way, and did not seem at all
conscious that she was generally re-
garded a heroine.
'I learned to shoot when [ was a
! IL, faV1 xn t0nPhf
how to use a gun just for such pur
poses as when encountered THIS floyu
| uitchell. What is the use of knowing
how to shoot If one doesn't shoot when
one ought to?
afraid of a pistol? Why, certainly
not, if they are handled right. l be,
lteye [ feel Just about the same toward
a good pistol as the average cowboy
does. They are not needed often, but
when one does need them they come in
awfully convenient.
She Likes Pistols
"It happened that I had only small
pistol handy that night or else 1 would
surely have got him.
"Yes, l tried to hit him, and l did;
if I didn't make the shot tell as well
as l should have it was the fault of the
pistol. L know / aimed straight.
"Since he has been arrested anyway,
am elad' didn't wound him, though,
at must he awful to kill a man. But
then | didn't think of that when l shot
at Mitchell All l thought of was that
he was a robber, and so l wanted to
capture him.
dIf it hadn't been that I shot the
little girl through the finger during the
fusillade and had to stop firing to at
tend to her l am sure / would have
brought him down, or at least have run
him into the arms of an officer"
Unnecessary Question
9acon-What is believed to be the