Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-07-30
TER "SP|TTER" HOUSE HAS BILL NOW DAVIS S0UG
Police Hunting Man Both Sides Show Relief at Never AIMED
led Ladies' Dresses. Close of Contest. toms Death
CASES REPORTED DEBATE WON'T BE LONG FIVE FINDING
Tobacco Juice Is Cheered. Getting
oNE DELIBERATELY BUT HE LOOKS REAL CROSS
offered o Assist Agreement jectons to
Remove mentT omorr
Capitol Police Hunting Man
Who SoiIed Ladies' Dresses.
DOZEN CASES REPORTED
Handsome Gowns Ruined by Streaks
of Tobacco Juice.
DEED DONE DELIBERATELY
Perpetrator Believed to Be Man
Who Later offered to Assist Vic
Tins to Remove the Stains.

At least nine handsome gowns worn by
woman visitors at the Capitol yesterday
afternoon were ruined by man who SPIT
large quantities of tobacco juice upon
them.
The same man later in the day followed
young lady who is employed by one OF
the committees of the House as she was
walking across the plaza in front OF the
Capitol, and after frightening her half to
death expectorated in the same manner
on the skirt of her dress, completely ruin
ing it.
The entire detective force of the Capitol
Is watching for the man today, and the
assistance of the city detectives has been
secured to look high and low for him.
Detectives Webber and Potter of the
Capitol force. who have been assigned to
specially investigate the case, say 1t is
one of the most remarkable that they
have ever known.
Their inquiries show that the man uni
formly approached his victim from the
rear on the right side, and. as he passed
her. spit upon that side of her skirt. Most
of the stains were so far around that tine
women did not discover them unalded
They started just little below the waist
the garment
The detectives are convinced that the
man who is guilty of these dastardly acts
is the same who called the attention OF
several of the victims to the fact that their
skirts were soiled, and offered to help them
clean off the tobacco stain. He would
take out his handkerchief and spend some
time trying to rub the stain away.
The detectives believe that this was
partly the object the man had In view
rLox- ~
that several of the women. in their ex-
citement at finding themselves in such q
plight. offered not the slightest objection
to the stranger taking this familiarity
with them.
Police Have Good Description.
A complete description of the culprit is
in the hands of the police. obtained from
the young lady whom he chased across
the Capitol plaza. He is about five feet
nine inches in height and has norid COM
pleXion and a sandy mustache. He was
wells dressed, wearing a light suit OF
clothes and straw hat He appeared to
be between thirty-tive and forty years OF
age and to weigh about $50 pounds.
The first the Capitol police heard of the
few minutes of each other about l pm.
yesterday reported their trouble to Off
GERS stationed In various places in the
building. The matter was at once COM
municated to the captains Office. Be-
fore long nine women had vowed Ven
geance on the ,culprit. Several of them
were so angry that they probably would
have run him through with their hat pins
IL they had got the chance. Most of them
refused to give their names, but four
promised to appear in court against the
man, IL he should be caught. The Capt.
toll police are Withholding the names of
all of the victims. of 'JacF the Splitter,
as they have nicknamed the criminal.
their trouble to the Capitol police were in
such a bad plight that they refused to
leave the building until every effort had
been made to remove the filthy stain from
their skirts. They were taken to the
ladies' waiting room on the gallery floor
of the Senate wing, where most of the
offenses were apparently committed. and
there the colored maid did her best to
wash the tobacco out.
Two or three of the mans victims had
to take their skirts off and wait more
than an hour while the attempt to clean
them was made.
Similar Case in Baltimore.
The detectives who are investigating
the case do not think the man will be
captured in the vicinity of the Capitol
They believe he has transferred his op-
erations to another place. and expect to
see him taken into custody either in, an
other part of this city-perhaps in some
big department store-or in another city.
man was arrested and heavily fined a
short time ago in Baltimore for similar
offenses. and they are inclined to look
upon that man as the same man who
got in his evil work at the Capitol yes
terday.
They say he is probably a keen-witted
fellow. for he found no difficulty in doing
what he wanted SO cleverly as to give
not the faintest suspicion to his victims
of what was going on. If the same man
afterward called their attention to the
stains ON their skirts and was gallant
enough to secure permission to try to
clean them off again-all of which the
police firmly believe-then they say the
theory that he is gentleman criminal
is given more weight.
1t is believed that the man operated
partly in the galleries of the Senate. and
perhaps deposited the tobacco juice on
the dresses of ladies who sat in front
of him. The position Of the stains how
ever. seem to indicate in most of the
cases that the woman was standing or
walking when the act was committed
The young woman employe of the
House who received the fright on the
plaza was on her way home from hei
man following across the plaza. and
uuickened her steps. The man kept the
same distance from her, and she became
very much frightened. and would have
called FOR aid had there been any one
within hearing. She walked around one
of the fountains opposite the center of
the Capitol and the man continued to
chase her. Then She fed up East Capitol
street in desperation, walking as fast
as she could. Suddenly the man passed
her. and she stopped to allow him to
disappear around the corner farther on.
few minutes later she discovered that
some one had spit a large quantity OF
tobacco juice on the side of her skirt.
She went back to the Capitol and re-
ported what had happened.