The Detroit times., 1909-01-27
GIRL AND BURGLAR
HAVE DESPERATE
FIGHT IN DARK
STRUCK DOWN WITH CLUB ~
INTRUDER SHE DISCOVERS
LooTINo ROOM, MISS De oEER
oAMELY oRAPPLEs WITH HIM.

Dazed and suffering intense pain
from wounds inflicted on her head by
rough stick Of wood. Miss Jean De-
Geer. OF Alpena. Mich, chung gamely
10 burglar whom she caught In her
room at No. 33 Centerst, about
O'Clock. Wednesday morning. and with
the assistance OF a companion. Miss
Beryl Botsford managed TO drive the
intruder out II was only after a des-
perate struggle In the dark, however,
which left both young women In a
state OF collapse and Miss DeGeer
with a badly bruised and battered
head.
The police are looking for the bur-
glar, who Is described as a good look
ing young man, about 25 years old.
and smooth shaven. In the struggle
he lost his hat. brown derby, and
this may furnish good clue 10 his
identity.
Miss DeGeer. the heroine OF the
episode. is visiting In the city az the
guest OF Miss Botsford, who Is man.
ager and director OF Duffy's orchestra
and is well-known In local musical
circles. Miss Botsford occupies u
coy suite In the basement floor Of the
Central annex. and ordinarily she 10
alone in the fiat. II Is thought that
the intruder figured on having only
enc woman TO deal with, and his dis
coveIy that there were two played hob
with his plans. That he was after
Miss Botsfords jewels, OF which she
has a splendid display. Is certain. but
he left so precipitately that he Sc
cured nothing.
Miss DeGeer told dramatically or
her fight with the burglar.
Il was awakened by a slight noise
In the rear OF the fat" she said, but
thought nothing of Il until l heard
the rustling OF silk skirt that hung
over the foot OF the bed as thoug,l
someone brushed against II. Is that
you, Jappy,' said TO Miss Botsforj.
using a nickname, but | received NO
answer. called again with the same
result and then / felt on the other
Side OF the bed, where she was sup
posed TO be sleeping. She must have
been lying close % the wall. for
could feel nothing. I was beginning
to get a little alarmed and decided to
turn on the light. Just as | stepped
out OF bed and started for the fixture
over the dresser, there was tiny
fash OF light In my face from a night
stick and the next instant | received
an awful blow on the forehead that
sent me Keeling.
The pain was maddening for an
instant, but the blow aroused my
fighting blood. and just as the fellow
brought the stick 1--WE found II later
on the bedroom floor down on my
head second time. l grabbed him
and showed him against the wall.
lost my grip on him for moment
and he struck me again. this time on
the right shoulder IL seemed We had
been struggling this way for about Is
minutes when Miss Botsford threw
open door leading TO the hallway !
where light was burning. The fel-
low dropped me instantly and tried
to hide his face with his hands, but
we got good view Of him and could
recognize him again.
He then ran TO the front door, but
the key was not in the lock and he
couldn't get out that way. SO he
came back through the bedroom and
went out the back door. As he did
80 he gave a low whistle, probably q
signal to his pal"
Miss Botsford was awakened by
the noise Of the struggle but collapsed
from fright as she left the bed to go
TO her friends assistance. She lay
on the floor for some time before she
revived sufficiently To crawl to the hall
door and ding IL open. She has no
definite recollection OF anything that
happened after that. As matter or
fact, she ran out into the chilly dawn
In her night clothes and bare feet and
sought refuge In the Central apart
ments next door. Her feet were pain
fully cut in some manner.
Miss DeGeer left alone in the fiat.
had presence OF mind TO notify the po-
lice and detectives were at once de-
tailed to the case.
Although Miss Botsfords purse,
with considerable loose change In C
and some OF her jewelry law within
easy reach on the dresser, the burglar
secured nothing. When Miss Botsford
threw open the hall door he figured.
evidently, that she would bring help
at once and lost no time In making
his escape
Both young women are suffering con-
siderably from nervous shock and Miss
DeGeer's bumps and bruises are quito
painful. The police have the hat as
well as the stick OF wood with which
the young woman was attacked.
This Is the third time within few
months that the fat has been entered.
ON the two previous occasions Miss
Botsfold was out and the intruder Sc
cured several small articles. The last
previous visit was about month ago.
and some OF the articles taken were
recently found BY detectives IN Mon
roe-ave pawnshop.
ITS three times and out with me"
says Miss Botsford Pm going 10 look
for q new flat right away"