The Washington herald., 1911-09-23
.ELOPERS NABBED
AT UNION STATION
Virginia Couple Bewildered
as Copper Appears.

Pop Cattell, in charge OF the police
stroked his luxuriant whiskers early last
night. There was absolutely nothing stir
ring In his business The beard-caressing
continued until Pop" was lulled into
peaceful doze by the repeated droning
of the statIonmaster that train numbah
\ upmteen for Gr--r-r-uptviIle would leave
at whoopt o'clock on track nubah umpty-
two"
The ringing of the telephone aroused
Pop" It was police headquarters talk
ing. Watch out for and arrest an eIep-
ing pair on Southern train arriving at
S:25," came the order A meager descrip-
ton of the couple was given, but 1t was
sufficient for Pop" He notified Police
man Russbaum, of the station force. and
the latter took his stand near the gate
when the Southern train pulled in.
AccOsted by Policeman.
| AS the train disgorged its passengers,
Russman sized up every one. Short
| ly, along came a young man wearing
| a black suit and a more or less bewtl
dered look. a suit case in one hand and
a pretty hatless girl the other. They
had all the earmarks OF Virginia elopers.
Russman decided, and so he accosted
them.
You're from Stafford Store, Va, amt
you?" he inquired; and the groom-to-be
giggled he was. We'll. you've got to
come to the police room. You're to be
held here for further orders"
The elopers looked at the officer and
| then looked at each other. Their bewil-
derment was complete At the police
room. Pop" Cattell greeted them. He
learned that the groom-to-be Is David
Arlington and the prospective bride Hat
tie NJ. Shacklett, both OF Stafford Store,
Va. Their ages were given as twenty
two and twenty-one, respectively.
After a conference, II was decided the
couple were of age and that they could
not be detained. A representative OF the
Travellers Aid Society escorted them to
221 Ninth street southwest where Ar
ringtOn's cousin. Mrs. John Barham, re-
sides
Arlington was seen at his cousins
home later in the evening. He said that
he was greatly surprised that so
many folks knew about 1t, but he told
! a story OF his exciting experiences some
what as follows:
Wasn't This ExcitinEf
You see, I drove over to Hattie's in
a two-seater this afternoon. We had it
all fixed up that she was to meet me
about 200 yards from the house. Well.
when I got there she wasn't there; so
drove back to her house and in through
the gate. I saw Hattie and her sister
coming toward me. There's a corn
field on each side of the drive, so
couldn't turn around. and I backed out
hattie got into the wagon, and we drove
to Tidewater, twelve miles away. to
catch n train. We had to wait couple
Of hours, and finally got train, and we
were arrested when we got of.
II can't understand how they got word
to stop US, because it was Hatties name
signed to the telegram. And she wouldn't
send a telegram to the police to stop
herself from eloplng. would she? 1t must
have been her brother or her sister who
did It. My folks didn't object and
neither did hers, cause we've been cot
in for 70 years.
Yes; we'll get married in the morning.
and then I'm going back to Stafford
Store to continue my horse-trading busi-
ness. VIII all this be in the paper to-
morrow? I don't see how you-al can
remember it,