The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1911-04-24
CHILD RESCUED
FROM AN ATTACK
IN LONELY SPOT
Edward Gayer, Aged 48, Held
as Girls AbductOr.
CAUGHT NEAR VIADUCT
Seized Under Arms, She Is Made
to Ride on Car.

Attracted by agonizing screams
coming from a lonely spot near a
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad via
duct at Second street and Rhode
Island avenue northeast yesterday
about 6 o'clock, three pedestrians
found nine-year-old Achsah Petty,
of 421 NJ street northwest, strug-
CLING in the grasp of Edward
Gayer, a bricklayer, forty-eight
years old. The little girl was fight
ing with all her strength to prevent
the man from making a brutal as
sault upon her, according to the
story told the police by her rescuers,
who arrived in time to halt horri-
bic crime.
CHARGED WITH ABDUCTION.
Gayer is locked up at the Tenth pre-
cinct station. charged with abduction un-
der section Sl2 of the police code. 1t was
one Of the most sensational attempts at
assault on record in the District She
was picked up bodily by Gayer. who
was standing on the platform Of NOV
ing car at Fourth street and New York
avenue northwest and made to ride with
him to the isolated culvert. At the time
the streets were crowded with strollers.
but the little girl was too frightened to
make an outcry.
The child had been playing with Flor
ence Jones, twelve years old. who lives
next door to the Petty home, and accom-
panied her chum when she went with
her mother to take a car downtown Mrs.
Jones told Achsah they would return
in about fifteen minutes, and she prom
ised to wait for them. She waved them
Good-by as they boarded a Fourth street
car and ran to the center of the street
just as another car. bound in an oppo-
site direction, was coming past
Pulled Child on Car.
Gayer, the police say, was on the
second car, standing on the rear plat
form. AS the girl ran past the steps
he seized her under the arm pits and
lifted her to place beside him. At first
coming terrorized. could not cry out.
The man Gained her fears by telling her
he would give her a nice car ride.
He took her, according to the police.
to the culvert, where she began to
scream, and it was then that the pedes-
trians. James Burnston. of 933 E street
southwest, and Walter Bartholomy, of
939 street southwest arrived on the
scene. They asked Gayer what the
troubIe was. He said the. girl was his
daughter and that they had no business
interfering.
The girl, seeing that the men were
her friends, told them what had oc-
CURED, while Gayer was slipping away.
Incensed beyond measure, the two men
gave chase, and caught the alleged ab
ductor before he had chance to make
his escape. They brought him back to
where the little girl was waiting
Benjamin Gordon. a motorcyclist, came
by at this time and he was urged by the
two rescuers to go for a policeman.
Burnston and Bartholomy held Gayer
until Gordon returned with an officer from
the Second precinct, who took him in
custody.
The police say Gayler offered the child
money and treated her kindly until they
left the car and reached the spot.
Will Press Charge.
Mrs. Petty said last night that she
would press the charges against Gayer
30 the limit. The mother felt that her
daughter had narrowly escaped assault,
and that no penalty would be too heavy
to inflict on the accused.
Il do not think Achsah realized at
first what her captor meant, and 1t was
not until she reached the culvert that
the full horror of her abductor's pur-
pose dawned upon her," said Mrs. Pet
". He told the child he had no home,
after Offering other proposals, and that
he lived in the woods and wanted her
to go with him"
Late last night the child, who is ex-
tremely pretty, had partly recovered from
her fright, although she became hyster-
ical at times during the evening when
she recalled the ordeal through which
she had passed Achsah attends the Alb
bott school and is in the second grade