The usual hold-up took place last night, or rather early this morning, making the total number to date 26 since Chief [Charles] Elton took charge of the police department.
There was not a single arrest with which the police can be properly credited.
No wonder, with such a record, Mayor Eaton yesterday publicly declared at a meeting of the police commissioners that he had no confidence in the department. . . .
J.W. Eads and R.F. Gooding, respectively conductor and motorman of one of the green cars of the Traction line, which runs from Evergreen Cemetery, Boyle Heights, to Western Avenue and Adams Street, [were robbed of $13.]. . . .
Two men stepped out of the darkness, each with a drawn revolver . . . the carmen realized that resistance was useless . . . . Gooding . . . had nothing but a 32-caliber American revolver, which he had forgotten to draw in the excitement . . . . The revolver was taken, and . . . the highwaymen walked away, leisurely until they disappeared in the darkness. . . .
. . . the carmen lost no time in getting back to the power house, on Georgia Bell Street. . . . The police station was notified and a general alarm was sent out . . . .
Some time before the hold-up, the front gallery of the residence of Mr. Parsons, near the corner of Halldale on Adams Street, within a few block of Western Ave., was invaded by parties, presumably the robbers, who attempted with palm leaves, which they passed over the window blinds, to attract . . . someone to the door.
Mr. Parsons and his wife were away, and the mother of Mrs. Parsons was the only person at home, and she was too frightened to go to the door.
When Mr. and Mrs. Parsons returned, the hour was late, and their car going west met the car whose conductor and motorman had been held up and were informed of what had occurred at the end of the line.
When Mr. Parsons reached his home, he found his mother-in-law in great distress and almost in a state of collapse. She told him what had occurred and of her fears that harm would come to him when he reached his home.
The gallery bore evidence corroborative of the lady’s story. Palm leaves were lying about, and tobacco had been expectorated on the steps and on he floor where the men had waited.
Mr. Parsons thinks his late coming home only saved him from a hold-up.
From the Los Angeles Express, May 2, 1900
ANOTHER BABY CRIMINAL
Some of the Abandoned Infants Who Have Terrorized the Community
Another mere infant given to thievery has been sent up from the Los Angeles courts. Yesterday little Frank Dundas was declared incorrigible and committed to the reform school by Judge Smith. The boy is only 12 years old but is said to have a bad record.
Among his belongings have been found three watches . . . . The crime for which the boy slipped up and was caught was the stealing of money from the house of S.S. Hillier, where he was visiting.
This section of the country seems to be particularly afflected with infant criminals — little boys who turn to stealing as a duck to water. Often there is no explanation for this criminal tendency.
A little over a year ago, a small boy named Johnnie Burns was sent to the reform school after a career of crime which showed him to be absolutely a monster of depravity.
Johnnie was the head of a gang of infant buccaneers whose specialty was the robbing of drunken men. . .
Not long after the retirement of little Burns from the public gaze, a little firebug made his debut. He used to burn buildings for the fun of the thing. He was arrested and . . . brought into court with a wide lace collar and a pair of big blue baby eyes. . . . He was dismissed with a lecture.
The list would not be complete without mention of Ricardo Machado, 13 years old, who was tried for murder and is now in the reform school.
From the Los Angeles Daily Times, May 2, 1900
LITTLE PICKANNINIES
Wanted to Live in the Hills and Eat Garbage
Humane Officer Craig yesterday found a home for the two little Williams boys, colored, Royal and John, 5 and 6 years old.
The father of the pickaninnies is employed at night work in the Third-street tunnel, and his housekeeper, Mrs. Reed, has been trying to keep the children at home and care for them.
They ran away time after time, fed on garbage and slept wherever they could find a place. The woman tied one of the youngsters to the bedpost to keep him and home, and was arrested for cruelty, but was discharged when the matter was investigated.
The little fellows ran away again, and were found out in the oil regions, living like veritable wild men. They found a garbage barrel, from which they fed, and each encased himself in a barley sack at night.
Yesterday Mr. Craig turned them over to the United Church Mission, where they will be cared for. Their father will furnish the means for their support.
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From the Los Angeles Express, May 3, 1900
REAM-OTIS TROUBLE AT THE TIMES OFFICE
The General Charged With Battery, Though He Insists the Whole Thing Was a Bit of Harmless Pleasantry
W. R. Ream, formerly city editor of the Times, but who for a year or more has been employed on the reportorial staff of the Evening Record, was assaulted with a Spanish machete by Maj. Gen. Harrison Gray Otis in the business office of the Times yesterday afternoon. . . .
It was at first reported that Ream had been seriously stabbed, but later it was ascertained that he had escaped injury, though his vest was punctured.
Ream at once applied to Deputy Dist. Attorney Chambers for a complaint against Otis for an assault with a deadly weapon, but this was refused, on the ground that a bayonet, which Ream at first thought he had been run through with, was not a deadly weapon unless attached to a gun.
A complaint for battery was, however, issued against General Otis and a warrant issued for his arrest.
 General Otis was then notified by telephone be Clerk Powell of Justice Morgan’s court, and he at once went to police headquarters and gave himself up. He was taken before Justice Morgan and arraigned, when he entered his pleas of not guilty, wanted a jury and asked for a trial by the court, the general in the meantime being released on his own recognizance, which was set for this afternoon. . . .
General Otis, in the Times this morning, intimates that the whole matter was a joke.
Yesterday about noon an altercation took place in the Palace Cafe between Will E. Chapin, illustrator on the Times, and Hugh Vail, a well known business man of the city.
A number of men have been in the habit of dining at the Palace together, Chapin and Vail among them. Vail, for various reasons, had become persona non grata to his companions, and they wished to get rid of his company.
The main . . . complaint against Vail . . . is that since that gentleman’s trip to England he has developed a pronounced case of Anglophobia, which was very distressing to the dining coterie.
They had been discussing among themselves the best means of ridding the dining party of Mr. Vail’s society when Mr. Chapin volunteered to perform that service.
Chapin accordingly wrote a note to Vail which left no doubt as to the state of feeling existing toward him, which brought matters to a crisis.
When the two men met yesterday, Mr. Vail called Mr. Chapin down [apparently, cursed him]. The latter admitted the corn. Vail struck Chapin; the blow was returned, and in the mix-up that followed, Chapin got decidedly the best of Vail.
Later, Ream, as a reporter, called at the Times office to get Chapin’s version of the affair. General Otis . . . had been talking with Chapin about the fight. He also had in his hand a Spanish machete, which he had been showing, but which he had wrapped up in a paper.
According to Ream’s version, as he entered General Otis called out: “Here is comes. I suppose you will write some lies about Chapin, as you have lied about me.”
With this, he says, the general drew forth the machete and, applying an approbrious [sic] epithet, lunged at him with the weapon, the point of which struck him in the middle.
Thinking that he had been run through, Ream says, he unbuttoned his vest and, offering his bosom, called out: “Stab me again, you old coward, and make a clean job of it while you are about it.”
To this the general retorted, “Get out of this office, you d—d fool, before I throw you out,” and burst out laughing.
Ream, however, after satisfying himself that he was not hurt, concluded his interview with Chapin, reported to the police station and swore to the complaint as stated above.
General Otis and Chapin both say that the whole thing was a bit of harmless pleasantry on the general’s part, but Ream insists he is not on joking terms with his former employer, who has not spoken to him since his connection with the Times ceased four years ago.
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Advertisements from the Los Angeles Daily Times, May 4, 1900
BABY’S PICTURE
Taken at home is the most natural. You can do it. Instructions free to patrons. Fifteen to 25 per cent. discount on all cameras. Call at the “Camera,” 328 South Broadway (Woman’s Exchange), between Third and Fourth streets.
PROTECT YOUR LAWN
Guaranteed rubber hose. 7c foot and upward. Other high-grade lines. Harshman & Dietz, No. 414 South Spring street.
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