After a day of shopping with her 13-year-old daughter back in 1894, Mrs. Brown returned home only to hear strange noises coming from the second floor of her home. Sending her daughter to the drug store to call the police, Mrs. Brown grabbed the six-shooter and began to search her home.
Mrs. Brown’s Nerve
Mrs. Walter R. Brown, of Sheffield avenue, Chicago, deserves a medal for her presence of mind and bravery, for if it hadn’t been for her, Thomas Jones, a burglar, would be still at large to prey on householders.
Most women faint when they find a burglar in the house. Mrs. Brown is an exception. She keeps just as cool as a breeze from off the lake, and before long has the satisfaction of seeing the intruder hustled off to the police station.
Such was Mrs. Brown’s experience the other afternoon. She had been out shopping and when she returned home about 3:30 o’clock she heard strange noises in one of the rooms upstairs. Certain that she had locked all the doors before going away, she concluded a burglar was in the house, and immediately laid plans for his capture.
As quietly as possible she directed her 13-year-old daughter to go to the corner drug store and telephone for a policeman. Then she saw that all the doors and windows were securely locked. Then she went upstairs, taking along a six-shooter, which she concealed in the folds of her dress.
Several rooms were explored without success when finally Mrs. Brown got sight of the head of a man beneath a bed. Neither spoke a word. There was no use for argument or parley. The lady’s revolver had been brought into play and the burglar dared not move. Five minutes elapsed and Mrs. Brown was still on guard.
Meanwhile, officers from the Sheffield avenue station were hurrying to the house and just about the time the lady was considering the real danger of her position they entered the room and dragged Jones from his hiding place.
Searching Jones, the officers found that he had a revolver, which he had feared to use, a bunch of skeleton keys, and a number of articles he had collected in the Brown residence. Justice Mahoney held the prisoner to the criminal court in bond of $500.
Source: San Antonio daily light. (San Antonio, Tex.), 07 July 1894.
