A Flirtation Goes Awry

Sept. 8, 1907
Los Angeles

Jack Foster, a handsome, blond actor who is the toast of the vaudeville circuit, noticed a young lady standing at 3^rd Street and Main after a show.

Seeing that she was alone, Foster said: “Rather late for you to be out all by yourself, isn’t it, girlie?”

The young woman—Mrs. R.C. Wilson—replied: “Let me alone and go about your business. My husband is coming here now.”

It seems that the Wilsons had attended a show and while waiting for the streetcar, Mr. Wilson left his wife at the corner so he could go buy a cigar.

When Wilson returned, he found his wife in tears. She pointed at Foster and murmured that he had insulted her. Wilson responded by taking after the actor and only a policeman’s intervention prevented a fight.

In court, Justice Chambers fined Foster $90 ($1,847.12 USD 2005) in lieu of time on the city chain gang and said: “This insulting of young women has got to stop and it will go hard with anyone convicted of that offense in my court.”

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