The story
He was a model of correctness and propriety, and when his daughter told him that she wanted to marry a young reporter, he at first refused his consent. Later he relented, but it must be admitted that he still had forebodings. They were fulfilled one day, for his son-in-law-to-be became, as he regarded it, notorious. The young man endeavored to interview one of the city’s financial lights, was arrested for attempting to take the great man’s portrait, and rival reporters wrote it up as a great joke. His explanations that he had been immediately set free were lost upon the prim old man, who declared that technically he was a jail bird, and that there was absolutely no excuse for any person to fall into the hands of the police. One morning a few days later, the stern parent went out for a stroll. Around the corner galloped an excited individual, who thrust a watch and chain into his hand and then rushed off. The recipient started after him, and the next moment was pounced upon by several men who claimed he was a daring pickpocket, who had been plying his trade in the streetcar. Explanations were laughed at, and the respected householder was marched to the station. There he was photographed for the rogue’s gallery, inspected by masked detectives, and underwent all of the trials and privations of the third degree.
Fortunately for him the reporter dropped into the new station, and curiosity led him to request an interview with ‘the daring pickpocket.’ The meeting was a shock to both of them, but the prisoner speedily found the advantage of having a newspaper man in his family. His explanations were listened to, and the real criminal was speedily captured and the respectable citizen set at liberty with profuse apologies. He had learned his lesson, however, and withdrew all opposition to his daughter’s marriage, telling the young couple that he now knew that even the most innocent man may be a victim of circumstances.
Summary from The Moving Picture World · 7 June 1913
