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By this spring John Montague, according to Joe Williams of the New York World-Telegram, was the most discussed golfer in the U. S. Reams had been written about him in newspapers and magazines. A rumor that he would play in the British Open made headlines in London. One of the latest Montague stories was that a match was being arranged between him and Socialite Thomas Suffern Tailer Jr. at Meadow Brook Club on Long Island for $10,000 a side. Last week locker rooms were full of gossip about this match that would finally reveal the truth about John Montague. . . .
The truth about John Montague came out last week but not on a golf course. It came out in Los Angeles County Jail where he was taken after being arrested because his fingerprints matched those of La Verne ("Bull") Moore.
Story of the search for La Verne Moore and the arrest of John Montague was as simple as the fugitive's career had been fantastic. Last month, one of the innumerable accounts of the famed Montague v. Crosby golf match finally caught the eye of someone who knew La Verne Moore and was interested in finding him. This was Police Inspector John Cosart of Troop D, Oneida, N. Y., who clipped the article, sent it to Inspector Joseph Lynch at Malone, N. Y. who sent Moore's fingerprints to Los Angeles.
Story of Montague's arrest contrasted sharply with reports of all his previous Hollywood activities. Shy no longer, he last week posed for photographers as often as they wanted, even let them photograph his hands to show how he held a golf club in his celebrated fingers. Asked how he had succeeded in Hollywood he answered: "I let the other guy's girl alone." Still amiable, he discussed the holdup: "I got into a jam when I was a wild young kid. . . . I'm glad it's over. I had intended going East and clearing this thing up anyway."
Only mysteries that remained about John Montague last week were where his money came from and what would happen to him next. Montague last week refused to clear up the first. Answer to the second will depend on whether or not he avoids being extradited to New York. Day after his arrest last week, Montague was out on $10,000 bail, with Cinemactors Hardy, Crosby and Guy Kibbee named as references on his bond. His attorney, Jerry Giesler, asked Governor Frank F. Merriam for a hearing which was scheduled for July 26.