Well, I don't know about "wise and learned," but I can offer some information that may be of interest to your querier.
Below, from right to left, we have the five-story H. D. Stack Building (formerly the Mason Building) at the SE corner of
4th and Broadway, then the three-story Hulda Block, then 20-foot-wide Frank Court (an alley), then the Angelus Hotel
on the SW corner of 4th and Spring:
Here is the 1906 Sanborn Map, showing the Mason (later Stack) and Hulda buildings, Frank Court (unnamed here but the
1950 Sanborn uses the name, as does Google Map today), and the Angelus. You can see the third-floor inclosed passage
across Frank Court ("INCL. PASSAGE") between the Angelus and the rear of the Hulda. The Angelus has an underground
boiler room (sticking out into Frank Court on the map), and the Mason Building is marked "HEAT FROM ANGELUS HOTEL,"
so there was probably at least a steam tunnel connecting the two buildings. That's 4th Street running along the right edge:
1906 Sanborn @ ProQuest via LAPL
The Hulda Block was built by Mrs. Hulda Behrendt. The building permit was issued on May 20, 1896:
May 21, 1896,
Los Angeles Times @ ProQuest via LAPL
By the time she sold her building in 1903, the upper two stories were leased by the Angelus as an annex.
That explains the passage between the two buildings, which is absent from the 1950 Sanborn Map:
April 22, 1903,
Los Angeles Times @ ProQuest via LAPL
Here's some more history on the Hulda Block:
August 25, 1957,
Los Angeles Times @ ProQuest via LAPL
As interesting as the preceding article may be, please note that 1) the three-story Hulda Building was never LA's tallest, and
2) the city jail on Second Street ("[the] jail, where the Mirror-News Building is now located") closed on August 26, 1896, so
it seems unlikely that gamblers were taken from the Hulda -- which didn't get its BP until May 20, 1896 -- to that jail.
Late Update: There is a June 2, 1932, building permit for the Hulda Block at 218 W. 4th St. to "Brick up opening on third floor
at alley," so that's got to be the end of the passage over Frank Court to the Angelus Hotel.
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