Two Puyallup Girls Rescued from Trafficking Plot
A local landlady intervenes to save two sisters from a man who lured them to Seattle under the false pretense of employment.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Fred Hangenier, a professional procurer, aged 50 years, was arrested by Lieutenant Sims yesterday on a charge of inducing two young girls away from their home in Puyallup, bringing them to this city and attempting to drive them into a life of shame. The girls' names are Susie and Edith Pinnell, aged 17 and 15, respectively. Their mother's name is Mrs. Ingram, and she lives in Puyallup. The girls' story is that Hangenier met the eldest when she was working here in the city some time ago. About a week or ten days ago, he sent them railroad tickets to bring them here, telling them he had good situations for them. But on their arrival, he took them to the Orth house, on Main Street, at the corner of South Sixth, and secured rooms, telling them he would keep them until the situations were open. During the time they were there he made various advances to both of them, but they would not tolerate him. He then told the younger one she must room with a man he called Dan, who worked in the City stables adjoining, to earn money to pay her room rent. She rejected Dan's advances the same as she had Hangenier's. The latter threatened to have them arrested if they made any noise about his approaches. Finally, Mrs. A. Kohney, landlady of the European lodging house, on Washington street, near the corner of South Fourth, who knew the older girl when she was working here before, became suspicious that things were not all right. She took the girls out to her daughter's house yesterday to dinner and learned their full story. She then informed the police and had Hangenier arrested.
“Mrs. A. Kohney, landlady of the European lodging house... became suspicious that things were not all right.”
This 1892 report highlights the historical vulnerability of young women moving to the rapidly growing city of Seattle for work. The intervention by a fellow woman to protect the girls from exploitation remains a striking, albeit early, example of community-led resistance against the trafficking of young workers.
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