The Desperate Act of a Waitress
A young worker's suicide attempt at the Seattle block leaves questions and a mystery about the men in her room.
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.
Daisy Newlands, a pretty 17-year-old girl employed in the West street hotel as a waitress, attempted suicide last night in room 211 of the Seattle block by taking half an ounce of chloroform. After an hour's hard work, the girl's life was considered out of danger, though she was very weak. The reason for the deed can hardly be guessed. It is said that the girl wrote a note before taking the drug, but when the physicians arrived they found a young fellow with a black mustache in charge of the girl, walking her about the room, but no note could be found, and the young fellow refused to talk. The girl's companion appeared greatly worried and assiduously aided the physicians to bring her to. Later, two young men appeared and all called her 'Daisy' and entreated her to take the emetics the doctors prescribed. It is said the young fellows all room in the same lodging house and that the girl, because of her pretty face and happy ways, had become a favorite not only with them, but the other lodgers.
“The reason for the deed can hardly be guessed.”
Lodging houses and hotels along the waterfront were the primary housing stock for young, single workers in 1890s Seattle. The lack of privacy and the social precariousness of young women working in these spaces remain a persistent theme in the city's labor and housing history.
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