Katie Hackworth Vanished From School. Her Parents Say a Procuress Took Her.

B. D. Arper and Amanda Arper, the mother of pretty 14-year-old Katie Hackworth, whose strange disappearance still remains unexplained, evidently believe that she is in the possession of Mrs. Ollie Ryther, who resides on Alder street, near Ninth, or that Mrs. Ryther knows where she can be found, for yesterday they began habeas corpus proceedings against the woman in the superior court to compel her to surrender the girl or to appear and reveal her whereabouts.

In the petition for a writ of habeas corpus, which Judge Lindsley of the superior court granted, the parents of the girl charge Mrs. Ryther with having conspired and confederated with unknown persons to entice and spirit the girl away from home while she was in attendance at the Pacific school. The petition further states that Mrs. Ryther and the other persons, after getting the girl in their possession, concealed her from her parents and are now withholding her from their custody and care. The parents say in their petition that Mrs. Ryther is a woman about 40 years of age, that she is the manager and keeper of a pretended place for fallen women, and that they believe she is a procuress with a desire to steal away the girl for purposes of vice. They want the girl brought into court in order that the court can inquire into her unlawful detention and that she may be restored to her liberty and returned to her home.

Accompanying the petition was an affidavit made by the mother of the girl, in which she states that her daughter was 14 years of age on February 13. On March 6, the affidavit continues, Mrs. Ryther, without the knowledge or consent of the parents, went to the Pacific schoolhouse about 3 o'clock in the afternoon and sought from, insisted and finally persuaded Charles Pagan, the principal, to permit her to have a private and secret interview with Katie Hackworth. Mrs. Arper says she is informed and believes that Mrs. Ryther gave her daughter presents and money as inducements to secretly run away from home with her. Accordingly the girl, after she had been dismissed from school, clandestinely met Mrs. Ryther. Since that day it is alleged that Katie Hackworth has been in the possession of Mrs. Ryther. Mrs. Arper claims that she has called upon Mrs. Ryther and begged and implored her to return the girl, but she refused to do so, and pretended that Katie would be sent to Portland. The only pretext for justification for Mrs. Ryther's action is a pretended claim, the mother says, that the girl's parents are not the proper persons to be her custodians.