The Ticket Taker's Midnight Mugging
A L'Allegro Club treasurer was lured from the dance floor into a trap, ending in a gagging and a $55 robbery.
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.
When K. J. Mills, treasurer of the L'Allegro club, left his post as ticket taker at the club dance in Fawcett hall last night to go out and 'have something' with a stranger, he was choked, gagged, and robbed of $55. The affair occurred about 11 o'clock. According to Mr. Mills, a stranger accosted him at the ticket window, and after inquiring about the dance, invited Mills downstairs to 'take something.' As they neared the bottom of the stairs, the stranger choked Mills so he could not call for help, forced a gag into his mouth, and dragged him to a shed nearby. After taking the money, the man threw Mills into the mud and walked quietly away, whistling a merry jingle. Mills eventually made his way to a fruit stand, where the trap was removed from his mouth. Police were notified, but the assailant had vanished.
“The man threw Mills into the mud and then walked quietly away, whistling a merry jingle.”
Fawcett Hall, once a hub of social activity in Tacoma, disappeared from the city's map long ago, but the vulnerability of event staff handling cash remains a timeless concern. Even today, the 'stranger danger' trap described by Mills serves as a stark reminder of the risks associated with nightlife management in a bustling city.
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