A Heartbreaking Departure for Reform
A teenage girl thanked the judge who sentenced her to a reform school in Chehalis for stealing clothes.
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.
Bessie Powers, the 17-year-old girl who was arrested two weeks ago on the charge of stealing $75 worth of clothes from the room of Miss Bessie Hunter in the Bostwick hotel, was arraigned before Judge Easterday of the superior court this afternoon and sent to the reform school at Chehalis to stay until she is 18. The parents of the girl and members of the W.C.T.U. conferred with the judge before the hearing and it was decided that the girl should be taught a lesson. The judge administered a kindly rebuke, promising to visit the girl in a few weeks to see how she is progressing, and when he concluded, the girl seized him by the hand and thanked him with tears streaming from her eyes.
“The judge administered a kindly rebuke, promising to visit the girl in a few weeks to see how she is progressing, and when he concluded, the girl seized him by the hand and thanked him with tears streaming from her eyes.”
The practice of sending youth to distant state reformatories was common in the early 20th century. Today, Tacoma and Pierce County have moved toward restorative justice models to keep youth in their communities, reflecting a shift in how we balance punishment with developmental support.
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