The Persistent Mystery of the Criswell House
Neighbors are in an uproar after two women broke into a Tacoma home to reclaim an infant, the latest in a string of strange baby-related incidents involving Mrs. Charles Criswell.
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.
Another baby mystery, with Mrs. Charles Criswell of 705 South C Street again the central figure, has thoroughly aroused the neighborhood in which she lives. On Thursday, two well-dressed young women canvassed the neighborhood looking for a 'Mrs. Scott' to whom a sister had allegedly given her baby. Directed to the Criswell house, the women were initially unable to gain entry. However, after further investigation, they returned, broke into the house, and recovered the child from a bedroom, wrapping it in a coat and rushing it back to its mother. This is the latest in a series of events; last December, Mrs. Criswell was involved in an adoption controversy that led to her divorce, and in January, an infant was found on her doorstep accompanied by an anonymous note reading, 'In this house my father dwells, and when he looks upon my face he dare not turn me away.'
“In this house my father dwells, and when he looks upon my face he dare not turn me away.”
This neighborhood drama illustrates the social volatility surrounding guardianship and privacy in 1904. The sensational reporting of domestic crises was a staple of the era's local papers, often blurring the line between legitimate concern and neighborhood gossip.
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