Abandoned and Stranded at the Alaska Hotel
A mother arriving from Victoria with her two young children seeks the city's aid after being abandoned by her husband.
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.
Mrs. Fanny Ward, a rather comely woman, reported to the police yesterday that she had come from Victoria with her 12-year-old boy and 17-month-old girl to meet her husband, John Ward, but had failed to find him and was now stranded here without money. On her arrival she had gone to the Alaska Hotel, expecting to meet him there, but yesterday she was told to find some other place. The police referred her to the Bureau of Associated Charities, and one of the friendly visitors provided her with a place to live until her husband can be found or work can be secured for her. It is said that the husband was at the hotel last night under an assumed name, and that he was on a big spree all night.
“The police referred her to the Bureau of Associated Charities, and one of the friendly visitors provided her with a place to live.”
This reflects the stark lack of a social safety net in 1892, where women and children were entirely dependent on the volatile charity of neighbors and police discretion when abandoned.
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