A Tailor's Romance Gone Wrong
A local tailor accused a woman he courted of disappearing with his personal effects, highlighting the dangers of lodging house life in Seattle.
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.
J. Wolf, a tailor, sought to have H. E. Murray, alias H. E. Hamilton, arrested yesterday on a charge of having assisted in robbing him of jewelry and clothing. Wolf says that Hamilton introduced him to a handsome girl whom he called Rita Davis. He fell in love with her, but she kept him at a distance. About seven weeks ago she became sick, and he gave her money and eventually allowed her to move into the house where he lived, into a room next to his. A week ago, the girl and most of Wolf's personal effects disappeared. Wolf suspected collusion between Hamilton and the girl. Detective Aitken investigated and concluded that Wolf had been robbed by the woman.
“He fell in love with her, but she kept him at a distance, and played the discreet maiden.”
This story highlights the vulnerability of residents in 1890s Seattle boarding houses and the complex, often exploitative social dynamics of transient housing. Issues of trust, theft, and the lack of legal recourse for tenants remain central to the discourse on housing security in the city today.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.