The Unlucky Patron of Washington Street
A man who wandered into a house on Washington Street hoping for company ended up losing his savings and breaking a window on the way out.
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.
After several encounters with the law, 'Cad' Johnson, a well-known resident of Washington Street, was found guilty in municipal court of robbing Andy Ergo of $30. Ergo, an unsophisticated individual, told the court that he was walking past Johnson's when she called him inside. Once inside, she grabbed his coat and held on until he backed through a window to escape. The next day, Johnson confronted him on the street, demanding payment for the broken glass. Ergo returned to her rooms to pay, at which point his wallet was emptied. Johnson denied the theft, claiming she only had 50 cents, but the court sentenced her to three months in jail. Ergo, however, now finds himself in jail as well, held on $250 bond to ensure his appearance as a witness in superior court.
“Ergo says it is pretty tough to lose his money and have to go to jail.”
This story illustrates the precarity of the 'red light' district policing in the 1890s, where witnesses and suspects were often treated with similarly little regard by the courts.
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