Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1884-01-20
TRAPS FOR GIRLS.
Young Women lured Into vics il
New York.
COGnt!ess Schemes Prepared for their D..
mOralizaton-0eee Ving smigraot
GrIs-CantY Shops and
the Part they Pay
ia Crime

ZEE, young man." said central
oflIse detective short time siuce 10
New York Star reporter, 'there are
many schemes devised in this city to
entrap the uuwary, but the plans laid to
1 ensnare young girls and lure them from
the path of virtue cap the climax OF de-
viltry."
The reporter and the detective were
n walking in Waverly park when the
sentence printed above was spoken, and
the appearance oftwo or three loud girls
had called fOrSh the remark.
"fhese girls you see passing US with
the forced look ofjoy on their faces anl
seemingly elastic step are the repre-
Initiatives of q class which hss been
reatly augmented in recent years, and
which numbers nearly twelve thousand
members IN this city alone. Not oae In
twenty Of these girls have willingly en-
tered on a life of shame. They are
nearly all victims of designing persons
who make a comfortable living from
their traffic in the sin of the unforIuu-
ate girls"
allow are the girls led into vicious
lives"
"The schemes are countless.
A Pretty louRE wOmaS
is seen on the street and 'decOy, ',.u.
orally well-dTessel, handsome girl, u =.
gins n conversation VITA her. Tue pros
pective victim's tastes are learned, and
she is Swallowed TO her home. Tue
next day the 'deeoy' meets her again, by
ACCIDENT of course, and finally visit
Is proposed. In nine eases out OF ten the
unsus pecting siri accepts the otter
Then her new-found friend makes her
few trivial presents and gains her con.
fidence. The victim is invited to tue
'decCy's' house. She notices nothing
wIoIg and spends pleasant evening.
She Is asked 10 repeat the visit, AMI
y when ehe does so, finds an imprOmPtu
party assembled. sac is prevailed upon
10 sip little wine. The beverage ha>
been drugged, and the victim, com
planning that she feels i'll, IL led to a b,d-
roouI, where she very soon falls into
stupUr. In the morning she realizes her
= position. Ii she then has sufficient
strcHgth Of mind to insist on leaving
The Den OF Iniamy
her shame Is pictured to her, and the
glittering allurements Of the new life
. are painted in glowing terms. Is it any
wonder that the already injured girl
submits? In some cases the relatives
of the victims search for them aud fiud
them. They are rescued from their life
ofyice, but their betrayers are not pun
ished because OF q desire to shield the
aaame of the unfortunate girl aud her
sfamily.
n "Are there any ether methods prac-
ticed? Why, bless your soul, they are
almost too numerous TO mention. Girls
are advertised for to join theatrical
troupe going to Havana. Asa general
rule only handsome girls apply. They
are stage stuck, and eager TO go without
asking any questions. Their passage Is
paid, and they are sent out in charge OF
= woman who is reg resented to be the
wife of the manager. y few dissOlIte
girls are sent along TO corrupt the purity
ofthe others. These girls are decked
with diamonds, and openly boast of how
they srjOy their traffic in shame.
Havana is reached, and il is learned
that the manager has failed, at least 50
the victims are told. Then they are
abandoned for q week to the cold mer-
cies al foreign population. fhey sac
their dissolute companions living richly
and invariably
They Sueesmb 10 the AIlurements
held out to them. When their spirit is
broken they are shipped back to New
York and installed in costly homes OF
sin. They rarely forSake their vocation,
md continue on the downward grade
until their beauty has vanished. Then
they are no longer wanted, Some Had
q home in the slums Of New York,
some find rest in the rivers, and Others
die ip some miserable garnet and are
finally inferred in pOtter's field"
care emigrant girls deceived In this
Way"
Frequently. The victims are mostly
Swedes, Germans, and natives or
France. Irish girls generally have
friends to meet them at Castle Garden
or else they have plans OF their own
mataTed. English girls come, 10 most
cases, to go out to service. They are
ignorant, as q class. Swedish women
meet them on their arrival aud engage
them by contract In twos and threes.
They are first put 1t housework In the
deps Of ipfamy, and after they became
familiarised, they are forcibly wronged.
In other eases persons are employed 10
.personate policemen and to tell the ig-
fnorant girls that the contract they siga-
ee calls upon them to do as they are de-
sired. They are given the alternative
ofgoing to Jail or obeying their task
i The Ignorant Girls
generally submit. Occasionally, As IN
case published q few weeks ago, the
Urls nave intelligence enough to resist
and to expose their prosecutors. These
latter, however, seem to have sufhcient
influence to have all the indictments
against them pigeOn-hOled. When they
succeed In buying off the victims"
From other sources the detectives
Information was corroborated. AT least
go persons are employed in constant
attempts to lure young girls into crime.
Itpays them well, new victims being 10
great demand. The writer was eredIol y
Informed that many OF those who go 70
make up the ranks OF vice are recruited
from the ranks Of schoolgirls, who are
, ruined in "eandy" shops. These shops
are established for the purpose OF carry.
Ing out the nefarious business. Girls OF
tender wears are lured into the oscS
rooms, and by degrees their moral SEN
abilities are dulled. Then they easily
fali victims to the arts prscticed upon
them, When they are fast IN the TOLLS
4bey are induced to leave home, ana are
chinped to houses of ill-fame In otner
cities. When their parents are tired
looking for them they are brought oacS
to lhis city, and serve to adorn the issn-