The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1894-12-14
THIS is SHAMEFUL.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS omen
Summoned Into Police Court
To Testify Against a Certain
Notorious Woman.
DONE TO SPITE THEM.
Police Officials Guilty of Drag
ging These Ladies
Into the Foul Mire of the
Police Court,
ALL FOR PRESUMING
To Complain Of an Evil Resort
III Their NeighbOrhOOd.
A DiSeraceful Affair That De-
nlaiads an Investigation

Police Captain Peter Gish appears to
be guilty Of a malicious and outrageous
act in causing twenty-nine respectable
women. wives aud mothers, to be sub
pOenaed before the police court today to
testify against @Ln Tack or Pier" a
notorious woman.
A few days ago twenty nine ladies liv-
ing in the neighborhOod of No. 2I0
jackson. street petitioned the city coun-
ell to close up the house at No. 210,
which they charged was disorderIy re-
sort. The city council is powerless ia
this case and referred the matter to the
police department.
The police department, or at least
part of it. which mas been
aware of the existence of the
house all the time. made raid aud
arrested Lii Tack and male cen panion.
No further evidence was necessary TO
prove the guilt OF the parties. The Tack
woman mas been many times arrested and
fined; her character is known to the
police
There was no occasion to drag respect
able women into police court to testify
against her, and publicly uDject them to
the modification Of appearing in such
place. 1t was, to say the least, an act on
the part Of the police official who did it,
and Of those higher in power who per
mitted it. that deserves the conder47ua-
tiOn Of every decent citizen in Topeka.
1t was 4 direct insult to these women.
and was apparently intended as such
The object WAS To punish them for aD-
plying to the city council first instead of
the police force; or for com mpIaining at
all. II we are to believe what fnanv of
use TO appeal to the police force, al
though they did 80 appeal, for certain
police official frequented the house, and
it under his protection.
The JOURNAL has Information from
eyewitnesses whosaw that Official visit the
house many times. and on one occasion
witnessed such orgies as are indescri-
bable in print
The depth Of infamy that would lead
any police official to attempt to drag
the wives Of respectable citizens
into such z hole as the police court, and
bring them IN contact with disorderly
women, when il is appreciated in all its
enormlty BY the people Of this town.
calls for tbs Immediate removal Of the
official or officials who are guilty Of it,
Not only are the ladies indignant, but
their husbands also and their indigna-
ton may take on a violent form
Eighteen of the women subp0enaed
were IN police court this morning to tes-
tify in answer to the subpoenas
Eleven of the tWenty-nine who had
falled to appear.
Charles Fensky defended the Tack
woman.
Not all of the eighteen were examined
and those that did testify told what they
had heard said and that they had seen
men 90 to the house at all hours Of the
day and night in all degrees of intoxica-
tion. The testimony was sufficient to
convict
Fensky rested his case after six or
eight witnesses had been examined and
made his plea, asking in his
be discharged because the evi-
dence was insufficient 1t took more
than one woman to comprise a house of
that sort, he said.
The judge took the case into consider
alton until Monday morning.
A good many Of the women were
angry about this. They wouldn't let US
tell what we knew" they said. sand they
didn't ask US the right sort Of questions
Several of them were very indignant
why didn't they make their first com
plant to US, said Chief Lindsey, sin
stead of running to the city coun-
ell with it9 didn't know any
thing at all about the house till it came
to me through the council. and I told
the captain to go ahead and pull it.
In the petition to the council. the com
plant was made against the place as a
nuisance, but in the complaint that City
Attorney Iiliotson made out and Captain
Gish sw0re to before Police Judge Ems
minQer the word nuisance was lost
sight of.
THE wording of the complaint was
made different" said Gish, sbecause the
city has no nuisance ordinance under
which 10 convict people. We have asked
for il. but II has never been passed. I had
every one OF the petitioners subp0enaed
because It would naturally be supposed
they knew something about it, or they
wouldn't allow their names to be used
We always subpoena All the witnesses we
can
The animus Of the whole affair is
plainly visible IN the above. The object
OF subpoenaiEg the women is to intirni-
date citizens from complaining Of evil
resorts IN their neighbOrhood.
The women who were dragged into
police court. two weeks ago pet7-ioned
the police to crag the Tac-z wom4n cut