The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1896-08-15

Nothing else could be heard on the
streets last night, but the story of the
attempted suicide of Lucy the halt
Chinese girl who arrived by the Mariposa
some two weeks ago and who was ar
rested yesterday and held in detention
at the police station for the purpose OF
having her sent back to San Francisco
on the Australia today.
At about six o'clock in the evening
the night clerk, j. Kalakiela, happened
to go back of the Deputy Marshars
office and past the cells on the upper
floor AS he did so he looked in through
the bars of the cell which had been
assigned to Lucy" and noticed that
head bent over on one side as if she
had fallen asleep.
Gazing a little longer he noticed that
her breast was heaving spasmodically
and calling the turnkey to his assist
ance, opened the cell and called to the
girl who made no answer, but continued
to lean in the same position. Without
a moments delay Kalakiela grabbed the
woman and started to raise her up off
the chair when he found that a silk
handkerchief tightly wound had been
tied about her throat and that she had
become unconscious. Five or ten min
utes longer might have ended in her
death.
At first it was sought to unite the
tied too we'll and the four which the
girl had succeeded in putting into the
handkerchief were immovable. A pock-
ct knife was produced at once and in
serted between the neck and the hand
kerchief With a vigorous jerk the
handkerchief was cleared from the
girls neck who with one long gasp, fell
to the floor.
DIR. Emerson was telephoned for at
once and arriving a little later, set to
work to bring the young lady around
and then succeeded in bringing her to.
When she had recovered sufficiently
she told DR.. Emerson the story of her
life which, if it be true, should certainly
claim the immediate attention of every
humane person who reads these lines:
81 am girl of twenty years and was
born in San Francisco, California. My
mother was a white woman and my
father a Chinaman.
when 1 was but fourteen years of
age l was married to Wong Hee, a
Chinaman who did cooking and other
odd jobs to make a living.
'Since that time my life has been
one chapter of incidents all conducting
to my misery and l have lain awake at
nights and wandered about the streets
during the day, trying to study some
way out of the awful situation, but 1
was powerless for was 1 not married
to the man who daily gave me kicks
and cuffs and thrashed me until 1 was
black and blue all over.
"Only a few weeks ago Wong Tuck,
a merchant of this city, went up to San
Francisco and while there was very
often at our house for my husband is a
cousin of his.
Wong Tuck and my husband often
talked together and at last 1 gathered
that 1 was to be sold for the consider
alton Of three or four thousand dol
lars to whomsoever might see fit to
offer the price. 1 am convinced that
my husband would have taken far less
at the time for he was very hard up
and had no money to buy opium of
which drug he is a slave.
Il shuddered at the thought of being
sold to the highest bidder and made up
my mind to run away to Honolulu and
throw myself upon the mercy of my
friends of whom I have several here