An Infamous Business.

Te Aroha News, Volume II, Issue 91, 28 February 1885, Page 5

An Infamous Business.

The action of the Austrian Vice-Consul at Marseilles in sending back to their homes eight girls being exported for immoral purposes has led to startling discoveries at Buda Pesth. It has been ascertained that a regular traffic in Hungarian maidens has long been in existence, with its head quarters at Buda Pesth, and that it has grown to large proportions. Some of the*e unfortunates have been decoyed to Brazil, as in the case of those intercepted at Marseilles last week; but most of them have been sent to Egypt to recruit houses of ill fame at Cairo and Alexandria, or to become slaves in the harems of Egyptian beys and pashas. The Austrian Imperial Government gained some knowledge of this infamous traffic a few months ago, and ii a sued an order prohibiting the exportation of women to Egypt,, unless each was accompanied by some male relative or legal guardian, bine© this order has been enforced the agents of the Egyptian procurers have adopted new tactics. They now engage the victims to go to Amei ici for domestic service, assuring them thab they will find good homes and situations, with a chance of marrying well and becoming American ladies. Tickets for passage to America are shown the girls, and small amounts of money given them with which t.o purchase outfit*. They leave Buda Pesth in charge of the agents, but as soon as they get beyond the Austro-Hungarian frontier the route of the journey is changed and they are shipped to Egypt. When they once arrive at Alexandria there is no further hope of their escape, and they thenceforth >ire fated to a life of the most debasing | servitude. These revelations have caused a tremendous sensation at Kuda Pesto, and several men and women alleged to be procurers have been arrested.