Dodge City times. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1876-1892, 1877-08-11
MIDNIGHT SCENES.
A Righteous Reporter Visits bad
Places. and his 1odesty il
Greatly Shocked.
tLetter from Seryt. Hogan to Mrs. A. v. Brown
CANToNMENr At TONGUE RIVER,
July n. 1877.

The following il from the Mining Echo.
published at Empire City. Cherokee coun-
ty. Kansas. Empire City Is the place
where such heavy lead deposits were re-
Gently discovered. The mines are now
being extensively worked, and the new
city il growing mp like magic. possessing
all the peculiarities of smining town
Empire City is only three months old
and has q population Of 9. 500:
mining town and what is termed an ag1-
cultural town. The latter contains q
modest sprinkling from the many different
social elements. while the former is COM
posed of a HOMOGENEOUS mixture of all
classes-frOm the high toned arist0crat to
the low, degIsded, alcoholic shadow of
the gutter. Empire City is we'll supplied
with the latter ciass-Of both sexes, and
the sable shadows of night cover volumes
OF sin that the Pickering CLEANS of the
lamp light faas to reveal to the outside
world. A few nights since the sound Of
music and the mIpglilg Of numerous
vhisky-rotted voices, ON Columbus street,
induced an Echo reporter - take peep
into some OF the many temples of sin and
nightly revelry along that thOroughfare.
When you see one, you see true picture
of all, aud YOU ut once ask yourself can
il be possible that human beings can be-
come more degraded than common brutes.
and IN the same breath you answer your
own intarrogatOry in uhe Affirmative:
These institutions are known to the world
IS concert or dance halls, but the name il
4 mild one; for the devil wOnld have to
ret up before day to imagine o place in
which could be stored more sin with the
same capacity,
There are attached to ail these halls sa-
ioons-in fact the money is made at the
bar where the most vfllaineus whisky Is
refailed at two drinks for twenty-five
cents. In some fair quality Of liquor is
Kept, bat in most Of them three drinks
would make an ordinary man steal the
glasses out of his grandmOther's specta-
cles.
Here the reckless and foolish youth is
petted and fondled by the gaily dressed
and veipptuOusly stuffed cOurtezan whose
God is mammon and pleasure vice. The
whole thing is simply house Of Prostitu-
ton with music, dancing and whisky at
tachmenrs. The courtezan sOllcits the
youth to join her in the dance BY loving
caresses. and winds up by ''ysRking" him
np to the bar where they both take q
drink, the youth pays his two bits and
they waltz to their seats in loving em-
brace. A few dances and our hero begins
20 believe that he il indeed o hero, and
resolves to elbow in" his last dollar. He
has then reached the steepest grade on
the railroad OF life and il be will only
take the pains to glance back along the
train of the past he will find that not a
brake is set
These dances continue until the wee
small hours, when hero and heroine wild
with whisky tumble into some Sustained
howell and sleep until the sun is high in
the heay tens. wnen the former awakes and
discovers that he has Squandered his
money and his manhood in the West rev.
elrv.
There are some sad stories connected
with these institutions. and the recital Of
them would nil volume that mule
couldn't move, and II would reveal the
poverty OF the English language to tell
chem all