The semi-weekly miner., 1886-03-20
THE VARIETY THEATER.

The variety theater, honestly and cleanly
conducted, is as legitimate as grand opera
or the best drama. Such places of amuse
ment as the Athanaum at Boston, Tony
Pastors and Harrigan q Hart's in New
York are patronized by the best people
Nearly every one will enjoy a speciality per
formance-even the most cultured and re
fined. 1t is only when such places decline
| into dives and gin-mills and are conducted
upon the principles that obtain iii th'
brothels that they lose caste and becom'
dangerous. The variety theaters OF Butte
have unfortunately descended to this level
They have become a source OF danger tt
the whole community. They are danger
GUS alike to the morals OF the city and to
its commercial integrity. The MINER would
give every encouragement and countenanct
to properly conducted vaudeville thea
ter. It seems to be too much to hope fol
such place, and this is certainly true sc
| long as the dives are tolerated. The MINEF
has llready spoken it's mind upon this SUBJ
ject and Is pleased to find that at least one
OF it's contemporaries is OF like mind. The
Free Press tersely and truthfully says:
Look at the condition of this community and
consider whether or not the man who seeks to
ameliorate it deserves encouragement! few
months ago there were four variety shows in
Butte. There is one sample left, with two Or
three budding offsprings in the shape of concert
saloons. This one variety show is of such a
character as only the West with its boasted
shrewdness can sport-a veritable dive. reeking
of tobacco fumes, foul with the smell Of beer
and whisky, infested with thieves and rounder
and thugs, ornamented with unscrupulous prin-
ciple and lost shame in the shape OF female
walters, presenting a programme of stage attrac-
tions that is always demoralizing and often 50
low and smutty as would not be tolerated even
by the police of this town in the parlors OF
house of prostitution, selling intoxicants ofevery
description. making men drunk to get them to
part with their money in such way as to permit
of no complaint of robbery, thriving by every
species of knavery and indecency-that is the
kind of a show that nightly draws a struggling,
surging crowd in Butte. Young and unsophisti-
Gated men are dazzled by the tinsel of the stage
and intoxicated by the vile chemicals of its bad
liquors dealt to them by the hands of painted
sirens whose only aim is to gain the percentage
the more expensive the more profitable Honest
laboring men (honest "suckers) leave there the
last dollar of their monthly wages within forty
eight hours from the time 1t has been paid into
their hands. Prosperous merchants spend more
money In such places than their margins Of busi-
ness will safely admit The glare of light, the
glitter of the stage the smiles of the sirens, the
dizziness caused by the tobacco fumes the con-
cealment afforded by the deceptive curtains, the
intoxication of the liqusrs-each and all of them
are at work to cause the downfall of every man
that enters within the precincts ofa Butte variety
theater and strong he Is if he withstands them.
An Alderman of the city who is accredited with
a desire to be the next Mayor is almost nightly
visitor to these places. The police of the city
make them their nightly haunts not for the pur
pose of business, but for pleasure. And, to their
shame be 1t said, the newspapers Of the city have.
in the past, afforded them too much encourage
ment. With such protection is it surprising that
the most nauseous of performances. the broadest
of jokes. the boldest of robberies, the widest of
debauches, the vie of exhibitions have -four
ished without attempt at conceament, but have
rather invited publicity and participation?
How long is this to continue? A variety show
under proper limitations is as legitimate as any
other entertainment. The Legislature at Its last
session saw fit to close the dance houses. Is a
dance house one whit worse than place where
gaudily dressed fairies solicit potatohs with
out the dancing? Is dancing with women Of
questionable morality on an open floor with sub
Fequeilt treats ut the bur rs debasing are all
the unmentionable goings-on In close box at Il
variety theater? The variety theatcr is imsidious
and deceptive in Its tendencies; the hurdy -gurdy
house had at least the name of being dangerous
and disreputable The dance house was avoided;
he variety show is sought after. The dance girl
her conversation only to her imme
liate set: the smutty allnsions and indecent be-
havior of the variety actor is guf1aWed at by q
crowded audience.
We ask again. how long is ii to continue? Is it
10 continue to be cancerous affection upon the
vttas of the community for an indefinitely longer
ime will the better sense of our citizens rise
up and say, let us prune this tumor of the roots
hat arc reaching down and sapping the best
blood of our commercial and industrial life and
'ending its victims to ruin, misery or death with
Utmost every day?
The misery these places entail upon the !
cannot be estimated. They
'oh many a miserable wife and child of the |
comforts OF life and not few of the neces- |
'aries. To say that men need not go there |
md he robbed as begging the question. Men |
reed not take poison yet the State enacts |
he most stringent laws to prot ct her
itizens against it. Men heed not play
lgainst "brace' faro, yet the State sends |
nen to the penitentiary for dealing from |
brace boxes. 1t is the province OF the |
aw to protect the people and it is the plain |
luty OF the Aldermen OF Butte to protect |
he people against the dens and dives that |
low flourish under the guise of variety |
hows.
These institutions drain all the surplus
money in the community and impoverish
he camp. They rob every other business
4 the camp and return nothing compare
lively. They do no good, and the spirit of
seems to hover close down over
hem. They control some OF our officials
nd have the arrogance to boast that they
i'll shape elections. They are not only a
rivate injury, but threaten to become a
uhlic wrong. The license they now pay is
IMPLY nominal. They do not even pay
10 amusement license that is levied upon
10 Grand Opera House. 1t is boasted that
,ese places net their proprietors from
10000 to 100000 year. The city
,ould reap Il reward from this traffic if it
lnnot be stopped. II the local license
lould be advanced to $500 or $1,000 a
onth no harm would be done.
The highest court of New York has sus.
lined tho cnnStif,N inn..lif lo |