Telegram-herald., 1886-05-18
a GREAT CITY.
hs~ Coss~ss.snaebt ~ 1ks Nois4ES
frtbaas~ sle~= GF&ao kaPtas H.
Baslssss. 1ts >o<iety @ud
tEs kaCcs


fts kiees-
GzAsp RArlns. Nle8 Ma io ..ssal
fhls Is a esy of sbsal 5as.e people h
is nsxt ia szs G. ieirsg b Il Dlass ~ ef
elear- hs4-is-3 as.srseiasi eit1eas Is oeEan
a. numbering to~n ID has deselage5 iu-
o. = s0eal manufacturing e.lY ll saa has
laany aiils sad ite Grze5 river IS fsa of
loas ier mites Its iulaoerlng INTERESTS noe
ho-Feysr are bal . sfnal part of its indus-
tries ll j. one ~ tae greatest furniture
t9@ns lu AWerica- 4 So tlld ~ Nel- lu-
t3fmed Cluzens that 500 empI9yes ere
engaged ltre lu Notwithstanding furniture
The great Michigan ~Nsas furnish Iaust
sinds If material Black walnut . shipped
here ho~eYer from VARIOUS states in tae
Vest M',llS4n railroad ortpes tals moru-
ma Iaeg = Iuauutaeturer tying O. Eel sfsoi-
Ia rates Oh 5.Ask s4lnut logs frum hen
lucky. The various factories aud mails are
said - eBp plos about Z TO s4horcrs These
ia0orers are organ,15a into knights 81
Labor and into labor unions. There have
0eeu gFe4t nany ,tnkes here. uui they
have been settled lu one nay and another,
aud nov every aO1y seems busy and every;
thing looks prosperous. Gfand Rapids is %
IA Is - the mining regions 10 Is more
sOiidy built however than Omata. It's ous-
mess blocks are more compact and general
~ higher. Its streets are more generally
payei The residences are more elegant ann
It's churches more PreteniiOus- 10 Is Tar
uOre manufacturing town. IL j. also
remarkably we'll governed have been on
lts streets ali day. ] have nct seen one
disorderly man No, not even heard loud
crowded ali day Carriages often are stop
ped by the crowds of teams bat nO dis
order. IL L. a very wealthy ciiy, also very
aistocfaiIc. - arlstOcracY, however l>
genuine IL commands respect. lt l. Jsst,
&c l. dlgnIncd. oul u i generous IL dc
mands recognition. bat 90 10 public spirited
aud whole s0uied. have come here
because. IN SIZE and make up lt l. Ike Des
MOlues and Our river tOSus IN Iowa.
one feature OF Grand Rapids Is that the
leading business men act aud stand together.
Just now. under the lead of William A
Gavetl, OF the West Michigan railroad. sixty
Grand Rapids capitalists are opening d
sumtier resort at the mouth 81 Black Lake.
A beautiful site has been bought Zach
member has a building lot. and they
together build hotel By June - the
West Michigan park will open to The world
as Grand Rapids summer resort
Grand Rapids Is no heaven II Is a beau
ufu and most substantial city. Neverthe-
less. IL has its vices, as do all cities The
vicious classes viii live. We can't Kill
them. They subslst in our cities. We
can't eradicate their vicious habits. We
can't prohibit their vicious practices. In
Europe vice Il fenced in by public police
laws. America refuses Open's 10 recognize
us existence. Sull, indirectly, every cily
does recognize IT, They recognize II
in Grand Rapids. They keep
an eye ON it, They know where IL
Is and what it Is doing. ! have just visited
three open gambling houses. They pay no
tax They pay no monthly fines. My
genial guide cOnrm,d the opinion OF the
hazard dealer that there was an understand /
ing between those HOUSES and the police. /
Tins may be entirely imaginary, out II Is 4
quite prevalently believed that the gam
0lers here stand in with the police Some /
say the police receive no consideration; that }
they allow certain houses 10 run which they I
know 10 be square, and stamp out every /
thing that Is crooked.
A similar practice prevails with that other /
vice that infests all cities | say all, for no /
city on earth is free from Il. No !ag can be I
made that will eradicate it Houses here /
are not fined SO long as they comply with /
the unwrltten police code. This unwritten /
code is well understood, Just as well as If /
enacted into an ordinance. IL Is - IN I
nearly all cities, too. In Europe these
regulations are printed and made public
In America they are unwritten, but still I
Just as real a. If they were legally enacted. /
Ours may be the better way. Here IS the
law of Grand Rapids. Every
house must show an open hand I
to the police They must report .
every inmate. Ii an inmate leaves one
house for another one, that Tact must be re-
ported. There must be no rows. There
must De no robbery. There must be no in
tectiOns. There must be no publicity. 50
long as a house maintains a good reputa-
ton in these respects il Is tolerated THAT
is, in certain localities. There are said TO be
twelve public houses IN Grand Rapids and
considerably over one hundred inmates
These poor wretched beings are stunned but
hey are not prosecuted. They are despised
but they are not preyed upon. They ere re
Iuired TO be as decent ana harmless "a pos
.lble i'm the only sphere OF ii in which IL IS
possible for them 10 live.
There is no law here against saloons.
Every man can keep a saloon if he wants
~. He has to pay tax Of 5000 year and
las to give a bond OF s. 900 not 10 sell 10
minors nor to drum cards. nor Sundays nor
holidays, nor election davs, nor between 10
o'clock at night and o clock IN the morn
NJ. / visited good many saloons today.
The business is losing ground. one man
old me except for the game up stairs they
'Ould not pay expenses. He said that their
expenses netted them about thirty dollars
per day. He said that the bar receipts often
ell below 80 and that the game had to
make mp the deficiency. Whether these
tatements were true cannot say. / found
'ery many of The saloonkeepers. however.
complaining Of hard times.