St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1886-07-29
A HIGHWAY OF SIN.
A HaIf-MIIe in the city of Boste

Will the people of New England ever
be thoroughly aroused on the exact
state of affairs in relation to the rum
traffic right here in their midst ? In a
recent issue of The Press of Boston is
published n diagram showing 126
drinking holes on single street a
half-mile long, Including the side
streets in its immediate vicinity. 1t
must be remembered that this is not
in some far off place to which the good
temperance people of New England
are sending missionaries, but right
here in the very heart of New England
itself. Tilley Haynes, of the United
States hotel, "a licensed liquor dealer of
Boston, testifying before the MetrOpol-
itan police commission, at the state
house in that city in 1885, said of this
locality:
"The great trouble in my neighbor-
hood is the insecurity of life and prop
erty, caused by the gangs of hOOdlums
who thrOng about every corner, the
disreputable tenement houses which
are the open and notorious resorts of
thieves, and the opportunities for the
committal of crime by the liquor deal
ers, who violate the law in every con :
ceivable way. On any evening, from
dark until late at night, you will see
these rOughs on nearly every corner.
At Beach and Kingston streets, and
| diagOnally across to the corner OF
Beach and sAlbany, are some of the
worst. They watch for men, generally
from the country, who may be going
to the depOts under the influence OF
liquor. These they speak to, and, if
possible, induce to go into some one OF
the many bar-rOoms to take just one
more drink. These bar-roOms are fit
ted up with what is called an office, in
which is table and a few chairs. They
are perfectly closed with high parti-
tiOns, curtains and ground glass doors,
and it is into these the victim is taken.
The drinks are brought in, and that is
the last the stranger knows about it.
When he comes to his senses he finds
that he has been robbed, and perhaps
beaten"
"DO they drug the liquor
81 don't know whether they do or
not; the liquor is bad enough any
way"
"Do they operate in any other way ~
"Oh, yes. When q man is drunk
enough, they rob him on the street,
and sometimes they will rob and beat
| perfectly sober man. Some time ago
they assaulted and tried to rob Mr..
Hale, an attorney of the Boston 81 AL
bany road. He would have been muir
Il La1 I,a
Waterman. Then, too, the immOrali-
most beyond belief. | and my guests
have seen things description of which
could not be published in any paper in
the land. These fellows do not con-
fine their operations to the night eth
er. Some parts of my own hotel are
rendered practically untenable by the
noise and disorder caused by drunken
rOwdies, and often men are brought
into my house wounded by those who
entrapped them into low dives"
"Did you ever make complaints 2"
eyes, frequently. But when com
plants are made to the commissioners
they send you to the superintendent,
he sends you to the captain, somebody
else sends you to the board of health,
and all this amounts to nothing; it is
without result. The rows and disturb
/ ances are going on all the time just
the same. Once when | complained,
police captain told me that the
neighbOrhOOd had got TO be so bad
that my only remedy was to move out
of it. Boston is rapidly drifting into
mob rule, and if nothing is done the
time will come when vigilance com
mittee will take charge, as was done in
San Francisco and other cities. About
40, 900 people pass daily through the
streets in the neighbOrhOOd of the Old
Colony and the Boston q Albany sta
tons to take trains, and they are en-
titled TO better protection than they
now have. There can be no improve
ment expected until metropolitan
police system is established and the
police are not subject to political intiu
ence. Something must be done at
once. Any change would help t.
strengthen the confidence Ofthe people.