St. Paul daily globe., 1889-01-07
DR.. Kate Bushnell Tells
Chicago Of Her Dis
coveries.
The Dens of Infamy Hid
2 den Away in the
Woods.
Bull Dogs Kept Fierce
Enough to Eat Up
Calves.
The Horrible Disclosures
Made in the Interest
of Purity.

CHICAGO, Jan. CDR. Kate Bushnell
lectured here Saturday on the infa-
nous dens of North Wisconsin. Last
May DR.. Bushnell went North. At the
end Of month she felt that she could
not cOnscientiously report on what she
had heard; at the end of four months
she felt as if she had scarcely begun,
and then she began to realize that there
were features of the iniquity and depths
of infamy of which she had little con-
ception. and from which she turned
with sadness of heart. Quietly she
went from place to place interviewing
different classes of people, here a min
lister and there lawyer. and she could
always 90 to the physicians and could
converse freely with them in regard to
the social conditions OF the towns where
they res ided. She never found it very
hard to hear of young girls, who had
been inmates of dens of infamy in that
part of the country, from whom she got
their stories not only, but the proof OF
them.
But it was necessary to do more than
this. The existence of stockaded dens
in Wisconsin had been denied again
and again. DR.. Bushnell looked for
herself, and she found one at Warsaw,
one at Merrill, two in Marinette, one at
Amigo, two at Kill River and one at
Rhine River. She drew sketches OF
these dens so as to have proof at hand.
and one of these sketches, enlarged,
was exhibited at the meeting.
"These dens," said the speaker, ''are
combination of saloon, a dance
house and den of infamy. They are
nearly all licensed as saloons; there is
dancing going OH every evening, and
the men who go out to these places
must pay 25 cents for each dance. Then
there is the den of infamy attachments.
These houses hold all the way from six
or eight to seyenty-five girls. These
dens are, for the most part, situated in
the woods, all the way from half mile
to mile and half from town, in the
dense forests of Northern Wisconsin,
often separated far from civilization,
every crime under the heavens that is
conceivable is committed there without
fear"
Denkeepers and their friends claimed
that these fences served as sort of
screen for the more respectable outer
world, but DR.. Bushnell has come to
the conclusion that these fences serve
not only the purpose of keeping the in
dignant righteous citizens out, but keep
ing the unwilling inmates in. The lat
ter purpose was also served by ferociOus
bulldogs. and the speaker illustrated
the savage breed of these dogs by citing
a case where one got out of the inclOS-
llre to neighboring farm and cheWed
a calf to death.
The sketch exhibited at the meeting
was that of the Gold Dust Saloon"
about half a mile from Merrill, and
kept by Hugh Doyle. Of this den DR..
Bushnell gave the following typical de-
scription: ''The place is completely III
closed with a fence, the back yard in
closed by itself completely and the
fence of the front inclosure overlapping
it. making double fence at the
side. The fence is as high as
the house.. In driving in from
| the main road from Merrill you drive in
between the two fences around to the
front of the house, and no one can ap-
| proach OF leave the house without be-
ing seen perfectly well from six win
doWs on the side OF the hose and three
windows in front. The upper story is
divided off into twelve little rooms,
about 10X12. with single beds i'm them.
All the windows of the lower floor are
barred: the front room Is combination
of concert and dance hall ana saloon
next back of that are the keepers apart
| ments, then comes the little stairway
leading to the upper part of the house,
and on this second floor the girls are
kept, except as they come down to
dance. 1t is utterly impossible for the
| girls to leave the upper story of this
house and go down and out of it with
out running the gauntlet of the keeper S
room and through the bar-room and
| dance hall and out, undergoing the sur
| yellanee of two sides of the house be-
| fore they can escape in anypossible way
| to the street"
Having given this typical picture of a
Northern Wisconsin den, the speaker
demonstrated that there are some few
ruling individuals who control the
whole traffic. While the court records
showed Mary, or Mollie, or Emma
| Somebody as oStenSible owner, a little
investigation proved that Jack Mahoney,
of Ashland, who was recently murdered: /:
| Charles LeClaire. of Hurley; Bill Dia-
| mOnd, of Marinette. and Press Wade, of
Washburn, were the four notorious cap
| italists i'm crime. Bill Diamond Is stated
| TO be worth all the way from 500, 600 to
| 81 100000. He has retired from business
and lives in fine style in Marinette.
| His name appears more than that of
| ANYBODY else In the court records as
| holder of mortgages and lender of
| money. H. 0. Fairchiids, formerly
speaker of the Wisconsin house of rep
resentativeS, who wrote letter to a
| Milwaukee paper, and prosecuting at
torney of that district, who publicly de-
MED the horrors of Diamonds den, had
his property mortgaged to the identical
| Bill Diamond. DR.. Bushnell saw the
| telephone lines way Off in the woods.
connecting the dens and the livery sta
! bleS, so as to prevent the escape of the
| inmates by vehicles.
The lecturer then proceeded to DEM
| onstrate that precurers for Hugh Doyle's
| dens were about the neighborhe0d of
4 Green Bay while she was in that region.
4 Two girls from Neenah while on visit
to Green Bay were aeeosted in the
4 streets by Sid Barlow, of Appleton, a
procurer. The girls refused to go with
4 him. Then they were arrested for
street walking. fined S25 and costs by
/ Justice Grignon and given twenty-four
| hours to leave town. Barlow paid the
fines and the chief of police took the
| girls to the depot and saw them Off in
Bartow's company. On the train two
4 ladies of the W. c. T. L., who returned
| from convention at Stevens Point,
found that Barlow had five or six girls
! with him. He refused to give up the
two girls indicated, stating that he had
/ bought them from the chief of police
for S25 apiece. Dr.. Bushnell subse-
! ouently found the girls in den at Mer-
| rgt They were in the usual short
dresses, their other clothing having
been taken from them.
| A Mrs. Hunter or Mrs. johnson came
| to Chicago and persuaded two of the
4 chambermaids in second-class hotel to
follow her to den at Warsaw. One
| day the deluded girls managed to es-
cape, but they were captured by the