Sacramento daily record-union., 1890-09-22
A GROWING EVIL.

Ten years ago the sight of a drunken
woman upon the street was horrifying.
Her appearance would command the at
tention of the street, and SO rare were such
pitiful spectacles that when they did occur
they were made the test for community
gossip and widest comment in the press
Now, however, drunken women upon the
streets of cities are becoming so numerous,
their appearance is SO common, that the
debasing spectacle has lost much of its
ofensiveness apparently, in public estima-
ton, and the people are nc longer sur
prised or shocked by such scenes.
Late at night in our city young women
are frequently seen hanging upon the arms
of escorts, and so intoxicated as to need the
support of a helping hand. Not infrequently
these women are maudlin drunk, and will
loudly debate upon the highway the pro-
priety of visiting one more saloon with
'priyate entrance" A striking example
of this character was noticed Saturday
night last at very late hour, when two
young women were seen tottering through
a public street in a disgraceful state of in
toxication, half supported by men, and
discussing the location of drinking shops
they had left and others they proposed to
visit.
Women similarly affected are to be seen
upon the streets of other cities, for Sacra-
mento is by no means an lawful example"
of the vice. The intoxicated women of the
day are not of the demi-monde alone; these
are occasionally to be seen in drunken
condition in public but by far the larger
number is composed of young women ap
parently of better class; women of fam
lilies, to all appearances, of respectability !;
girls who are in employment, perhaps, and
others who are the daughters of hard
working and honest parents. Occasionally
women of middle age are to be observed
upon the street undeniably under the in
fuence of strong liquors. OF course, nearly
all such disgraceful exhibitions are to be
observed at night, and generally from
early evening until in the morning.
These inebriated women are the product
of the side-door saloon, of the drinking
booth with the private entrance. The in
vitation to visit them is strong, and women
without intending wrong unquestionably
fra,,,an.lv aoooD,nany tbair asnorte into
these places with no sort OF idea of becom-
ing intoxicated. But after two or three
such visitations they lose all concern and
shame, and very frequently become hab-
itues of the dram shops. Society cannot
close its eyes to this growing vice. In
San Francisco and the bay cities it is es-
pecially prevalent, and to see women
passing in and out of these places at night
is common. What will municipal author
ities do in the premises? ? Are they not
bound to protect the sex against these
temptations so far as restriction can do it ?
Shall the growing evil be winked at until
drunken women upon the street become
quite as numerous as drunken men? Is
not the young woman of the day, whose
family safeguards fail to protect her, and
whose associations, innocent enough at
first, lead her to ruin through indulgence
in strong drink, entitled TO rescue by the
Intervention OF the arm of authority
Certainly the i'll of which complaint is
now made is growing into alarming pro-
portions and must soon rouse municipal
organization to take some action that WILL
at least make it extremely difficult fol
women to procure admission to private
drinking booths, and that will possibly
make it an ofiense to dispense intoxicating
liquors to the weaker sex in public drink
ing places.