Telegram-herald., 1891-01-26
PROWLINC At NIGHT
Whe are the Providers End what
do They dog
TIE oyE UyaEsIloylgLE VICE
\ Dsseriptiea sf the Might s~lssAA sss
81 ths fAtTea2ss fasy Gst-Siss N
the Business bioeks-fks streets
fau ali Night Lsnx.

IL will be news 10 most or the readers
Of this paragraph 70 learn that there Is
no dead OF nlght" IN Grand Rapids.
At any hour Of the night, person
walking through Monroe and canal-sts.
from DIVISION 70 Bridge-sts., would be
likely To meet nearly as many people
as would be met al some OF the duiier
periods Of the day. La the crowded
streets in the day time, one often asks
oneself, "where do all the people
come from. and what are they all
doiag? But the question becomes ten
fola more pertinent when asked at 2 or
3 O'Clock IN the morning. What are
all these people doing out at this time
of the night OF course the answer IS
that some OF them are out on .'thelr
lawful OCCASIONS" Many of them, like
the newspaper men, have 10 do their
work at night, and part of the night
are going TO or returning from work.
Hotel men, bakers, watcnmen. doctors,
people going III search OF q doctor or
medicine, are all examples OF those
VINO have legitimate business upon the
streets at night. But very large pro-
portion of these people whose feet keep
the pavements ringing all the night
through are might htprowlers,' pure and
simple. They are out IN search OF
various forms OF sensual indulgence.
They seem to have but the one aim IN
life 10 pander to the iusts of the flesh,
and they are a frightfully large popu-
latlon.
The first question the reader is likely
to ask Is, What do these people lind TO
do at such hours Of the night? What
are the haunts of these prowlerss A
full answer of the question would be
difficult, but some of the more common
retreats will be named.
Perhaps the most numerous portion
OF the crowd are patronIzing the night
saloons. The ordinary citizen supposes
that at the h3ur of ii O'Clock the
saloons all close, and he has visible
proofs of it when he looks into the
50 aloons and sees the screen removed
from the bar and light burning to
show that the place is deserted. But
he does not know that the moment the
regular saloon closes the night saloon
opens. There is as little difficulty in
getting drink OF liquor in the night as
IN the day, and the night saloon
IS generally much better patrCnized
than the day saloon, both as to the
number OF patrons and the quantity of
liquor drunk by each. 1t is rare
thing to find all the visitors of night
saloon tolerably sober. The tempta-
tiOns to Intenlperance and excess are
very much greater while drinking sur
reptltiOusly, than when drinking law
fully. There is fascination 10 GER
tain class OF men IN eating stolen fruit,
especially if there be half a suspicion
that the fruit is their own. So it turns
out that when man once gets behind
a weil-guarded door, where the police
will not be welcome, he is likely to IN
dulge his appetite more freely than he
would if everything was done openly
and above board. 1t is beyond dispute
that the liquor laws. good as they are
IN other respects, have the effect Of
driving many persons to drink more
than they otherwise would. at is al
hAOot AOAAOhStidOiC, StLlu u SdlOOi
man to the writer, yesterday, "that Il
all the saloons kept right on running
openly as Late at night as they wished,
less liquor would be drunk than there
is now" This is probably an error, for
there ere not as many saloons running
at night as there are in the day time.
But Tor an equal number of saloons,
the statement is Incontrovertihle.
The question is often asked, Where
are these saloons and how are they
managed? They are commonly rooms
adjoining the day saloons, either above
or below or next door. When II O'Clock
arrives the business is transferred TO
the other room, while the outward ap-
pearance Indicate that the saloon is
closed. The door is closely guarded,
and 20 one is admitted who IS not
known to the door keeper.
The gambling houses take their pro-
portion of the night crowd. They are
much more closely and securely
guarded than the saloons. because the
police have the right to force their way
into gambling rooms, but not into sa-
looms.
Others of the regular haunts that
absorb the night crowd are the places
where uncomfortable deeds are done.
inasmuch as this class. like the poor,
we have always with us, they need not
be further mentioned. The number OF
women IN Grand Rapids who are su D
ported IN whole or IN part by the traffic
in their own lives, i very, very large.
The houses ike those on Waterloo-st..
by no means contain the most numer-
ous women OF this class. Many of the
business blocks OF the city fairly swarm
with them, and the dongs within these
rooms would make p sensation if fully
recorded to the Grand Rapids public.
There are forms of depravity much
deeper than any that have been
shown. There is said TO be IN the city
an institution for tAe protection OF a
vice 50 low and horrible that not even
remote intimatlou of its character
will find place IN this column. Indeed,
an intimstion could not convey an idea
of IL, for no human imagination al
ready imprisoned could supply the de-
ficlenev after the bToadest KIND of .
nInt. Il involves . depth OF depravItv
so low that it would he slander
against tie brute creation to call Il
brutal. Ancient sodom has gwen its
name to vice which has through al
history held lie place as the s1peristiye
OF all indecencv. but modern life he's
eclipsed the snclent in It's vices az well
A. in its virtues.
The answer - the question, who are
the night Drow lers and what ls their
MISSION on tae street, a answered by
saying that certain proportion are
attending % legitimate daaes, While
others are trying to soive the problem
Of life n wsvs that are foolish, VAN