The herald., 1895-07-28

birth-abandoned. indeed. by everything
| except the scum OF the earth among the
male species.
Naturally enough. when woman
| reaches that stage of degradation she
wots not what she does. nor how; and so
| it came to pass that when the citizens OF
Los Angeles felt that for the sake Of
decency (whether or not in consequence
Of the open rebuke above quoted does not
natter) some step must be taken to
mend. or at least ameliorate the Alameda
street nuisance. the front doors and win
dows of those cribs were boarded up on
the west side of the street. aud high
board fence was erected between those on
the east side and the sidewalk.
The evil was not removed, but the an
pearance of evil was in a way obscured.
as it were. Most of the property in ques-
tion belonged to two parties. Schafer
Bros. on the east, and one Ballerido on
the west There is "a state law which
covers both the owners of property put
to such use and those occupying it for
such purpose, bat it has not as yet been
enforced. By it the scourge could legally
be entirely wiped out. but officials one
and all, claim that by enforcing such
law worse evils would be entailed.
Whether or not they are right. is yet an
open question in the minds of many " no
have thought of the matter at all.
William A. Bosqui. ex-police detective
and at present deputy city constable.
who have both been actively engaged for
the past eight or ten years in the suppress
sion of crime of all sorts in and about the
city, assert without hesitation that as
the same conditions prevail the world
over that the evil known as the social evil
exists in every city and town in the
world. it would be an almost superhn-
man task to root it ont of this. and that
it is safer and better for the community
to isolate it In one section and that
where il can be kept under strict police
surveillance. instead of scattering it
broadcast over the community. where
from each place that the bacili take root
fresh eruption may be expected sur
rounding it. 1t was upon this principle
they have been working for two or three
months. and are still continuing to work.
One of these e'property owners was arrested
on technicality by the court. With such
assistance and backing from the tribunals
it was felt that there was no hope for
permanent abolishment of this class. and
the next best move was considered and
taken, which was to restrict it as much as
posi- ble con fine it to as small a section as
was practicable, and make it as nobtrus-
i've as might be. The very fact of render
ing il unobtrusiye. however, attracted at
tentiun, and morbid cur osity in both
sexes drew hundreds to the cancer spot
where before there had been tens. Tnat
was only temporary. howev and Friday
night at 30 there were less than hun
dred men and boys of all nationalities.
and all of the commOner class, walking
about the enclosure viewing the painted
puppets as they sat behind their blinds
arrayed in theatrical looking costumes.
usually bright in color, but except in
few cases decent IN cut and fashioning.
S@r, &c I.s, h. .xI.s
cigarettes. but for the most part they were
reading or sewing. Each one was alone
and many of them were singing. Every
thing was orderly and quiet; the onc po-
lceman whose business it is to patrol the
interior of tina. enclosure was there, and
except for the horrifying realization of
the soul-searing consciousness of what the
place really is. it might have been mista-
ken for a scene in theater.
The rooms were all brilliantly lighted
and all were furnished as parlors. with
portleres copcealing the doors leading in
to inner apartments-for these habita-
tions consist each of suit OF two rooms.
The rental of these two rooms is $50 a
week or $50 a month. unfurnished. There
are about fifty of these suites in the en-
closure, and in the Ballerino property
across the street there are seven or eight
more.
The women are principally French and
Belgian. with few Portuguese and
Spanish and one or two only OF Ameri
cans. Such was the condition of the en-
closure last Friday night. desperately bad
at it's best. but 1000 per cent better SO
the officials say. than it was six months
ago in that locality. Theodore Bauer.
who leased the whole property from the
Schafer brothers for five years this last
week. will nave large electric lights placed
at either side of saloon tnat is now
bni Idipp a fhp Cantra1 nnipf Of tho fa
where will be two six-foot alleys into the
enclosure, and they will be the only
modes of either ingress or egress. These
two alleys will lead directly off Alan eda
street, the whole place will De in glare
Of light. and the police will be able to see
Just who enters and leaves. The work
that has been accomplished by the
doughty constable and his deputy almost
nnaided, has therefore certainly not added
to the city s disgrace, and both feel conf
dent that the restriction already estab-
lished can be furthered if the right Kind
of help be given; but it is terribly uphill
work at best.
The same means that have accom-
plished restricting and confning the
desperate sinfuness among the lowest
and most degraded class. have also been
used with the same effect in the next
higher grade of the same evil. and where.
rs otherwise respectable localities were in
tested before the recent raids, with houses
OF ill-repute, they are now all being slowly
gathered into one locality.
Truly 1t is a case of between two evils
choose the lesser, when, with laws cover
ing the points in question, they cannot
be enforced. and the resultant evils must
be endured in as decent a way as may be;
when in the end of the nineteenth century
the same evil princip Piles are at work that
obtained before the Christian era; when
men and women, with all their advance