Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1895-05-02
NO SUNDAY IN THE WEST.
Gambling Houses and Drinking
shops Running Wide Open On the
Sabbath-Sunday in Denver and in
Some of the Mountain Towns,

shops Running Wide Open On the
Sabbath-Sunday in Denver and I'm
Some of the Mountain Towns.
This is Sunday. l know it, because
the Salvation army next door are ham,
mering their bass drum, beating their
tambourines. and straining their voices
for the second time to-day, and tonight
they will be at it again, and the win
dows will be open. and the fragrance
of their PRAYER and the sweetness of
their music will be waited to the spot
where l am gnashing my teeth and
writing this letter, muttering all kinds
of mean things about the army of the
Lord and the people who give the army
their encouragement. But this dem
onstration is about the only evidence
which Denver affords of the sacred
character of the day. Of course, there
are places of worship in Denver, and
some people frequent them; but, with
one or two exceptions, the churches are
cheap excuses for temples of the Lord,
and the congregations they accom- mo-
date are small and Indifferent. Indeed,
after carefully looking over the ground,
| am led to believe and to declare that
there is no Sunday in Denver, and not
very much of Il day of rest anywhere
in Colorado. Fora city that is the me-
tropolis of metal-producing state
whose mines annually produce over
$26, 900, 900, there is the poorest lay out
| n nhIrphnS hprn hnt ha
in any place of equal dimensions and
population in the United States. The
Catholic cathedral, where Bishop Mach
eboeuf (who has been in Colorado since
1884 holds out is a ridiculous little
poke of place, which is overcrowded
when four hundred people get between
its walls. There are many rich Cath
olics in Denver, and they say they give
the bishop plenty of money, but that
he sends it to New Mexico to keep up
the churches which the povertv-stricken
greasers have so much use for The
bishops residence adjoining the cathe-
dral is a statelier structure than is the
house of worship, and seems to have
cost nearly five times as much as the
latter. Other denominations are equal
ly cheaply sheltered. and except the
Unity church. which is good enough to
pass in a muster, there is not an edfice
worthy the name or dignity of church.
The fact is that Coloradoans are not
church-goe
Sunday is very slightly honored any,
where in the state. even in Georgetown.
where the "church people" have closed
the saloons, and where the penalty for
breaking head is infinitely lighter
than The punishment for selling glass
of beer on SUNDAY. When l was in
Georgetown the other day, l was told
that Il desparado named Bishop, brother
of a fugitive murderer from these parts.
laid open the skull of IN inotfensive ciu-
izen with the stock of his gun last week,
and was fined s. for his fun, while Il
saloon-keeper who had violated the
Sunday law was fined $1C0 and gam
bier was mulcted $50. Morality is run
ming very high in Georgetown, and
business is getting correspondingly low.
Since the Presbyterian church has I'M
dertaken to run the town the population
is moving up the canyon to Silver
Plume or down to Lawson and other
points. So you see it materially dmin-
ishes the population of Colorado town
to inject anything like religion into it,
In Denver, the "church people" ev-
cry once in a while have spasm of re-
dictionary morality and hold IL meeting
in the Tabor Opera-house to discuss the
closing of the saloons. etc, but they
haven't closed anything yet. and with
the exception of the big establishments
on Sixteenth street business runs rath-
er wide open here on the first day of
! a. % 4 Al, L
the days Tire saloons are open, the
stores are open, the gambling houses
are in full blast ut night, shelters keep
their fires and furnaces going, and men
sachay to work and return ut the usual
hour, just rs if there was never a word
of commandment concerning the Lord 5
day on the head set of the decaogue.
The front doors of saloons are thrown
open and crowds sit or stand in front
of them the whole day and the whole
night long; they are quiet, peaceful,
and rather sober crowds, but there is no
Sunday-school air to them. and when
the Salvation army goes bowling past
they yell 'raIs.' or tell the cold gal
with the tambourine" to "wade in and
get her socks full of salvation The
same gang loiter along Laramie and
and Fifteenth and Sixteenth streets.
the same as on week days.
l spoke of gambling. Perhaps
the tolerant spirit of the people
here in regard to such vices will be best
explained by Il visit to one of the build
ings at the corner of Sixteenth and
!, Lawrence streets. for instance. There
is bank downstairs. Over the bank
are law offices, and across the hall from
, the law offices is IL cloak factory. OF
f dress making shop, or something OF
| that kind. Passing through the hall,
. which runs back to the alley, to pair
of stairs that afford exit and entrance
from the rear. and we find back of the
law offices ''club room seventy by
thirty feet, with large double door;
opening upon the hall. These doors
are swung back day and night, unles.
e the weather is too cold. and in the ev
/ ening the light shines ont into the hall
| and complete view is afforded of the in
3 terror. Roulette. faro. poker. and 9TH
. er games are going on at the severa
| 81 &, ;,.nH 10 Al.