The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1895-09-17
SHEDRANK ALCOHOL
GRACE KING FOUND IN THE WOODS
liza TERRIBLE CONDITION.

by Charles Sterling and CriminalIy As
sauIted-Her Mother Says She Will
Prosecute to the Bitter End-Another
Woman Dragged for the Same Purpose
Police Force all Demoralized and not
Watching for Anything but Joints.
Drugged, drunk and unconscious,
Grace King layed last evening on cot
in the police court with City Physician
Hoffman at her side rendering her. all
the aid that he could. Beneath her in
a cell was Charlie Sterling who, she
says. drugged and raped her.
And this is reform. Three weeks
ago every girl whose reputation was
not as white as snow was ordered to
leave the city. The police commission
ers prayed for by the pulpit and who
succeeded three of the best men ever
at the head of the police department
in this city, gave the edict and when
the women of i'll fame were scattered
all over the city, but not sent out of the
city, the good police commissioners
gave il out that ''our boys are now
safe" and great was the rejoicing.
They said nothing about our girls,
made no provision for their protec-
ton and so it went. What cared they
for the young girls of Wichita. How
could they keep track Of them when
they wanted all their policemen TO
watch some jointist who was running
"our boys"
Never in all the history of Wichita
has there been such awful and deplor-
able morality as during the past three
weeks. Yesterday another woman
was drugged with intentional rape on
South Mosely avenue and there might
have been still more. Every hour Of
the night young men under the inf1u-
ence of liquor, buggy riding with young
women, are seen not only by the re-
porter for the Eagle, but by the police.
Yes, by the police.
They have not been arrested. Why?
The answer is easy. This board of
police commissioners are criminally re-
sponsible for it and if they have a. con-
science they will have TO answer TO 1t
before long. Their greatest efforts are
now directed to keen the number or ar
rests as low asDossible. They know
this to be true. They do not want the
number of DRINKS per month to exceed
the number recorded per month when
the SdlIOnS were Nlut Opcn wen
regulated by the police. If they were
all their pretension towards reducing
a vice would fall fiat. With all their
efforts they are barely able TO succeed.
1t is not exaggerated to say that there
are at least five drunken men seen on
the streets now to ever one when the
liquor traffic was restricted and regu-
lated. Everybody knows this to be
true. No man is so blind that he cam
not see it. Besides it stands to reason.
There is no such thing as the sale of a
drink of beer any more. 1t is now a
whole bottle, containing five drinks, or
none, and it is not hard to figure that
when a mans drink is enlarged five
times DRINKS will increase proportion
ately. Then, again, there was never
such bottle trade in whisky since the
prohibitory law went into effect as
there is now. When the saloons were
open it was very rare thing to see
man with a bottle of whisky in his
pocket; now you can't step into an
alley or an out Of way place that you
can't see a man sucking a bottle. Some
of them drink it because they like it
and whole lot of men drink it because
a few men say they cannot have it.
Under the old rule every saloon man
watched TO See that his customers did
not get drunk. 1t was a matter of
business for him to do so for if he did
not he would be held responsible by
tohse who regulated the traffic. Now
saloon man does not give three Straws
whether his customers get drunk or not
He is bounded by the officers of the
law anyway, he does not know how
long he will be in the business, he has
no future and he is going to make all
he can out of the business while he is
in it. The result it, as stated above,
that drunkenness has increased TO an
alarming extent and the police COM
missioners know it. but win not &C
knowledge il. Neither viii they al
low it TO be acknowledged by causing
the arrest of drunken people on the
spirit in them. II drunkennH has in
creased they should have the man
hood to acknowledge it.
But, to come back to the main sub
ject. Yesterday afternoon this man
Sterling got a buggy and invited Grace
King to take a ride with him. She all
1eges that he gave her alcohol and the
last thing she remembers she was COM
ing out of the gate OF Griswold park.
That was in the afternoon. He then
took her to Riverside park and there
Mrs. Baladeux found her lying on the
ground unconscious and nearly dead
from the intense heat. Mrs. BaladeuX
informed the police and when they got
there they found a barber walking the
girl about the woods and tanning her in
an eforc TO restore her 70 conscious
ness. If Mrs. Baladeux had not found
the girl il is probable that she would
be dead before this time.
The barber was placed under arrest.
but IL was soon ascertained that he
was innocent of any wrong.
Sterling. who is a railroad man. was
soon placed under arrest and is now in
jail
At s o'clock last night the girl had
sufficiently recovered TO be taken TO
her home on North Fourth avenue.
near Oak street, by her mother. who
says that as Grace * bu i years old.
she will prosecute Sterling TO the bitter
end.
The police are very much worried
about such cases. They know that a
dreadful condition prevails, but do not
know what 70 do about it. The fact
IS that the force is terribly demOraliz-
ed for instead of permitting the men
who know how 10 run the force 10 do
50 the inexperienced commissioners try
TO run the force themselves and the re-
suit IS chaos.
The police try hard 70 do their duty
but under such MANAGEMENT they are
were sticks. not knowing which way
to turn or what % do 70 please Smythe,
heck ard Lieurance.
WAS 1T ATTEMPTED NUEDFRs