The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1895-06-21
VIRTUE vs.. VICE.
Battle In the Northern Pineries
Won by the Former.
The Vast Woods Ma Longer FILLED with
stockadss In Which HeIpIe.. Women
Are Kept Prisoners aud Chased
by Savage Dogs

Are Kept Prisoners and Chased
by Savage Dogs
In the northwest forests where. but a
few years ago vice most hideouS boldly
paraded itself in the public gaze and
almost To the present lurked but little
concealed in the neighborhood Of popu-
lous communities. experienced search
fails To- find any vestig,> Of the deprav-
ity that formerly prevailed. Occasional
discovery of haunts like those that
once infested the entire northwest re-
gion now raises a decidedly indignant
outcry against such monstroSitirs of
the past.
And yet. says the Chicago Journal. II
WAS only eight or ten years ago that
every settlement in the pineric> and the
mining camps of the northwest Wed
one with another in infamous and law
less practices. Citizens of more than
one locality in Michigan or Wisconsin.
after pointing out the improvements Of
Il decade in the appearance of their
thriving city. conclude a tribute to the
moral standing of the place and it, citi-
zens with the statement that score Of
years ago this was by reputation the
most disreputable town in the United
States"
In every numbering town was To be
found from two to a dozen StOckadeS.
dens of infamy where womanhood was
held as cheaply in any harem of an
oriental prince. At first these stood on
frequented streets later IN by-vvays of
the city. finally retreating before the
advance of public decency to the cover
of the woods, half Il mile from any
highway. IIither were brought young
girls enticed from Chicago. Minneap-
oils. and even more distant cities
Every dive had its PROGRESSES in every
city within reach. Under the control
of brutal men and hardened women
the youthful victims were inducted into
their lives of shame, never to be re
leased until death came. High walls
OF sixteen-foot timber placed on end
surrounded the rude huIs- At the
barred gateway was kept a kennel Of
fierce bulldogs. trained to pursue only
the unfortunate women that might at
tempt an almost uselesS-tiight-
The disappearance of even the very
walls that sheltered these iniquities j.
something marvellous. Some We're
razed To the ground by woOdmen,
wearied of the immortality they fos-
tered. All have vanished except d few,
Nh4Ch SIdlh decay ing anu NSSSi leu IL
minders of the old strongholds. One Of
these is in the pine woods across the
Menominee river from Norway, Mich
1t was one of the most notorious resorts
Of the northern region. Within the
stockade stood conmodiOus two-Ntory
frame house. The stockade itself Was
of planking. sixteen feet high, with a
strong gate facing the front entrance
- = .4Ifl her. - "a
was kennel of dogs. The escape
of d woman, disguised a man
in order to deceive the dogs, WAS the
means of bringing to notice the char
acter of the place and its tenants
She had been lured TO the place with
assurances of reputable employment
Twice before she had attempted
to escape. eluding the dogs by her
change of appearance, but had been
overtaken by the keeper of the place
prominent lawyer in Norway swore
out a warrant against the slave master
and secured conviction and a heavy
fine. A few repetitions of this treat
ment convinced him Of the adviSa bilitY
of a change of business He betook
himself to the copper mining country
on the shore of Lake Superior and en-
gagged in legitimate business lie -
now the posSessor of fortune of five
hundred thousand dollars
| The house ne once occupied when en-
gagged in his soulless business still
stands dilapidated and tenanted only
| by the horrible associations, and per
haps by the suffering spirits OF the past
| On the decaying framework of the
| stockade still hang the long planks,
separated by wide gaps, through which
| NAV be seen the desolation within. The
| gate and the kennels are gone. The
doors have fallen and the thin parti-
tions are broken through. 1t looks
what it really is one of the last Of its
| kind.
Exaggerated stories occasionally
reach the public of the revival of these
| old haunts, but their untruth II evident
from the character of the inhabitants
that now make up the population Like
all sections of the country, there is
more or less immortality permitted in
| the northwest towns, hut the old-time
stockades have disappeared SO, too,
| have the gambling resorts, around
which so much lawlessness conferred
The stirring scenes that made these
| localities SO interesting from distance
are unknown now, succeeded by the
tameness of business enterprise. OBJ
servance of the sabbath and of the
civilized customs of ChristendOm Is not
on the Puritan order, but does not diff
fer from that of any section of the pro
gressive west. These parts have lost
their well-earned reputation as the
toughest in the United States"