Idaho County free press. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho Territory) 1886-current, 1896-08-28

In the northwest forests where but \
rev years ago vice most hideous boldly
psraded 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 vestiges Of the depray.
ity that formerl, prevailed. Occasional
discovery Of haunts like those that
once infested the entire northwest re-
gion now raises . decidedly indignant
outcry against such monstrosities of
the past.
And yet, says the Chicago journal, Il
WAS only eight or ten years ago that
every settlement in the pineries and the
mining camps OF the northwest We'd
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
decade in the appearance Of their
thriving city, conclude . tribute to the
moral standing Of the place and its citi.
gems with the statement that . score of
years ago this was by reputation 1.-THE
most disrcputable town In the United
States-"
In every numbering town was 70 b
found from two to . dozen stockades,
dens Of infamy where womanhood was
held ~ chcaply ~ in any harem Of IN
oriental prince. At first these stood on
frequeuted streets. later in by-ways Of
the city, finally retreating before the
advance Of public decency to the cover
Of the woods, half . mile from any
highway. Hither were brought young
girls enticed from Chicago, Minneap-
oils, and even more distant cities.
city within reach. Under the control
Of brutal men and hardened women
the youthful victims were indicted into
their lives of shame, never to be re-
leased until death came. High walls
Of sixtecn-foot timber placed on end
surrounded the rude huts. At the
barred gateway was kept kennel Of
fierce bulldogs, trained to pursue only
the unfortunate women that might at.
tempt an almost uselessrhight.
The disappearance Of even the very
wallis that sheltered these iniquities ID
something marvellous. Some were
rszed TO the ground by woodmen,
wearied of tha immortality they fos.
tered. All have vanished excerpts few,
which stand decaying and deserted re-
mindcrs Of the old strongholds. One Of
these ID in the pine woods across the
Menominee river from Norway, Mich.
II was one of the most notorious resorts
Of the northern region. Within the
stockadc stood . commodious two-story
frame house. The stockadc itself was
Of planking, sixteen feet high, with q
strong gate facing the front entrances
Of the house, on either side OF which
was . kennel Of dogs. The escape
Of . woman, disguised Is 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 lurcd to the place with
assurances of reputable employment
Twice before she had attempted
to escape, eluding the dogs by heI
change OF appearance, but Lad beer
overtaken by the keeper OF the place
A prominent lawyer in Norway swor'
out warrant against the slave master
and secured conviction and n heavy
line. A few repetitions Of this treat
ment convinced him of the ACCESSIBILITY
Of . change of business. lie betool
himself to the copper mining country
ON the shore Of Lake Superior and en-
gagged in legitimate business. He i
now the possessor Of . fortune OF fv'
hundred thousand dollars.
The house he once occupiou wien 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 tn
stockade still hang the long planks
separated by wide gaps, through whicl
may be seen the desolation within. Tn
gate and the kennels are gone. TIL
doors have fallen and the thin part
tions are broken through. 1t look
What It really Is, one Of Ire last Of it
Kind.
Exaggerated stories occasionally
reach the public Of the revival Of thes
old haunts, but their untruth is eviden
from the character of the inhsbitant
that now make up the population. Lik
all sections of the country, there
more or less immortality permitted Il
tho northwest towns, but the Old-tim
stockades have disappeared. SO, tor
have the gambling resorts. aroun
which 10 much lawlessness ccnterod
Tho stirring scenes that made thea
localities so interesting from distanc
arc unknown now, succeeded by tn
tameness of business enterprise OF
servsnce Of the Sabbath and Of tn
civilized customs of Christendom IL nc
on the Puritan order, but does not di
fer from that of any section Of the pr
gressive west. These parts have los
their well-earned reputation ~ 9TH
toughest in the United Ststes-"
| He. vaax's Lawn Roller.
l nj IT, l.