The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1896-09-12

street broker, the bicycle cap Of the clerk
and the sombrerO of the bad man from
Texas mixed In and out with the mass.
Every one moves fast. There is some
pushing and showing, but You are sur
prised at the good order everywhere
kept. Now and then You hear man
swear, but.theTe is no shooting, no yell
ing, and abundant good nature, This Is
che mining camp of 1895 AMI not that or
1S49
Back from the business streets you see
the homes OF Cripple Creek. The hills
about the stores for radius Of half a
mile on each side are dotted with huts,
cabins and frame houses Of all descrip-
tions. Some are respectable cottages,
costing hundreds of dollars. Others are
mere store boxes. covered with red roof
ing paper, tackled OH to keep out the rain.
The most of the houses are still 11n-
painted, and the fresh yellow pine shines
out amid the sllacks which are covered
with this roofing cloth Of red or pink,
There are many log cabins. These are
flat-roofed, and the earth is filled up
around their walls to keep out the rain.
There is so little dampness here. you can
sleep on the ground, and the only danger
is from the cold winds OF the winter
Some of the frame houses are OF the
shape and size of a. street car without
wheels, and others are mere sheds,
knocked up for the time. Thsre are hun
dreds of people living In tents, In which
from fifty to sixty men pay from 20 70 ~
cents night for d cot and a cover. Rents
are high in Cripple Creek. There are no
vacant stores or houses, though build
ing is going on everywhere. Some stores
which are not more than eight feet
square, rent from $50 to $lbD nonlh
and any kind Of a sleeping room would
cost you from SIS to $6 a week. Real es;-
tate is very active. and the town ls no"
being built with the hest ct public I'M
provements. About three Thousand doi-
lars month are spent in improving the
streets by blasting away the rocks ny
dynamite a number of new school
buildings are going UP, and there are
five different religious organizations
which propose to erect new cnurcnes
The town has a Y. M. c. A, Salvation
Army, and it's police organization is such
that lady might walk alone through ITS
business streets at any hour Of the night
and not be insulted There are many nice
families living here, and some neighbor-
! y
part Of the country.
So much for the bright side OF Grippe
Creek. The camp also has its darker
side. am told that it is not worse than
that Of other rich mining camps, but 1t is
bad enough. and, to say the least, it Is
disgrace to Colorado and the United
States. Along the main business street
nearly every other house5js a saloon anu
In these saloons gambling goes on from
daylight unit! dark and from dark until
daylight. There are all kinds OF games
to catch the money of the miners. You
can play any kind of a stake from tive
centsnte. .1s Thousand dollars and In addl-
ton to faro, roulette and poker, there are
wheels of fortune. policy games and
games of crap. The miners work only
eight, hours, and as the work goes on day
and night in each mine, three corps OF
miners being employed throughout TWEEN
ty-four hours at eight-hour shifts, there
are always crowds upon the streets, and
the saloonsaf always full.
Each saloon, it is safe to say. mas at
least three gambling games going on
within it, and as the saloons number
about eighty there must be at leas 14O
games at which you can lose your money
IN the town. All sorts Of vice are licensed
The saloons, am told, pay $500 year
for the privilege Of selling liquor, and
every game pays its license Oh Slo a
month. SO you see the town has an in
come Of about $4S,0o0 year from its sa-
looms. and of nearly $4,000 a year from
gambling. . go -
Ii is on stEasy street" that you find the
most Of the dance halls of Cripple Creek.
There are dozens Of these in the town,
and they would be a disgrace to any
Christian community You enter sa-
loon. at the back OF which is big room,
in which a screaching band plays. The
saloon is filed with men and women,
some sober. some half drunk, others tot
tering with intoxicat:on. The women are
Young and not a few are pretty. Some
wear long Mother Hubbard7, some are
even more scantily cad. The faces Ct
all are flushed with drink, and some Of
the women almost Stagger as they push
their way in and OUT among the men,
begging them to dance and drink with
them. In most cases the men refuse, for
MANY are here only TO see. There is no
charge for the dancing, but the man who
dances is expected to treat his partnr,
and the girls are held out as a bait to sell
the liquor and to get the drunken miners
10 gamble Stop a moment and WaIch the
dance! There are qladrilles and Waitzes,
and cowboys with their hats on are
hoppi1lg about in heavy boots, over the
board floors and swinging their drunken
partners Listen a moment and you can
hear their conversation. It is not fit to
print, and oatl1s and slang are mixed
with the vilest language. I have seen
some Of the famous wicked dancers, OF
the world. T. have been in the Moulin
Rouge in Paris, and have seen the can
csn. but this is worse The Pafisians $
vice is to a certain extent refined and
hidden. Here 1t is open and disgusting
in the extreme.
Gambling goes on everywhere. There
is a faro game now being played in the
the back Of the Cripple Greek hotel Bills
are scattered around 5he streets adver-
tising free keno rolls, and there are club
rooms to enter which you must know the
password. and in which high games are
nlayed. One such club is known as the
Chautauqua.s i have lectured at Bishop
Vinoent's great Chautauqua summer
school at Chautauqua Lake, n. y. 1t Is
one of the chief Christian institutions OF
the world. and it has it's branch circles in
almost every county of the United States.
In walking down the street the other day
With newspaper sriend I saw the sign
"Ghautaua,1a'' above a door across the
street. and said that would like to 80
over and call end pay my respects to the;
members Of the circle. a queer smile
came over the newspaper mans features
ani .Es