The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1896-09-06

square, rent for from $50 to $500 a
month, and any kind of sleeping
room would cost you from S. to $6
week. Real estate Is very active, and
the town is now being built with the
best of public improvements. About
three thousand dollars month are
spent in improving the streets by
blasting away the rocks by dynamite
A number of new school buildings are
going up, and there are five different
religious organizations which propose
to erect new churches. The town has
Y. M. G. A., a Salvation Army, and
its police organization is such that
lady night walk alone through it's bust
ness streets at any hour of the night
and not be insulted. There are many
nice families living here, and some
neighborhoods are as good as you will
find in any part of the country.
THE DARKER SIDE.
So much for the bright side Of Grip
pie Creek. The camp has also it's dark.
er side. l am told that it is not worse
than that of other rich mining camps.
but it is bad enough, and, to say the
least, 1t is disgrace to Colorado and
the United States. Along the main
business street nearly every other
house is saloon, and in these saloons
gambling goes on from daylight until
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 five cents to
a thousand dollars, and in addition to
faro, roulette and poker, there are
Wneels OF fortune, policy games and
games OF crap. The miners work only
eight hours, and IS the work goes on
day and night in each mine, three corps
OF miners being employed throughout
tWenty-hours at eight-hour shifts
tEere are always crowds upon the
streets, and the saloons are always full
Each saloon 1t is safe to say, has at
least three gambling games going on
within 1t, and as the saloons number
ABOUT eighty, there must be at least
Z4o games at which you can lose vo,1r
money in the town. All sorts of vice
are LICENSED. The saloons, I am told.
pay $500 year for the privilege of sell,
ing liquor. and every game pays it's IL
cense OF $40 month, so you see the
town mas an income Of about $48. 900
year from its saloons, and of nearly
s5e,Ooo year from gambling.
IN THE DANCE HALLS
1t is on Easy street" that Won find
Inc most of the dance halls of Crinnle
creek. There are dozens Of these in
the town, and they would be a dis.
grace to any Christian community
LOU enter saloon, at the back Of
which is big room, in which
screeching band plays. The saloon is
nlled with men and women, some So
Der, some half drunk, others tottering
with 1ntoxicati ton. The women orc
young and not few are pretty. Some
wear long Mother Hubbards. some are
even more scantily clad. The faoas
of all are flushed with drink. and SOM
OF the women almost stagger a. thaI-
push their way In and out among the
men, begging them to dance and drink
with them. In most cases the men re-
fuse, for many are here only to see
There is no charge for the dancing.
but the man who dances Is expected
10 treat his partner. and the girls are
held out as a bait to sell the Iiouor
ana TO get the drunken miners to gam
bic Stop moment and watch the
dance! There are quadrilles and
waltzes, and cowboys, with their hats
on, are hopping about in heavy boots
over the board floors and swinging
their drunken partners. Listen a mo.
ment and you can hear their converse
ton. 1t is not fit to print, and oaths
and slang are mixed with the viIest
or language I have seen some of the |
famous wicked dancers Of the world.
/ have been in the Moulin Rouge in |
Paris, and have seen the can-can. but |
this is worse. The Parisian's vice is
to certain extent refined and hidden.
Here it is open and disgusting in the
extreme.
CRIPPLE CREEK CHAUTAUQUA. |
Gambling goes on everywhere. There |
is faro game now being played in the |
back of the Cripple Creek hotel Bills |
are scattered around the streets adver-
Using free keno rolls, and there are
club rooms, to enter which you must |
know the password, and in which high |
games are played. One such club is |
known as the Chautauqua. I have lee |
tured at Bishop Vincent's great Chau- |
tauqua summer school at Chautauqua |
Lake, N Y. 1t is one of the chief Chris |
tian institutions of the world, and it |
has it's branch circles in almost every |
county of the United States. In walk |
ing down the street the oher day with
newspaper friend / saw the sign
'sChautauquaf above door across the |
street. and / said that i would like to |
go over and call and pay my respects !
to the members of the circle. A queer |
smile came over the newspaper mans |
features as he said.
All right, / am member Of that Chau-
tauqua, and / will introduce yeu." We en-
tered narrow hall, through one door of |
which could see into saloon where at |
least SEQ men were gambling We passed |
this and went upstairs and stopped before I
= d0or which Eas closed. Il have key"