The Seattle star. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1899-1947, 1905-03-25

Then they will be behind them.
Now lets drop Ia at the city hall
and pay Mayor Wright a call We
have few questions 10 AK thai
young man.
First We would ask him II h
Knows that gambling o. conducted
IN the city Of Tacoma.
Second. We would ask him II he
knows what q dlafeputAhle place HE
friend and eompatriot. Pete sand
berg. D. conducting In the very
heart 81 the business center.
There are lot Of other quea-
tionu Ne could aak his honor. but
lnasmuch as he does know exactly
what IL guinE on In his city what's
the USE So. after spending the
next day ia visiting the different
gambling hella all % which seem
To be- doing a land office business.
after playing slot machines for
money Ia about 50 different saloons.
hotels and cigar stores which In
eidentally e against tho laW-and
after HtrulllnE down towards the
Northern Pacific depot 10 be shout
rd ~ from n dozen dlbreputahie
houses b flbal1 women. and rude
ly lscred because Ne ignore their
coarse jestH=we find the shades o.
evening again mautliuE the city
and We are readY for another night
This time I wIil take you % y hat
I consider 10 be the worst den Of
It's kind ia the world. and. startling
as Il may sound. a good deal worse
than even the Phoenix ihcatrr II
is around the corner from the lat
ter celebrated resort and 10 two
story wooden building. on the
ground floor Of which &C. a large
dance hall. thanked AZ one end by "A
long bar and Al the other BY a
platform where the musicians q
pianist. ylollniHt and cornetiHt=-
keep UP n steady grind from .
o'clock at night until or 8 o'clock
In the morning. OF rs Ions as there
are victims FOR the picking
/ Waited thlH place several days
ago a. Z a. m. Entering through
the bar. the GROWING glory Of
which was a half dozen young girls
drinking whiakey and beer at the
expense OF some hulklng deep sea
sailors. and pushing nay way past
gang OF smoking and aplt-
ting patrons lolllng about In
tho arms OF women. I found
myself In the terpsichorcan au=
dltorlum. Tho familiar strains Of
In the Good old Summer Time"
met my ear. but were rudcly broken
into by the dull thud OF a falling
body In the center Of the dance
hall lay Spawning in drunken help
lssaneHs. a man aud "A young girl.
The latter not more than l6 years Of
age They finally clambored IN
steadily 10 their feet. their clothes
covered with the slime and CRIME
of the floor The Girl claEped her
arms about her companions neck
and they urched around IN a bur
leaque version Of waltz. winding
mp at tho bar The girl ordered up
the drinks. got her little red ticket.
and the man paid
Again came the familiar thnd
followed by a scream OF drunken
laughter from the other dancers.
nNnANHN couple nNA lhllfNh
There were at least 30 girls on
the floor and the sounds OF revclry
coming from numerous boxes In the
barroom told their own tale.
Half Of these girls were really
Eirls-not women.
Some Of them wore their hair
down In curls. and II seen on the
street would be picked out IA pub
lie school students.
How old are you?" I asked one
Of them. pretty black hatred
youngster. whose face stlll retained
the bloom OF it, youthful beauty.
which will soon fade away beneath
the Inevitable rayaEes OF dlaaipa-
tion.
sixteen last November" she an
swered, but no fair telling any
body"
Surely the man who runs this
place doesn't know you're so young.
does he7" was the next question.
oh, stop your foollng." replied
tho unfortunate little one. laughing
OF course he does. The younger
he gets us the better II Ia for the