The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1905-07-07
MAKE BIG RAID
Police Of Philadelphia swoop Down on
Questionable Resorts and Make
Some Bio Catches.

Some Big Catches.
Philadelphia, Pa. July 6.-By one of
the most gigantic police raids in the
history of any municipality, the new
administration of Philadelphia empha-
sized its hold on the city government,
swept clear of questionable resorts a
territory Of twenty square miles. in
Guiding the tenderloin and high class
resident districts, and let loose food
for scandal that will wreck scores OF
homes. sr
Everything from massage houses TO
opium joints and speak easies were
closed. The station houses could not
begin to hold the prisoners. and from
midnight until 9 o'clock in the morning
the cases.
Number Of houses, comprising speak
easies." disorderly resorts and political
clubs, entered, $50.
Number of prisoners, men and Wom-
en-, taken, nearly 1000.
Approximate amount Of fines imposed
upon men found in these places, $4,000.
Approximate amount of bail imposed
upon proprietors and inmates, $100, 900.
Confiscation-Four hundred quarts OF
champagne; hundreds of cases of fine
liquors, whisky and beer; hundreds of
boxes of cigars; innumerable roulette
wheels, poker tables, slot machines,
and gambling devices of all kinds.
Number of police employed in raid,
400.
The raid was made pon evidence Sc
cured by the Law and Order society,
which has been in its possession for
months and Upon which the police de-
partment previously had refused to act.
In five station houses sat magistrates
ready for victims. BY midnight these
were filled, ten others were damned to
tho 1nNro an1 tho Uraqf oal1r0nrn In the
city hall could hold no more. Every
minute saw fresh loads cast before the
doors.
To the tenderloin the thing was not
new, and painted women of the section
smoked cigarets, laughed, swore and
cried as the mood took them.
Some Rich Women There.
But mixed with painted women. with
drunken negroes and vicious hangerson
were men in full dress, clubmen, men
Of refinement, politicians, lawyers, and
men whose faces are familiar in public
gatherings and in the higher walks of
life.
Crouching in corners of police sta
lions, trying to hide behind h tinsel
and occasionally too scanty clothing of
tenderloin women were women whose
faces showed they were of birth n
breeding. There were girls not out OF
theft teens, whose clothing spoke Of
luxury, and who bore the indelible
touch of gentle home.
These were the cast Of the net from
hotels and palaces of the underworld.
Court Death to Escape Disgrace.
They had not beer taken easily; men
in tuxedos fought like mad to open a
way of escape for themselves and the
women with them. In many cases the
police held the hands Of women bent
an oaVjoi1a S0rnn 0f fhaco y1,nt,oar NTH
utter ruin and disgrace before them,
fought the policemen more effectually
the men. Some escaped, but they
were few.
From 919 Green street a handsome
woman. with every mark of breeding,
threw two policemen from her and
jumped from the third story window.
police held like grim death to her,
while she tried to wrest herself from
them.
Kill me-" she moaned to the man
who had been with her n who was
held by two other bluecoats and was
struggling to free himself.
II have children" she told the police.
my husband viii kill me-" She strip
ped off all her jewels and held them
out to them. IF you'll only let me CO."
she pleaded.
The man offered a large sum to the
police. Their fingers itched, but they
didn't care to release the two.
They were piled into the patrol and
through h bowling crowd We're taken
with the others into the police station.
Must Face Public Trial.
AS in all cases the woman was
placed in a cell, where she tainted. The
man. as in every other case. was fined
$40 and costs and allowed to go. The
woman later was held in $500 bail as
an inmate of the house. She was not
an inmate. 1t was probably the first
time that she had ever been in it. But
at the next term Of court she must sit
in the dock and hear her shame pro-
claimed.
OF many women who were desperate
and hysterical and tried to kill them
selves two almost succeeded. One
stabbed herself and the other hurled
herself down a flight of stairs. Both
are in hospitals under assumed names.
Until late in the morning the magis-
trates labored at the crowded police
stations. All the men, not proprietors,
without exception, were fined $40 and
costs. Every woman was held in bail
for the court, whether she came from a
hotel or the tenderloin.
TAKE o CENSUS.