Los Angeles herald., 1906-06-04

The Infamous cribs on Olvera street
are closed
Last night the street was dark as a
result of an order Saturday night by
Chief Auble.
Since the exposures of The Herald
keepers Of dives and inmates of cribs
and certain houses were told to keep
under cover and ply their trade in
secret.
But from the very nature of the
traffic this could not be DONE
When Alameda street q stencil to the
nostris of tourists, was closed to tire
traffic Olvera street. which lay just
outside the most notorious crib district.
was allowed to run, under certain con-
ditions.
There are no cribs in the tenderloin
to my knowledge" said Capt Broad
head several weeks ago. IF there are
any they shall be closed"
He has kept his word.
Chief Auble has acted promptly on
the suggestion of The Herald.
AS 1t Was
Oliyera street was typical crib dis
trict. Ugly hags ogled passersby from
their windows, or even went into the
street to cajole men into their dens.
Sounds of strident laughter and
drunken curses came from behind the
red curtains and women stood in the
open doorways and beckoned, threat
ened and coaXed.
Last night the street was dark
The long, low sheds which had har-
bored scores of women were silent. The
inmates had disappeared.
1.-The girls were not obeying the in
structions of the police" said Capt.
Broadhead last evening, land so L or
dered the houses closed l do not be-
lieve the social question can be decided
by the police, but we can and will pre-
serve order and outward decency."
Females Too Bold
When The Herald took up the crusade
against the haunting of the social evil
a few weeks past the tenderloin was
run openly, defiantly thrusting vice in
the faces of those who frequented the
narrow, evil smelling streets and alleys.
Following the exposures of rampant
vice the females were told to be more
careful.
Jackson street was given coat of
whitewash and the frequenters were
compelled to approach those dens from
the rear
Also street became more respectful BILE,
outwardly at least, and other lanes in
the valley of social death took on an
air of seeming decency.
Following the San Francisco disaster
1t was openly stated that Los Angeles
was to be an open town as to the social
evil, and houses long tenantless soon
became peopled with white slaves.
Public Decency Resents
The Herald took up a crusade in be-
half of public decency and appealed to
the police to aid in the suppression of
open vice.
May Is Chief of Police Auble said:
II shall certainly order cribs closed if
there are any in the city.
II have had no reports from my Of
fcers of such cribs
81 realize that the social evil is a
great problem TO deal with and 1 shall
certainly use my best efforts to re-
strain such places.
II have a plan that will call for close
supervision of all houses and every
keeper of house of i'll repute shall be
made to furnish list of the inmates.
Il am at all times glad to hear from
citizens on the important problem of
regulating the social evil.
mo cribs shall exist in this city as
long as / am chief of police, and / will
take immediate steps to ascertain if
any such places are being opened"
The Truth Told
The Herald sent representatives to
visit the crib districts and careful. i'm
partial reports were made of actual ex-
sting conditions.
Without attempting to probe into the
problem of the social evil vivid reports
of things seen by the reporters were
faithfully chronicled.
In the wake of The Herald exposure
there came a change in the manage
ment of certain houses.
Several We're closed by order of the
police
The degraded women were told to
keep off the streets and to refrain from
standing in their doors or beckoning
from windows. Streets that were reek-
ing with irnpurity and open vice
changed their aspect entirely. Vice
was cloaked. The scarlet nlague was
forced to work only in secret.
The houses on Olivera street, incIud-
ing the infamous adobe" were al
lowed to run and this outpost of the
former Alameda district Haunted it's
vice.
They Hate Publicity
Certain policemen, who once Travelled
the tenderloin beat, expressed wonder
at the Olivera street scenes. 1t was
alleged that the owner of the houses
had secured protection"
But there was no protection against
the newspaper exposures and as
former policeman expressed 1t, "Those
KIND of people want TO be let alone
They hate newspaper notoriety They
know as well as you do what they are
doing and shrink from the limelight of
public exposure"
Oivera street runs north from
Marchessault street
II seemed immune to criticism and
defiant OF reformers. But for a time,
at least, the cribs are suffered, the
females warned away for failing to
observe police regulations" and the
former frequenters Of the resorts