Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1907-07-11
CREAM CITY HAS
2,20O SALOONS
AND EFFORT is BEING MADE TO
SUBVERT BAKER LAW.
INQUIRY NOW IN PROGRESS
Licenses Issued for Locations Where
no Saloons Have Existed for Years
Aldermen Start an Investigation
to Clarity the Situation-Suspicion
Doings.

Milwaukee, July 9.-This city has
1920 saloons and many are operated
by divorced women while the brew
ers are making a quiet effort to sub
vert the law restricting licenses to
one for each $50 of population.
Chief of Police Jansen and Mayor
cense committee a definite statement
regarding their policy with relation
to saloons which have in any way con-
nected with them women of immoral
purposes. if the resolution to be in
troduced by Alderman Seidel in the
common council is passed. Alder
man Seidel believes that the commit
tee should understand explicitly the
attitude of the mayor and chief of
police on such saloons before it makes
its annual recommendation on ap-
plications for license The object is
not to bar women from saloons, but
to restrict the connection between
saloons and disreputable resorts
An interesting feature of the work
Of investigation is the part which has
been taken by boys of the Fifth
street settlement neighborhood. So
clannish are the Jewish people that
lit is almost impossible to get wit
'nesses to prosecute for the sale of
liquor to minors and several boys of
: the settlement have done valiant serv-
ice in securing evidence which is
said to warrant the listing of num-
Der of places.
! In the meantime the list of saloons
submitted to the council by the mayor
and the chief of police furnishes some
interesting information for those who
take the pains to analyze it. The
list Of retail liquor dealers, arranged
in double column, fill 26 full pages of
the council proceedings for July 1 and
it does not include those against
liens has been given the police de-
partment.
| Ninety-nine women are engaged in
the liquor business in Milwaukee, one
in partnership with her husband and
one widowed mother holding a license
Jointly with her son. Of the other
81, sixty-three are widows, 22 are mar
ried, eight are divorced, two are de-
serted, one has a divorce pending, and
one is single.
Third street, for instance, leads ali
the other streets in the number of
saloons, having 1902 East Water
street, which could be three blocks
longer and then be only half of the
length of Third street, comes second
with 80, and Vliet street is third with
81. Reed street has So National
avenue AZ, Clinton street A, Grove
street AZ, and Fourth street Al. Wal
nut and Chestnut streets tie for ninth
place with SO saloons, and Fond du
Lac avenue has 81. These eleven
streets furnish more than one-fourth
of the city's saloons, the total number
lacking a few of 1900.
West Water street offers the record
breaker in the number of licenses for
one building, there being three issued
to No. 207, one to the first floor sa-
loon, one to Charles Toy for the
Chinese restaurant on the second
floor, and one to Walter Koch, in the
rear. Jones' island has eight saloons
The compilation of the location of
the saloons show that there are sec
lions of the city in which almost
entire blocks are given over to the
saloon industry. Although Third
street extends for SO squares to East
Water streets Is, there are blocks on
Third street which show an almost
equal congestion of the liquor traffic
In the list of saloons supposed to
be existing, reported by the police de-
partment, is one at 207 West Water
street. first floor, occupied by the
Meyer Shoe company. There has been
no saloon in this place for years, if
there ever was one.
The charge is made that it is an
attempt to violate the spirit Of the
Baker local option law, under which
no more saloons can be established
until the population reaches 100000.
1t was said to be an attempt on the
part of the brewers to hold locations
for future use.