Los Angeles herald., 1907-04-01
LAW DESCENDS ON
HUMAN VULTURES
SIXTEEN MACoUEREAUX ARE
ARRESTED
Police Begin Campaign to Drive Male
Consorts of Fallen Women
from city-Raids Will
Be Repeated

Sixteen macquereaux, human vul
lures in the form of men, who exist Of
the earnings of fallen women, were ar
rested early yesterday morning by Of
| flcers detailed from the central station
with instructions to bring in all per
sons of that character they could find
Charges of vagrancy were placed
against the creatures and they were
placed in the cells for the remainder oi
the night. Today they will be taken tc
court, when the police hope heavy fines
will be assessed against them.
These vultures were captured while
in the houses occupied by the women
whose earnings they take for their sup
port They pleaded with the officers
not to drag them from their filthy hid
ing places and bring them into the light
of day. fearing to stand before the
eyes of honest men and dreading to be
exposed in a court of justice, where
they are assured of scant mercy.
Thought They Had Pulls
Some of these men are among the
best known habitues of the red-light
district, who for years have lived the
lives to which they have SUNK secure
in the belief that political pulls would
save them from arrest.
When they heard recently that the
police department was making plans TO
raid the Tenderloin they at first
laughed and jeered, saying the officials
would not have the nerve to molest
them When the raid in reality took
place and the pitiful creatures whose
money they had been spending were
taken from their rooms and booked at
the city Jail the jeers gave place to
curses of rage, and many threats of
what would be done" to the officials
of the department were made.
Still these fallen specimens of what
had once been men failed to understand
they were in danger themselves They
did not believe the police would take
any steps against their liberty, and
they continued to live their lives of
shame as they had done in the past.
When the blow fell, however, their
tunes again changed, this time plead
ings taking the place of brags, threats
and curses, but despite the fact that
they hated to soil their hands by plac-
ing them on the miserable wretches
the officers handcuffed those thay
found, loaded them into the patrol
wagon and hustled them into the jail.
When placed in the tanks with drunken
Wretches, who shrunk from the leeches
as if they were stricken with leprosy.
the vultures, driven desperate by their
predicament. filled the air with cries
and begged to be released.
Promise to Go Away
I'VE will leave Los Angeles and
never return" was the burden of their
cries and, although they did not know
it, they had struck the one thing which
may bring them liberty.
The police do not wish to bother with
these miserable creatures. 1t is not
their wish to arrest them. But Just so
long as they continue to live in Los
Angeles and continue preying on their
fallen victims, just so long will the
members of the department pursue
them and endeavor to make things far
from easy for them. The moment they
board a train for pastures new the pur.
suit will cease, for it is the intention
of the department to force them from
the city or make them give up their
methods of living.
In this fight against vice the officers
are sorely handicapped. Charges of
vagrancy have been placed against the
sixteen men arrested yesterday. and in
each case the police are confident they
can convict. Where there is any doubt,
however the police hesitate to make the
dITeSIS, as II Is prODaDle a complaint
will be refused them by the prosecuting
attorneys office unless the proof is of
the best.
Need Better Laws
Let there be some law passed which
will give us control over these wretches
and it will not be long before we have
ended their careers in Los Angeles, -
said a prominent police official last
night, 1T is impossible for us to arrest
every man we know frequents' bawdy
houses, but if we had the chance the
people would soon see we are ready to
enforce the law"
1t is said raids of the same nature
as the one yesterday will take place
frequently from now on, in the hope of
making things so unpleasant that num-
bers of those who have been preying
on the women will depart.
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