The Detroit times., 1911-07-31
|lEs' GARDEN ONE.
/ OF DETR0|T'S
PLAGUE SPOTS
Fightly Revels in Dance Hall and
Saloon on Clark-Ave. Give Young
Girls Big Push Down the
Road To Ruin.
Mere Children Are Piled With Liquor
and Then Submit To Brazen In
suits OF Escorts.

Bt 0ies' Garden IL the alluring name
! bven q resort on Clark-ave., just
louth of Michigan-ave. 1t Is an oasis
"A desert of unIenated lots. A soil
thry light fftckers uncertainty In front
! |nnd beckons the wayfarer to wine,
shughter and the dance.
tl Saturday night, is a great occasion
|ohere. A Times reporter became a
quest by virtue of paying 10 cents at
! the door, palsied old woman whose
Long, bony fingers clutched eagerly
1t the coins, explaining apologetical-
Fay that II was "five cents extra for
lEents"
al The place was crowded with young
|rinen and girls, the majority OF the
latter being not more than 16 yeats
IBID.
n In the center OF the gardens is the
iance hall, an open-air affair, where
koung men and their lady loves have
rbmple room to trip the light' fantas-
bic. About 80 feet from the dance
Jhall is a shack, in which Is an abb
Ibreviated bar. Adjoining the bar Is
Eb small, boxlike room, containing
Hour tables and number of chairs.
III Is impossible to get into this room,
without going through the barroom.
n There you have the setting for as
revolting a social drama as big city
|scan produce. Gies' Garden Is a moral
Ecancer and what The Times repre-
sentative saw there, Saturday night.
Y would jar the sensibilities Of even a
iwoman far down the social scale.
\ He saw young girls. IA, Is and 16
|, years old, troop through the foul
'ismelling barroom into the adjoining
4 cafe He saw them seize eagerly
Z upon schupers of beer served them by
4 q blythe young bartender. He saw
them drink hurriedly so as not to
miss the next dance.
He saw young men, made bold by
liquor, clasp girls in mad embrace.
He saw one fellow seize the hem OF
young woman's dress and pull the
garment above her knees.
Modesty is left at home when one
goes TO the garden. Liberty becomes
license. An observer sudders when
he contemplates the future Of these
girls.
The young men are all about Is
years. They are at that age that con-
siders drinking smart thing and al
fairs OF the heart quite necessary.
They dress loudly and their garments
are adorned with many buttons. They
call loudly for the blithe bartender
and they employ the tone OF men
about town in ordering and settling
for their drinks.
They cluster thickly about the abb
breviated bar and their conversation.
as II floats into the cafe" Is not
edifying.
Two police officers were at the
garden early In the evening, but they
left the place and the youths and
Elaidens we're quite unchaperoned.
The later grew the hour, the more
liberties the Gies' patrons took with
the proprieties. The dance became
more tortuous, the dancers grew
more amoreus. Gil. eyes were
bright with the excitement OF the
hour, and the liquor they had con-
sumed. and they flashed a challenge
into the orbs OF their escorts
II appears that the dance hall was
there first and that the saloon was
built later TO accommodate the thirsty.
II Is a sad combination, at any rate.
The police gave a permit for Sat.
urday nights dance.
The Times was prompted to an In
yestigation OF the Gies' Garden by
letter from a citizen, whose daughter
was a patron of the place on previ-
GUS Saturday. The daughter came
home in the dead Of night. She was
intoxicated.
While there were no cases OF maud.
f, lin drunkenness among the girls last
Saturday, many of them had too
much to drink and several of the
young men were the worse OF liquor