East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1913-08-29
CHICAGO is HIT
|. BY REFORM WAVE

CHICAGO, Aug. 29.-Chicago, a
wicked town? Oh, mercy. no Chi
| cago, like the Bowery, Barbary Coast
and Butte, Mont, is reforming-or at
least pointed that way, and is think
Ing quite seriously of taking to her
self the musical comedy refrain: I'm
trying so hard to be good"
And in evidence that she is at least
making the effort, Chicago would
have YOU take look at the volumi-
nous reports and recommendations of
her investigators, at her recently en-
acted ordinances, regulating art. ques-
tionable dances and clothes and at
her newly adopted policy of pinch
ing" half hundred suspected Jack
rollers" in the West Madison and
Desplaines street districts every day
IT may be mentioned too with just a
suggestion of wink that Chicago
has no red light" district. that dis
orderly houses have all been closed
and that the former habitues have
vanished as if in thin air. The police
department will tell you that with
out even the wink.
The closing Of the "old district"
however, real closing that sent hun
dreds Of inmates scurrying out OF
town or scattered them to more quiet
portions of the city, was the first
move in the campaign to make Chi
cago good" Former States Attor-
ney Wayman superintended that job,
and for time the red lights were
MI ar (tt,g
cago vice commission, reaching for
more information concerning the So
cial evil The O'Hara white slave
commission delved some more. and
overlapping the "red light district
probe, prodded the 'white-light" dis
trict inside "the loop" to find out
what part the all night restaurants
and cafes played in making Chicago
an unholy and wicked municipality.
Close upon the heels of these inves-
tigators came Sergeant Jeremiah o.
Connor, the Cook county Anthony
Comstock, with a sharp eye to nude
ladies' who parade in art store win
dows Innocently enough, the ser
geant started something when he took
September Morn" into custody and
presidently council ordained: THAT
any person who causes to be exhibited
in a public place any picture Of
nude female shall be held guilty of
a dismedeanor." Or words to that
effect.
Major Funkhouser, second assistant
deputy superintendent of police,
charged with responsibility for seeing
those things that Sergeant O'Connor's
trained eyes didn't see, spotted the
animal dances. and a showgirl sing
ing "In My Harem." He came to
bat with the next pronouncement
The suggestive dance" said the
major, must go. Likewise, the sug-
gestive song Bring in the next dane
er that doesn't behave-and see that
they're all dressed.
Mayor Harrison had some thoughts,
too. on the dress question. He thought
that If Chicago was going to be good
she ought to be made to put on her
clothes. So the mayor had drafted
an ordinance hitting at tights, decol-
ette effects and the habit that some
cabaret performers of wandering
around amid restaurant tables where
the sheerness of their silk duds and
the low cut gowns were all the more
evident at close range.
The collective wisdom of the board
of aldermen approved the mayors
views about dancers getting too
friendly with the diners and they
passed the ordinance-but in some
manner the anti-tights clause was lost