The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-01-19
GIRL POLICE EXPOSE
VICE IN DANCE HALLS
Schlacht's Young Lieutenants
Reveal Evils ClOaked by
Special Agents.
BOYS TELL ABOUT MOVIES
East Side Protective AssOcia-
ton Warns Proprietors Of
Offending Places.
BOYS TELL ABOUT MOVIES

The amateur investigators Of the East
Side Protective Association, 600 hoys
and girls none over IS years old, have
disclosed evil conditions In dance halls
and moving picture houses which exceed
anything Older agents Of law and morality
have been able TO reveal
They have told Harry H. schiacht,
superintendent Of the association, about
special Officers in dance halls who In
stead OF protecting girls from men wink
when they zee Questionable things done
and even encourage them They tell OF
girls having been mistreated in moving
picture theatres while special officers
shrugged their shoulders and showed tina.
they were there merely az an outward
assurance OF responsibility.
These boys and girls got under tho
surface Of life In the places where the
youth Of the East Side goes for amuse-
nent They used their eyes and cars
while engaged In their usual daily recrea-
lions II was q part Of their own world
they dslved into. They usually went TO
these places themselves TO danca to SEQ
pictures. and In some cases they knew the
girls who had suffered and the manner Of
their downfall.
schlacht Conserved Plan.
1t is all a part OF the method which
Mr.. Schlacht conceived last fall ~
good way to get real Information about
the pitfalls Of the East Side. He selected
500 girls and 100 boys. many Of them go
ing TO school, and gave them badges a.
boy and girl police. Then they promised
To aid In the suppression OF vice. crime,
mr. iNnnrancA" me q,
look for things which before they had
passed casually by.
They soon began TO give reports OF
things that went on in the places where
they went TO dance that astonished even
Mr.. Schlacht. The painted respectability
OF the special officer seemed one Of the
roots Of the evil conditions.
The young gangsters who sought vic
Tins In dance halls were encouraged by
the gray coated officers. the police girls
reported. They permitted them 10 do as
they pleased. and II they saw a girl under
the influence OF liquor turned their backs.
Some OF them seemed even TO he accom-
plices. The police girls say they COM
planned and were laughed at.
Lights Out, License Begins.
In some dance halls the lights were
turned OF for ten minutes at time while
license, but the special officers did not
seem to mind.
Tho police boys turned most OF their
attention TO the picture theatres. They
found that the law against the admission
OF children was openly broken. The pro-
prietors OF some places admitted two
children for a nickel.
The conduct OF persons In the picture
houses led some OF the boys to write
scathing reports. The license permitted to
men and women In some OF the places
was such that the boy police did not see
how any younsster could come out I'M
smirched.
They found poclrooms the recruiting
places OF the corner gangs, where boys
We're led to believe that TO lie. steal and
do other things betting a kangster was a
worthy ambition. SO the boy investiga-
tors wrote that they did not wonder any
more that many East Side boys became
thieves and gorillas when they get big
enough
Warns the ProprietOrs.
As a result Of the many reports which
were handed In by his youthful force MIR.
Schlacht called the proprietors OF some OF
tho places mentioned to the Offices of the
association, Avenue r, yesterday. He
read the reports to them. told them the re-
ports would DO sent to Police HeadQuar-
tiers and then asked what they were going
to do about II. Many OF the men protested
astOnishment and promised Mr.. Schlacht
that they would Sue their places we're run
differently In the future.
The East Side Merchants Association
gave Mr. Schlacht a diamond studded
medal yesterday for the work he has done
In making better the boys and girls OF the
district