The Washington herald., 1918-11-24

of the intoxicants, the three Chris
tian' workers proceeded TO hold a
PRAYER meeting before the great
oId-fashioned hearth of the cracker
box" The denizens of the alley
were invited to enter, and the serv-
ice was in full swing when a series
of unearthly yells fioated in from
the yard.
MoIiie soused.
.Pm soused." exclaimed Mollie OF
the moonlight. Let me git in
there and give them loidies a Louise
alley dance wild dere song"
"No. mo-" admonished Ellen Ale,
"we,lI have a hill ov a tonne out
here"
were in the midst of their drunken
revelry, the prayer meeting was ad'
iourned, and we proceeded towards
Willow Tree alley. which 1 ex-
planned was known as the othei
wickedest alley in the world. AS we
neared the Maryland avenue entrance
to the byway, one of the good women
called NV attention to three desper'
ate looking men standing In the
mouth of the alley, and asked II
knew who they were. The men .hao
long figured in the police annals
and as police reporter or long
standing / had written up many, ol
their misdoings. l informed the
missionaries that knew OF the men
end their reputation.
That first fellow with slouched
hat pulled down over his eyes is
known as Jack the Ripper. l ex-
planned. That slim fellow next to
him is Danny a footpad anc all
around thief and bad man The
third man is Sam Morris who served
a long term in Sing Sing as an ac-
cessory to the robbery and murder
of q Polish peddler in a nearby
park"
The women gave a suppressed cry
and quickly passed their purses to
me for safe keeping.
81 did not know there were such
places and such people in the world
said one.
I informed her that my assign
ment called for a visit to the sinful
places OF Washington, and was
trying to obey instructions to the
very letter. Entering Willow Tres
alley, we found free fight between
several bedizened women and drunk
en- sailors in fierce progress. The
police quickly appeared and hustled
the participants to the nearest pa
troll box. The good women finally
found a two-story frame building
in the southwest corner Of the by
way and several days later rented
IL and opened an alley mission which
accomplished much good for several
months.
"BIoodneId.r
Near the playground, formerly
notorious Willow Tree alley. Is a
section OF South Washington known
as ''Bloodfield," where a police lieu
tenant was shot to death recently
This locality was one of the most
lawless sections OF the District some
years ago and murders and hold-ur
robberies were frequent. But since
Mai. Raymond Pullman has been su'
perintendent of police the criminal
element has been driven out and law
lessness now Is confined largely tc
''bootlegging Maj. Pullman. who
had as newspaper man devoted
considerable time to the study OF
criminology. sought out the places
WneTe DdO men were "OIll u COH-
gregate and plan their prospective
depredations on persons and prop
erty. and by continuing a relentless
warfare on this class Of malefactors
has reduced their operations to a
minimum and made the former bad
lands comparatively safe for pedes'
trians.
One of the worst places in Blood
field was an old structure-a relic Of
the civil war-still standing, ant
known as "the barracks" this build
ing was the scene of many police
raids in the past 1t is as quiet as a
graveyard these days. Buzzard' s
Point, another South Washington
neighborhood on the river front, was
the scene of many crimes and disor-
ders at the time of the civil war and
following the ending OF that struggle
"Chinch Row" on Third street, be.
tween Maine and Maryland avenues
an unevenly constructed row of frame
buildings, was the scene also of fire.
quent Iawbreaking affairs at the same
time. The old canal flowed past these
buildings at the time South Washing.
ton was known as "the Island" and
in cases of riot, which were frequent
in the 'Chinch Row" vicinity, It was
necessary for the police reserves tc
cross that stream by row boats OF
scows to quell the disorder. Many
bodies of murdered men and womer