Douglas Island news., 1919-01-24
OPERA HOUSE
 SOLD FOR DEBT
CContlnuod from page 1j

prcssionlcss face. Many men never
 got beyond this table on pay night
 but blew in their months wages
 and went back to work to do thc same thing over again.
 The other tables had their de- voices also. and their dealers, the latter ultivating an unconccrned manner and a8 rule sporting dia- mond rings and pins. The invariublc
 mark of the professional gambler was his diamonds, white shirt worn without his coat while working at his trade. black satin slccvelots, and green shade over his eyes.
 Many modest fortunes were won and lost over the tables and Che money paid for the place the other day would not represent anything near the amount given Co a dealer of one game to start his evenings play.
 From the front bar room there was a wide door leading Co the thea Ire and dance hall in the rear. and here on a busy night things would be happening with a swing IT it was pay-night there would be no performance perhaps, as everyone was too busy Co look at it. The music would be playing a "rag" and the floor would be crowded with dancers. Tho girls mostly dressed in decidedly dccollcttc costumes that came down low from the top and were cut short at tho bottom. Their faces were painted and powdered Co give on idea Of extreme youth, as chickens" were always in demand. When not dancing, the girls usually had Hive one" in one of the boxes where she was busily engaged in punching button on the wall that summoned waiter Co take orders which were usually "One on two" meaning a bottle of beer and two glasses. For this bottle the Hive one" paid dollar and the girl got 4O-cent percentage check On an unusually good night some "pay day millionaire" would be buying sine at five dollars a bottle and the pop of the champagne corks could be heard over an the rest Of the noise
 Fights were frequent and were not exactly discouraged. People just got out of the way, the trombone player from the orchestra got up on the stage and played "A Hot Time in old Town Tonight" and the bat tiers fought lt out on thc dance hall floor Sometimes che fights wcrc through Jealousy over the smiles of one of the painted women and other times just plain fighting whisky was the cause.
 It was after the crowd was gone, in Che gray hours Of Che morning. that the "dancc-hall gladiators' came to life and they and their flight O loves" started in on their rounds. The girls, with their stockings weighted down with money. and their very best friends with them, started bucking the games, drinking and dancing for amusement. As a rule, the money they made during the night was spent before they sought rest on their pitching and tossing beds. AL though money was made hand over fist it was spent just ag fast os it was made and very few of tho peo- . pie ever saved anything.
 The Opera House continued its popularity until a dozen years ago when the moral wave struck Alaska and gambling stopped. Soon after that women were prohibited from en- tcriug places where liquor was sold, and from then the fortunes of the rlace began Co decline until when prohibition came the place was left without tenant. deserted and run down. It's career reminds us of Che ! lives of the women whose lives were ! linked with it-fast and furious for few years, indulging in every ex- cess imaginable, paint on their cheeks and a brave array of clothes and a lighthcartodnegs that was only
 pretense. Finally came the day
 when. their youth and beauty gone,
 they were deserted by those fair
 weather friends and were left as derelicts on the great sea of life
 Such was also the history of tho Op-
 era House, and it stands now old
 before its time, weather stained and
 blcary-eyed and peopled by the
 ghosts of "Bronk,' the "Slavonian Queen" "In and Out Kid" "Ln,'
 Graveyard Twins" and an other
 departed ones whose laughter once
 echoed within It's walls. Gone is the rattle of the chips, the clink of
 the ice in the glass and tho thumT
 of the piano and in its place is mus.
 tincss and dcsolation-an now it ii
 sold to the highest bidder for a mc-C
 "pikor's bet" of few paltry pieces
 of silver.
 ,rt,o ,,,,,t rricos ot Ancborar,