Sentence:  "Closed Dance Halls or Taxi-Dances": These are the famous "taxi" dances as they are called in some cities, supposedly dancing schools where men patrons alone are admitted, paying ten cents a dance, a part of which goes to the girl employed by the management. [...] [W]e have made exhaustive reports on these centers of recreation and have come to the conclusion that for the most part they should not exist. Men go to them who are not accepted in our well supervised ballrooms, foreign groups <WSD>patronize</WSD> them which are not accepted in public ball rooms, and many men <WSD>patronize</WSD> them with the idea that the girls are there for the purpose of prostitution. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  (Customer) To make oneself a customer of a business, especially a regular customer.