Sentence:  They lodged men and women on the same floor; and with the night there began a <WSD>saturnalia</WSD> of debauchery—scenes such as never before had been witnessed in America. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  A period or occasion of general license, in which the passions or vices have riotous indulgence; a period of unrestrained revelry.