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Page 124 EARLY SOCIAL
CONDITIONS
landlords had secured a lawless citizen to whom they paid $10.00 and
gave his crowd all the whisky they wanted to drink to run Jones out
of town. When Jones was confronted with this mob he ran upstairs
into Lawyer Magee's office. Shortly after, Magee came down and told
the mob that Jones must have an opportunity to get away and it was
agreed that he should have 200 feet of a start. The distance was
stepped off and when Magee called "go," the leader of the mob
commenced to howl more vociferously than an Indian war whoop. Jones
went, and up to date he has not returned.
One afternoon two women went to a lawyer's office, now
No. 5 North Brady Street. Below the windows on the second floor of
this building, where this office was located, was a wood awning
extending over the sidewalk. These women engaged in a drunken orgy,
and came out on this awning about two o'clock p. m. dressed in their
"September Morn" costumes, and gave a Can Can dance.
Parties galore were held throughout the community,
usually ending in a drunken fight or brawl of some kind. On the
corner of East Scribner Avenue and North Brady Street a two story
building had been erected and the second floor was used for a dance
hail. This dance hall was open every night except Sunday. The St.
Cloud Hotel was next door to this building. A stairway ran from the
dance hall down to the rear of the bar room where there were some
private drinking rooms, and doors opened into this dance hall from
the bedrooms on the second floor of the hotel.
A man came to town stating that he had heard of this
place and went to visit it. He said that he had been in about
fifteen minutes when two shots were fired and four or five knives
were drawn and a general brawl was started. He concluded that he had
no business there and left.
This condition existed at the time of the organization
of the Borough, and the earlier borough officers had to struggle
with this class of people. At a council meeting a delegation of
citizens came to ask the Council to prevent the lewd women (the name
used in the minutes of Council was more blunt) from walking three
abreast along the sidewalks, crowding the respectable people off the
walk. They also requested that these women be driven out of town. As
a result of this the Burgess had several of the houses "pulled." At
the hearing there were a number of women and some men present. At
the close of the hearing the "Madam" promptly paid all the fines,
and then turned to the Burgess and said, "Mr. Ross, the next time
you need money, send us word and we will send it down. It is
unpleasant to have our gentlemen friends annoyed in this way." Then
she turned to the crowd and said "Gentlemen, come up to the house
and help us open a case of wine to help pay these fines." Liquor was
sold in these places as freely as in a bar room.
One night a newly elected Justice of the Peace was
going up West Long Avenue, heard the noise from a dance going on in
the bar room
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