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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 18, 1920)
VOL.. XXXIX. PORTLAND OREGON, . SUNDAY, MORNING, JANUARY 18, 1920 NO. v.. Is, ; " '' Y mm 4 vV ftn', . ' . Women Janitors Zsor WSzesi Otters Sleep BT DE WITT HARRY. . I IN RECENTLY olden days of hectic conviviality, dusk seemed to mar:; ' the line of demarcation between the normal and the irregular. With the abolition of the saloon and cafe, as places for. the consumption of gay fluids, a great change was carried out, and people became more sane, tht night owl and bat of yore finding lit tle inducement to essay flights into the tempting void of darkness. Over four years ago this change took place here, and it is now taking place throughout the remainder of the country. After the last of the late theater crowds leave the down town,' districts for the snug comfort of their-homes-Portland's city streets present a scene of desolate lonliness, tt is as a city of the dead. Civilisation Exacts Toll. But not everyone is asleep. Mod ern civilization is exacting and de mands many services. Serenely the average resident goes to - bed, im bued with a feeling of security, knowing, that his sleeping hours will be protected, that the city will be ready for another day of business, and that all of the many little con veniences demanded as the legitimate toll of Twentieth century life will be prepared for him when he awakes, refreshed. Metephorlcally speaking the usual modern grownup lives al most the same existence as he did when a child in his parents' care as bis hours of slumber are well guarded, he has legions of servants preparing for his every need and de mand, and, outside of being tucked into bed and kissed good-night, he leads a literal Sybaritical existence. How different 'from the old pioneer days when every man had to be his own servant! If he wanted cream tor his coffee he had to get up early and milk the cow. His news was Bruited .' about by word of mouth, newspapers were unknown. The good wife was up before the first bird to prepare the meal. He did a good honest day's toil, went to bed early and slept soundly, possibly after reading a chapter from the Bible be fore he said the evening prayers in tead of taking the family to see the newest, antics of some screen come dian or perusing the last thing in scandals from the evening paper. Prophets Lose Honor. Could. a prophet have risen and foretold the present amazing devel opment of civilization he would have Indeed been without honor. The Intricacies of life at the present were undreamed of, and would have" sur passed belief less than a century ago. But it now seems as If there was an other change coming over this great country, of ours. Recent events would indicate that we are getting back to the more normal mode and that fu ture life ' in our rapid country will not be. quite so fast. ..Ten years ago night life, of the furious type, began to Inflict itself on. our larger cities, they -seemingly adopting all " the varied dissipations of the world, with numberless refinements of their own. The period was a marked one and will he . forever notorious for the birth of the cabaret (a la Americane), jazz, unprecedented profligacy, vul gar display, hard drinking, and the resulting -numberless mental and moral wrecks. Indications now seem to be that the nation has forsworn frivolity of such a wracking type and will, to. the future, take its enjoy ment in a saner, manner. . Back,, in short, to the real Amcrl- 9 mm Industry, Comf ort and Protection A re Essential Even WJien Normal People Sleep Ifrs L.H.Bldke: . . Rlizsbetli K. Forrest Mrs. Sophie King. . Fe&2-Zess Women Polzce on fright Duty. ' BTzdgetejider? Regulate ' tl2eAr27rJ&l'err&j. can existence, plus the present . aa- dltional conveniences. . The butterfly that remained ' in his or. her. cocoon during the hours of daylight to dazzle the eye on emerging at: dusk, will flutter by to a lesser and lesser extent. Indeed, : in time, it is pos sible that the species will become as extinct as the dodo. With the passing of this multitude of queerly assorted humans who, in the near past, thrived on the topsy-turvy life of, late eve ning and early morn. It is -becoming a novelty to have one's vocation ne. cessitate remaining . awake , when other more normal humans sleep. , It is doubtful If the present day resident of a large city properly "ap preciates the value of the services that are performed for "him when: he is asleep.. Doubtful if he ever , even gives the matter a thought. He ac cepts, and not too gratefully in many cases, the tangible results, . without troubling himself as to who was. re sponsible. But there is a fair pro portion of the residents of any large center of population who devote the hours of night to toil, that .their fel low men may have the innumerable necessities, that make possible the next day's comfort and toil. In Port land some of the wheels of industry whirl every hour in the 24...... Kight Toilers Sacrifice Comfort, In the clean cool air of early morn these tired workers, who have turned night into day, wend their. way home to get their rest. When the- more fortunate inhabitants of the city are making their way to the theater or searching for amusement, the night worker is just going to work. Often times his toil makes possible the amusement and comfort of his more fortunate neighbor, and in the same sense the laborer, of .' the : dark is barred from much wholesome enjoy ment on account of the nature of his work, and lives a life apart.' . Essential tasks that require .per formance at . night, such as . public safety, are fairly -well understood -by. the majority,, but do they, ever stop' to. consider how large is the army on; duty, at night? The ratio is of course, much larger in a big city than in the smaller towns and in the coun. try.'but almost wherever we may go there will be the night worker. - And. reflect, they-are not all males, these abnormal toilers, for women also has her night drudgery. : ".' . , ' 20,000 KIsht Worker Here. - What of i. commerce, . " police, com munication, mails, the firemen,, your Mrs. Gertrud? fCzi2Ssy. 11 WW? 4 i 'I! ' 1 1 Flour ffzIZei-J Work tAe Clack At-ou. newspaper, manufacturing, . bakeries, the . clean ,' streets, the. lights 'and power,' heat, street cars, janitors, ho tels, the - hospitals, .: druggists,., taxi drivers, . telephone, . telegraph, cooks, ambulances and many more? Night work in most-cases.' And all serving you, making it possible for you to do .a. full, efficient day's work by their, labor of preparation the night before. What , would : we ,. do. had we, now, to revert to conditions, of . even late 19th century times? In- Portland it is estimated that fully 20,600 resi dents toil at night. " ." Every night, while : we , sleep, an efficient force of protectors make it possible for- us to' rest in safety. By no. means are these all men," for on the Portland police . force are five women who come on duty late and re main during the hours, of darkness. These fearless women are ready at all times, to Undertake-their night shift. meaning, as it does, greatly increased hazard. The. guardians "of the peace find that their work after, dusk is much more, dangerous than that ac complished. duringthe hours of day light, and these women share in the added risk. - v ' ' " '!. ' Night work for .the police is often fast and furious. They are more alert. If that be, possible, .as -the : majority of the serious crimes of violence -are committed' under the ' cloak of dark ness. The highwayman,, the yegg, the burglar, the footpad,. the gunman, all ichoose-this perio'd for their operations whenever possible -as they frequently escape . under the merciful cloak of darkness when the ordinary chances would be well against them. For this Teason the police are pre pared for the emergency call at night, the women as well as the men, with this difference, that the women op-j eratives of the protective division, are taking more risks-than are the men. if that can , be credited. Of course the woman operative is not placed on duty for combat . purposes, she Is mainly destined for the protection of her own sex, but in the performance of her manifold duties in this respect, she often takes long chances. Women Police ' Iliiraci. For . instance ' it " is hardly known that the. women police of Portland go out on their duty unarmed. It is a fact', armed, with' no other weapon than the extremely, and proven ef ficient one .of their sex, tact, as de veloped to a high degree by the de mands. of their. spebial work, they venture' forth' and penetrate into some of the ' toughest dives in the city, when in ' line" of duty, and almost every time emerge scathless and with their object accomplished. Motherly, experienced, women, with big .hearts open at air times to the stories told by the unfortunate members ot- ' their sex, .their ".life is dedicated to salva tion.,,. ..: . - " It. is.; within the . department of the women' police to care for the dance halls of ;the':city.! These places are in spected "nightly and in some cases -several -times each night." Efforts of the unscrupulous to. trap the unwary and inexperienced . young girls are usually blocked, i.mainly through po- lice'ef forts. They are always on hand, vigilant, to protect the newcomer who ventures into these places, and, thanks i t0"- he'ir-du'ty.''ably seconded"; by. - the proprietors of the halls, delinquency is at a minimum here. Juveniles ; under 18 are not per mitted to frequent certain places in Portland and .the women police see that these youngsters are kept at home. Enforcement of the curfew law, found so excellent as a prevent ive of youth crime, comes, to a great extent under their supervision, as they guard the young girls from as sociates of the night and act as a great influence for good. And not all of their work is among the young for they are frequently called to go out and handle recalcitrant cases of female crime, ' often taking big chances when they venture, unarmed. into surroundings that would make their male cohorts quail, to accom plish their ends. During the winter months they find that their labors are easier on ac count of park patrols not being neces sary. Since the -armistice and the consequent , demobilization of the large number of troops in this vicinity their work has also lessened. With the expected closing of the outside country dance balls after midnight they expect a further lightening of their tasks, as it has been the fre quent practice for many of the habitues of the. local temples of terpsichore to venture forth after the closing of the city halls to further experience the joys of the dance in the country roadhouses. Womea Police Travel Alone. Arrests ot women, for varied of fenses,' are handled, as far as is pos sible, by the women members of the force.. They, often are called to assist in taking care of insane persons and on the arfest of any woman, she is turned 'over to their tender mercies as soon as she arrives at the city jalL' Hero" they" have ' a " section -of the bastile for their own use and the women prisoners are not even incar cerated on the same floor of the building as are the male offenders. Then these women travel alone on their rounds, not in pairs as do the men. In their long experience in Portland they have never- found a girl that refused to accompany them when requested and their efforts are not bent on making arrests as often as possible, but on preventing them. they preferring to eee the girls, in some place of safety than in a police celL Another" of their tasks is the nightly canvass of the places that em ploy women workers to see that the working conditions are proper. . Gar lg"t Life la Gone. The gay life of the night is almost gone. The searcher after entertain ment who ventures forth after mid night, will likely end up in a police cell or be escorted home. Unauthorized and unexcusable ' loitering' on- Port land's city streets, no matter in what section, is discouraged and usually leads, to dire results. With the closing "of the theaters about 11. P. M. and the closing of the dance halls at mid night,, the crowd that remains on the city streets, is mainly bent on getting home as soon as possible. There is little-incentive for them' to remain out and have a good time, for the good time is not. . , But. there are always," in the down town district, a certain few who, for various reasons., cannot get' home until morning. Take the case of the young fellow who escorts, his sweet heart home, lingers too ' long and misses the last 'car. He has to find some place to 'spend the time until service is resumed in the morning, provided he does not care to start the journey to, say St. Johns,' afoot. There , are a lew restaurants 'that . keep their doors open day and night. The most prominent of these owl-like places is at Broadway and Washington, and here, at pre-dawn hours, will always be found a goodly crew of unfortu nates, for assorted reasons, who are forced to spend part of the morning hours awake and wish to cheer the inner man. All M(k( Movie Popster. The most prominent landmark of night life in Portland, however, is motion picture theater that never closes its doors. This place, right in the heart of the city, reels off the films night and day, and at the dead est time of night as many as 75 pa trons can usually be found in its comfortable interior, the majority of- them, it must be confessed, .bent more on sneaking a tiny nap than in view ing . the show. But along it goes to the accompaniment of harmoniously discordant snores and the manage ment finds that it can well dispense with the services of an orchestra for their unusual performance. In thl3 place, after their hard night's work, go many of the wait resses In the lunch rooms. Here also comes the night-hawk taxi driver and the fellow who desires warmth and comfort During the recent cold snap the house did a record business, as within Its comforting portals was to be found almost the only warm place of early morning Portland's business district. Generally it would not matter a great deal what film was shown, but, strange to say, the management only shows the best class of films. During the period of its activity here the place has been exceptionally free from trouble and the police report very few cases of minors or violations of the curfew law from its vicinity. In the office buildings, that during .(.Concluded on-Page'. 6.).