Vice and the Waterfront: A Business Scandal on A Street

Investigation proves that the steamboat men alone are not responsible for the failure of the city dock and warehouse to fulfill the expectations of its promoters. It was supposed that the new enterprise would prove a wonderful benefit to the shippers, commission dealers, and business men in general. So far, it is said to have failed utterly in its purpose. Although the commission men will not talk of the matter, a report has gained wide circulation that the real cause of the trouble is found in the disreputable characters who make their headquarters at the resorts in that vicinity. The only way by which the city wharf may be reached passes close to Sandberg's Globe Hotel, and it is not an unusual thing for people going to the wharf to be accosted by the habitues of the place. As a majority of the passengers on these boats are women and children, the owners and captains do not care to take the chance of losing the passenger traffic by making their headquarters in a disreputable neighborhood. What will make the neighborhood a still greater menace is the alleged intention of Sandberg to compel the disreputable characters on lower C Street and other parts of the city to move to his place. In preparation for the increased addition to the colony, work has been commenced on the excavation preparatory to transforming the recently acquired West Coast Wagon Company's property into a habitation for disreputable characters. The basement is to be fitted up for gambling rooms.