them burned into him until he suffered from their presence. The life of the workingman's family in congested tenements had already become one of these disturb- ing pictures when, in 1899, the rumor came to his ears of a still darker peril for these crowded tenants. It was more than the peril for the tenement child upon the street. It was the workingman's house turned to the uses of prostitution. He had only the current views about the evils of intemperance until the spectre met him on his own railroad. He saw how the saloon followed the men. As the centres of work and construction shifted from point to point he saw the liquor-seller and his bar en- trenched almost before the men were on the spot. He watched the men pour in and out of these haunts and was at first chiefly concerned with their money losses. As he inspects these places along the road, he sees for the first time what a variety of wants the saloon supplies; some of them most indispensable and legitimate. If it satisfies the thirst for strong drink; if it turns the sport instinct into the habits of the gambler; if, in the larger towns, the saloon is the natural home of the criminal and an annex to the brothel, it is also the one really attractive resting- place for a large proportion of workingmen in their leisure and off-time. It is the one place to satisfy the commonest cravings of average men with few resources. It is often the cheapest place for a bit of -91- |