Newspaper Page Text
THE SUN, SUNDAY, OCTOBER 6, 1912. JOAN OF ARC OF WEST Remarkable War Waged Single Handed by a Young Woman Against the Dive Keepers Who Ran the Town CttlCAOO, Sept. 2S. MISS Virginia Brooks Is Just now the mo.t talked ofwoTian In nil tho region about Chloago. She has come triumphant! through two year fight against ths rraft and corruption of a Ring of poli ticians and tllve keepers who for yoars have been In control at West Hammond, 111. In long and hitter battle, In which fh fought virtually single handed, she jis swept her foes out of power and re placed them by honest and capable offi cial' She has closed the dives and made the little city on the Indiana Una fit to live In, Many persons have heard of Hammond, Ind., but few outside Its immediate violn ity have heard of West Flammond, III, Miss Brooks put West Hammond on the map- She la now called the Joan of Aro ef West Hammond. The title is high sounding, but It la not Inaptly applied to her. She has not made world history, M did the Maid of Orleans, but her fight was great In Its way. It was an eplo of woman's courage. West Hammond was foundod twenty years ago by Oliver n. Brooks. Miss Brooks's father. It is a town of (,000 inhabitants. Of these, 5,000 are Poles and the remainder are mostly foreigners of other nationalities. It adjoins Hammond, Ind,, a thriving city of 20,000 people. Tho two towns merge Into each other. There Is nothing to show that a State line divides them. On one side of a street of pretty cottages it Indiana and on the other Illinois. Wost Hammond Is a town of factories and slaughterhouses, of cottages and modest frame houses whloh are tho homes of working people. Thero aro fow people In the plaoe who do not labor with their hands. Hammond, Ind., has no dives of Its own. Its cleanliness in this respect is due largely to the fact that tho vicious elemont found it good policy to place a State line between itself and Indi ana law. Tho people of the Indiana city 'were powerless to combat dive keepers In Illinois. So West Hammond from the first became tho "red light district of Hammond. In time the dive keepers grow rich and powerful. Thy formed a vice trust, which elected town officials, selected tho chief of police. tlir members of the police fnnv iind JusMcm of the pac: in short owned the town bodv and soul. The l!iiv. did not dare to lnterf"re with the i-i"'! n whom they owed their positions ami their very bread and butter. In con s' tuence the dl'-es were operated in reck I." d sroirnrd of law. Pie West Hammond resorts were com-hi"-itio:i mloons, gamhling houses and dvrs Along th walls of the room in ttliHi the bur wns located wcn all so.;. ef n.iin'ilin? Ramos faro, stud poker, draw po!er. baccarat, banked craps and roulette. All ths games aro slid to have been crooked. Roblwry was of daily occurrence. Either a man was fleeced at the games or a woman picked his pockets. If a man proved difficult to handle bv ordinary methods he was drugged. In n recent Investigation of the dives by the Cook county authorities from Chicago what TO known as a 'death bottle" was found oaths shelves of all tho dives. It is Mid to have contained knockout drops. A man who had been drugged and robbed waa carried out by a rear door and thrown upon the prairie far from the resort In whloh he hd been rendered un OO&sclous. There was a rumor that one f the resorts hid a tunnel leading un derground from'a rear room to the prairie and that this tunnel was used for getting rid of the victims of knockout drops. The rumor was persistent, but the Cook county officers failed to find it. But robbery and white slavery are not the gravest of the charges Miss Brooks made against the dives. She unearthed evidenoe to show that a number of mur ders had been co remitted by tho dlvo keepers and their han'ers on in tho last few years. Miss BrooLs believes that these murders number at leeat twenty. Threo persona died recently after visits to Foss's resort. One of these, John Messmaker. was undoubtedly murdered. Coroner Hoffman at the instigation of Miss Brooks disinterred his body and found enough poison in his viscera to kill a dozen men. A cab driver who had dri von Messmaker about during tho litter's last dobauch was found dead on tho prairie. It Is believed he was quietly removed because he know too much about the Messmaker death. Esther Harrison, an itimato of the rosort, also died undor mysterious circumstances. All these deaths arc lioing invostlgatod. Tho advent of Miss Brooks into this crime riddon community was an accident. Her father died whon sho was a girl, leav ing a comfortable estate to his widow and Miss Brooks, who was his only child. Part of th" ostato consisted of 116 pieces of real estate in West Hammond. Miss Brooks was born and grow up in Chicago. She and her mother lived In an apartment on the Korth Side. Miss Brooks was a favorite in society. Miss lirookn Is pretty. Thero is hardly a suggestion of anything heroio in her ap- poardniii, Who is below medium height, flemlor. p;il'), and so dolicato an to soem almost fragilo. In hor smart tailored 'lithe,, hor tate;it loather boots, immacu late shirt Nv.irit and white gloves she looks the woman of leisure. Tho only hint of the heroine of tho Joan of Aro charaotor is to l found in herHteady, fearloss gray eyes Hie Roman curvo of hornoae and tho deterniinnd, tightly compressed uncom promising mouth. She is IS years old. Tim politicians who ruled West Ham mond wcro growing rich on exorbitant property assessments. They assessed the real estate of Mrs. Brooks and hor daugh ter $100 for every twenty-five front feet. Mrs, Brooks could not afford to par the assessments. It was only a question of time whon the men who were thua Jug Cling with her holdings would cobble them up at forcod sale. It was to fight this unjust taxation that Miss Virginia BrooltB moved to West Hammond. She won her own private light. Then she took up the fight (or the wderaption of the town. She took up her residence in West Ham sond in November, 1810. The two yean at have followed have bean crowded with exciting incident. Here ore some of the thing she has done: She called mats meetings of oitUens and fa flary peeohea showed than how tXey wart being robbed Rhe started a newsnaner in which she denounced the men responsible for con ditions in West Hammond. She placarded the town with posters nnd flooded tho streets with handbills which exposed the highhanded and ills honest methods of tho political gang In power and Its allien, the dlvekeepers. She won her fight for reduced assess ments when Jude John E. Owens of ths County Court of Cook county cut down nest Hammond's street assessments 12(1,000 yearly. She exjiosed a brazenly fraudulent elec tion by which a gan of trloksters pro posed to continue their power and sho forced nnother election. She brought about tin election of a reform tlckot which has given West Hammond honest officials. During tills administration Miss Brooks hss been the power behind the throne. Ths officials take no important step without consulting her. She Is the real political boss of the town. She headed a mob of women which stopped the laying of rotten street pave ment and fought the police when thoy attacked the feminine crusaders with clubs and revolvers. She had n personal encounter with a big policeman who knocked hor down and whose faco she slapped. She was arrested and locked In a cell for flvo hours and was released only when a mob threatened to storm the jail and set her free. She exposed the conditions In the dives. She began a light upon tho weal'hy and Influential men who own the dive buildings, her exposures causing scandal which almost disrupted a fashionable woman's club. She exposed the methods of West Hammond's justices of the peace and had them arrested on charges of graft and malfeasance. She started an Investigation which has laid one murder at tho door of the dive keepers and promise- to bring to light evidence of Severn I more. Sho has closed tho dives. She has aroused a puhlic sentiment In West Hammond that bids fair to keep the town clean. When you set fool In West Hammond you feel the atmosphere of battle. Thero is an Indefinable something abroad that suzgests a field recently swept by hostile fire: It is as if the smoke of guniowder still hung in the air. You pass the famous dives they are closed, the blinds are drawn. Knt men, red faced, henvy jnwled, blear eyed, with loud clothes and heavy watchchains and a general air of sinister prosperity, stand in front and glare at you as you pass These oro.the men that Miss Brooks lias ln fighting. They aro ugly looking customers, these men, and you feel that to fight them would be a man size job, requiring a real man's courage and hardihood. In other parts of town you notice groups of men and women on the corners. The men are In overalls. The women are in calico and ginghams with black shawls over their heads. With oarneat, serious faces, they ore discussing clvio problems for tho betterment of the town. The women are as deeply interested in these things as the mon. Theso groups aro a visible expression of the now spirit of West Hammond born of Miss Brooks's crusade. In tho midst of a district of cottages inhabited by Polish laborers stands neat, white cottage with a porch in front of it and a littlo front yard bright with flowers. This is tho horns of West Ham mond's Joan or Aro, A knock brings Mrs. Brooks to tho door. In tills tall, spare woman, with snow white hair, you see just whore Miss Virginia got her fight ing qualities. You feel suro at ft glanca that Mrs. Brooks possesses fearlcss noss and strength of character. It is o protty littlo homo inside, with pictures on tho wall, a piano, n woll filled library and a general air of old fashioned homfnem and contort. Thero la nothlnc to suggest that this littlo cot tage Is the citadel of tho reform forces 1 from which tho est Hammond war has been directed. Geraniums bloom in tho yard. Morning glories twining about tho pillars of tho porch shako tholr gor geous bells In a gentle breeze, Peaceful, yes. But if you listen a while to Mrs. Brooks you will realize that all is not so peaooful an It seems. "This ngnt, says wie wrute nairea mother, "has given us two women living hero alone somo exciting times. Many a night Virginia and I have taken turns at sleeping while the other stood watch to guard against assassination. Wo newr dare sit at night by a window with tho shutters open. Our enemies might shoot us. We do not sit at a window oven with the curtains down lest our enemies shoot at our shadows on the bonds. "We hare no Illusions regarding the men we have been fighting. Thoy are despejate and unscrupulous. It has been no child's play, this fight to take from these vicious men their source of wealth. Vlrsinla has been their worst enemy. They hate her with a cordiality that abet wins mpeet. They would kill her if tltr couM, if thW.dard. .MHitiiHii. lia v uir mam v lair.oini, sf ai him; rsv, hiito ware nswa-1 1 nearo in ennsnq, Ana sinco men ivoirui. Ana im not worrying nuoui yrnm i i . ; :i.. . n sjib much as her death. They have hired bravos who would do the Job for a pit tance If they could poniard or shoot her secretly. Only their fear of the gallows has prevented it so far "Our guns are nlwavs loaded. We keep two Winchester rlfl nnd several revolvers in tho house and both Virginia and I know how to shoot. If our enemies over get us we shnll do our best to take some of them with us. "We aro not afraid. Twice a week Virginia makes it her custom to walk slowly past tho dives for no reason in tho world except to show tho dlvekeepers she does not fear them. And as she walks by, those fat, bloated old spiders of Ini quity follow her with oyos of venomous hatred." EXPLORATION ny xi:w ZEAi,A?mnH. I, too, have suffered. But not as an American. We Now Zealandera have at Intervals to put up with English criti cisms voiced In drawing rooms or In newspaper columns conccrnlne our awful accent, so offensive to the sensitiveness of the superior English ear. I had heard so much about It, Indeed, that when I arranged to spend some months In England, on my way to tho Columbia University, I determined to ex plora the English voice. From the very outset I was warned aealnat America. The Idea of a colonial travelling half way round the world to pass by the safe, set tled and hoary traditions of British uni versities for the unknown pitfalls of an American one fairly kidnapped ths last remaining British breath! And the final exclamation hurled at ms was Invariably : But you'll get the awful American voice." That was meant to b unanswerable. But It wasn't. It remained to ms to some what ruffle the self-satlsfled opinions of those very estimable peonje concerning their great asset. For I left England wondering what on earth the English voles was, and where abouts In England people spoke English. I saw In the north, at bank holiday time, tens of thousands of English men and women who apeak nothing but dialects; I heard cockney In almost every street In Lon don; I heard In ths West End well bred affectation tones produced, ss It were, around a substantial marble wabbling In ths region of ths tonsils; I heard languid drawls, simpers, high pitched stiver bell lisps; X heard terminal aws and clipped gs and feeble h's; but rarely did I hear what I should call just a fine, clear In teresting voice speaking good plain Eng lish. Do the university nurtured sneak ltT Well, two, of the people most alarmed tor. sw satotr la msrlea were Nswi Imss trVs C. krUllaat srrfassMt Viwt HAMMOND WINS HER Just here Miss Virginia comes Into the little parlor. 8he has on a houso gown and an apron. Hor faoe Is flushed from tho kitchen fire. Joan of Aro has boon cooking frying ham, you suspoot. from tho savory smell. Sho looks very dainty and feminine and gontlo as sho sinks Into a rocking chair. "My fight In Wost Hammond, says Miss Brooks, "began selfishly and grow and broadened as it went on Into a light for tho redemption of the town. When mother nnd I wem living quietly Iti Chi cago tho postman one day brought tit au armful of, null. Mother glanced it CotP-y Horns of WsvsB H--mTrOT3cl OF THE ENGLISH ACCENT their voices were so suggestive of a mouthful of marble that 1 had to strain my conccntratlvo powers to follow them at all : and their affectation wuj so pain ful that 1 could only look at them In sorry wonder, with Inward gasps at their absuidlty. Then In my experience as a teacher In New Zealand public schools some years ago I frenucntly mot Imported English university educated Inspectois who wore! quite unintelligible. Also In otir colonml parliaments nave oiicn ieii . -....'. . ' .. '..''.. . ' . lirmsn univejsiiy men iisuaiiy ' '- Hftciiito, He clips hie final syllables, and his utter- j unco Is so thlcK that us inmost nccus an Interpreter. Further, not so long ago the cultured university man and actor, H. B. Irving, visited New Zealand, whero he was se verely taken to task, humorously enough, by on American, the editor of the Triail, for his extraordinary mouthing, his ex aggerated drawl and his Inexcusable mispronunciation, "me murther" (my mother) being a fair sample of Ids llngulstlo gymnastics. If I remember rightly Mr. Irving also halls from Ox ford, ths most lauded culture area In the world. So, now, what are we poor benighted outsiders to do about It? Haw are we to know what English Is, and who speaks It? And won't England, for the en lightenment of the world In general and English speaking countries In particular, send some sample voice producers abroad to ahow us how It's done, and what we are expected to Imitate? The truth about accent Is thst nobody should have un accent at all. We should have just plain voices, clear, well modu lated, rich In quality, nnd low pitched In tone. I don't doubt that thero are a sreat many people In England with Just such voices. And I'm equally certain that there are Just as many In America. As a matter of fact, tho very first person to greet me In Columbia University was nn American woman with a voice much more fascinating, clear and musical than any X heard In England. And since then I've Met other Americans who can speak In . ,, V . i ' . ti I ban does the other his tumid a. What can dation und using brittle and no account ? u' r wrxei? .irwaiTr.;;.!,-! i tHLpv? n r lunMv tot latlvo Assembly, nn Oxford man. has a I t?rt j. 1 1"), Jm-" pio t u i m "vci y terminal s,0f thB work'b,lt IaU- lh,o contract voice that Is the despair of reporters. TV'M u- '"ul" ,u'" tVe t rn""a' . was valid nnd tho contractor Insisted on through. It was notifications of assets- nionts due on our rather largo holdings of real estate in West Hammond. "'Dear mo, child,' said mother wearily, 'the assessments will foot up 20,000 In a fow yoars. It Is outragootis, but I see no remedy. Our property Is bringing in nothing. Wo can't afford such taxes. Wo shall have to lot our real cstato go. We can't hold It any longer.' "I had never paid muchattontlon to our West Hammond realty. I was busy with my hoclal affairs. This mado mo sit up and take notice. "Our property waa valuable. It would become largely moro valuable in timo. I did not pro(oso to loso it. I knew thero was something wrong in a systom of taxation that would rob ils of it. Bight nay tlut adds to the pleasutc or llv - Ins. Certainly thrie Ik nu American hc - tvnt. nut 1. for one. fnll i- rnn tint Jt' other side of the w.- pond. And nnywa. who's to decide .-.hetiier one .ountr s accent Is any better than annthci'x? An for pronunciation, It la simply a lll.ilirr 01 ceniurj , uniM'lsny rai-rur uo lifaKc. It Is h ililin; filt" npuit Itoni tonu quality. What in ittcr If tho Annul can docs say clcil: unpad of clarli, to- mayto In hIphi! nr toiiutn. lie may pro I limj,lr0 ,, p M1U1, , f,ir m01 pleasing i way than tho l:m:lif!ini:m does hi u ,,. ,lU t,.,r, f.,r mmc delightfully , Of all the affectations I've ever known I think that attached to the English voice 1h nlis-olutely tho most ridiculous and the least excusable. To mn It's u Blgn of tiientHl degrnrrnry. My two Newnlum nd vlsris had It badly. If they wero fair samples of what a t-mart modern Intel lci'tual KiudlMi women's college can turn nut. then I'm more than ever thankful that I set nut for America. If you want to poo their duplicate go and study funny In Bernard Bhnw's last published piny. And then I'm not afraid of tho Ameri can lamtuage either. Jf It's to be a choice between two evils I think I prefer your brand of tdang. It seems to mo to better Justify Its existence man does tho Ene;. llsh variety. Consider, for Instance, the elegant phrase "You knock mo putrld," Of course I don't accuse the Oxford man of this sort of thing. But ho says "Eh. what I" and "Don't cher know" where they don't seem useful, and otherwise has a language all his own. Last year I read Hit article hy a dis gusted purist In tho Loudon .Veu Aae giving a list of oxpievsloiis cm rent nt the hlstoilc sent of teaming, am! If memory serves me well most of them were Just nauseating ftlhlwrUh. American slang, on the other hand, whatever dsn It may or may nut be, Is certahil a vlrllu growth, exprcsslvn and hutnototin. And for my putt 1 find most of It ultogcthor delight ful. But then of cniiise I'm one of tho heathen. But I keep wonderfully cheer ful. And I'm not worrying about what's going to happen to me In America. Disreputable Resorts Closed, Honest Men in Office and Lower Taxes After Two Years Battle Against Graft then I made up my mind to fight. I was a woman and I never had fought any rort of fight before, but I felt that If I wont about it in the right way I shotUd find Justice In tho end. "'Mothor.,' I said, 'we will move to West Hammond to-morrow.' "And wo did. Wo rented a cottage in tho heart of the Polish district. Our neighbors on all sides woro poor Polish working people. We determined to throw In our lot with them, to live as I they live, to become one with them. They had tho same grievances as oursolves nnd I determined to fight not only for ourselves but for them. "The first week I was In town I called a mam meeting of citizens to see what could bo done about nsM-samonts. Tills nrousod public sentiment against tho gang of politicians who woro robbing tho people. It bore Its fruit In practical results Inter, but not then. ".Soon after I Ind conn to Wet Ham mond nn election was held upon tho prop osition to make tho town a city. Tin politicians wanted to turn It into a city. They hoped in this way to acquiro groator lowor nnd to continue It indoflnilolv. "I hiw that tho IvilioN woro fraudulent. They wore so printed tint 'Vns' was after ho proposition to ch-ingo tho town Into a city and 'No' after tho proposition to retain the town form of government. No matter which w.iv one votod it wis n ! voto for tho change. It reminded mo of to.s,ing a penny, 'Heads I win, tails you lose.' "I look tho ballots beforo Justice Green, the Katno Magistrate whom l aftorwurd had arrested on a nnlfoisinco chirgj, nnd ho declared sagely tint the ballots worn probably not oxactly logal under tho statutes, but wero perfectly so undor the Torrcns system. Of courso the politi cians won tho election; thero was no way for thorn to loso. But I had tho result declared null and void nnd another elec tion held. "This time the town was turned into a city, but by logal votes. I was not opposed to this. In a subsequent elec- i- wl n town oi lianpy Homes lion or city officers, tho reform crowl. ' free from mortgages. I hi in tho one heided by myaeir. won. Our candidate r'",1" f W flGht that fills me will, great took office and havo lieon at the head of "s' '"v- affairs ever xlnco. Wo succeeded on V recently, however, in getting rid of a hostilo chief of police. "In the first fow weeks or my Wost Hammond residence I !gan tho publlc-i-. tion of tho West Hammond ScarehUght. a small newspaper. It certainly wa all that its name implied. No dark corners or graft, vies, or dishonesty escaped. I ....m.i ... .i,. ,,i i n,.. I let tho people know just who waa rob- blng them "I exposed the grafters who were grow ing rich upon exorbitant taxes and assess ments nnd navlnrf none themselves. I told just what the dives were doing. 1 eavo tho names of girls imported from Chicago nnd sold into white Blavery. t told what men had been drugged and robbed In tho dives. I pet forth the evl- donee to bolster strong suspicions of j numerous murders. I denounced the Justices or the peace ns grafters unfit to hold office In a decent community. "I exposed tho men who owned the buildings in which t lie dives wcro operated. Yes, indeed, my littlo pnper was a wire t enough searchlight and while it listed u I Was tho most excitinc thine In the wny of i n I1PWBPaper Wost llnmrnowl ovor knew. 1 ' tnink tl,orf' nevcr w"s nnythinR ej.actly like it anywhere, hvcry issuo shook the town to Its foundations like a cyclone. n mlui ft lot or enemies, but itinaJo moro frl.nf!R "When work upon the street paving contract was resumed I determined to stop it. Tim contractor was laying tho pavement with poor materials, throwing in broken bottles und rubbish ror a foun- going nlicad. "Kinally In desperation t collected a band of women nn determined as myself and wo decided to take matters into our own hands. With sevonteen women in my army I descended upon tho scene whero the pavement was being laid Wo swooped upon tho astonished laborers nnd tore up tho bricks as fast as they put them In place. Then we formed a line across the stroot and stopped further work by force. "The chief of polloe arrived and ordered us away. Wo Jeered at him. Then he ordored out the entire polico force to dis perse us. Tho policemen charged upon us drawn up in line of battlo with clubs and drawn revolvers, Thoy beat the women over tho shoulders with their chilis. "Policeman John OkraJ, a big, burly fellow, struck ino nnd knocked me down. I Jumped up and in my fury, hardly know ing what I was doing, I struck him In the faoo. Til llx you,' I streamed. 'Yes,' ho answered, 'and I'll fix you.' "Ho caught mo by tlm wrists and dragsod ma off throui;!i an alluy to Jail, Ho did not dare take mo through a atreat for fear d mob would attaok him, and re lease me. At the Jail I was thrown luto a dark, foulpell. My enemies -caaM, FIGHT leered and Jeered at me. They showed their delight at seeing me behind bars. "I sent word to my lawyer and no c-.ots and offered bond for my roloase. -ut It was nccessa ry f or him to gi vo bond bi, or o a Justice of tho peaoo. Justlco Oreen, who hated me, being the only available Magistrate, quietly stepped across the State line into Indiana and stood there In plain sight In smiling contempt of my lawyer's efforts to ball me out. "Then a mob began to gather In front of the Jail and to clamor for my release. It was composed of my friends, the Poles, who had come to regard mo as a sort of heroine and their liberator. Thoy were mad all tho way through and for n timo the situation scorned nerlous. "The authorities realized that unless thoy released mo the mob would break Info iho jail. So Justice Oreen stepped back across the State lino and admitted mo to bail. I had been in a oell five hours "I was later taken beforo my old friend Justice Green on n charge of restating an officer and inciting a riot. The con stable summoned a jury cofjaposed of hangers on aliout tho dives and sworn liegemen of my enemies. My trial was n farce. Of court-", 1 was convicted. However, after the cose had been car lied to tho criminal eoitri in Chicago tho tov.n officials decided it was good polly to drop it and did not appear against mo. "After the rint I carried my fight ngnlnst unjust assessments beforo Judge John V.. Owens in tho county court and he reduced tin; street assessments of West Hammond ;o.o.Ti n year. I look uxn Iudo Owens as tho first man to bring I.tw to West Hammond. His decision has given the hard pressed property owners a breathing spell. "Almost every home In the town is mortgaged up to the hilt. Under the (d.l nfsessmcnts there was little hope that tho mortgage ever would bo lifted. The householders staggerul through life under a load of debt. Now they nvi paying off their mortgages. In a few -nnrcsi. uKm nas ueeii acHins- dives. The dives came to V.Vjt 11am- nl""(1 wcause nunc enves nun- ris of home, in West Hammond have uTered actual want. Ives have gone rrly tla.l alid destitute, cuplard:. have . '?pn, ,,aro and children have gun., hungry, Workmen, every cent of whoso wages ' wnfl fr families t hoine. have i squandered their weyk V wages i't a Saturday night in the! pl-v ph. "I believe that at least twenty murders havo been committed by the dlvekeepers or their bravos, Crimo may never be proved in tho majority or the,o cas?i. 1 ,)llt l l":,i't tm,t H"" Persons havo dM I ' "0 f'v wti-r suspicious Wrcuin- ! "tances. o havo airoidy proved murdr killed H I'oaVs resort. J witli impunity and with n reckness dis regard or consequences tint is astonish ing. 1 he reason of this i- that the (11 vo keepers have controlled the polico ami I have been given absolute protection. "It Is tinpleuwit to speak of, but th j actual py.M'l effect of the" dives, which have boon i'l tho town for twenty years, lean be cen in the defonnltiej of chil Idrcn, inherited iralaiiei and suffering in many hornet. II ever there was mi eloquent .vul convincing argument for woman (tufTr.-.Te it 13 tlie.se ilivej. U tin women of W..,t Hammond bad bad the right to voto these festering plasuo spoU would have been wijied out long ro. "I begr.n my active enmpaien ngxinst the dives the (irst of the ptvssnt year I went into it fully realizing the dlf llctiltie.s with which I had to deal, the hopelessness almcHt of tho crusade Tlie;t dh eliHeiwrs wero the wealthiest men in town. They were political poweri accustomed to dictr.'e the Mayor, the chief of police mid members of the polio fi'rco. They hud lieen the real bosses or WW Hammond for years. 1 knew tho light rqain.-.t thin junta of criminal men entrenched hi their immemorial privi lece of craft and rubbeiy would Itolong and bitter. "I called mass meetings, I placarded tho town with posters warning the dive- ktt'i eru to leave town or they would lie driven out by outraged citizens. I served notice upon tho Aldermen tha', unle-.n they closed thn (liven the voter! would close their political careers at thn net election. This last movo had Its eftect. "When tho question of revoking the licenses of the dives came up In Council there wai a deadlock. 1'our Aldermen voted for the dives and four against them. Mayor Wosczyznski my Mayor, tho Mayor of tho reformer.! e.vt the deciding vote and tho licenses wore re voked "In tho meantime I hive adopted othsr tactics - a sort of flank imvonent, as it wcro. I hive deel irod war upan tin owners of tho buildings. I aroused a regular tempest not long ntn dt a unotin of tho Hammond Woman's Club, Ixtfors which I was invitod to ctm't, when I n; nounced that tho liiisbmd of one of tfi! chili's most prominent innmlws was t'n owner of ono of tho divo bulldintji. Ti women of the club grow quite indl-jn mt. Thoy deminded tint l n-invi tho wiitivi I referred to nnd I did it frankly und un hesitatingly and offered imlhp.it ibb profit taken from thj comity reoordi My exposure procipitvitod a foud iimo:it tho women which almost disrupted thi club. "I had the names of tho mon who owned tho dlvo buildings published on posters about Wost nammond. With others of tho reform element I called upon the owners and made them n proposition that If they would oust tho dives we would fill tho buildings with desirable busmen tenants. They declined. Now wo havo Bet about ousting thodivos by legal proc ess. "It has been a long and desperate fight," Miss Brooks eonoluded, "but victory Is now nssurod. West Hammond has been cleaned up, physlcilly, politi cally nnd morally, U has been the most thorough houso oloanlug any town ever had, and no town over needed it more urgently. If my flglit his done nothing else it lias aw.iUonod Iho oonscloaee of the community and aroused a publlo senti ment aud tt publlo spirit whloh will keep Um tow clean for ail Ume to coma," my sssk, Ato'to , v ivi-i'hasTirw SWUISl pWMl JHIMnn rlT xauirsai V mm salt smsr aawncuu woo can mi going to neppen lo ms in America. iuwt isjm. . -v dHI1 asrWV.r.H:i!:a.tti;j . . , ,, , . ..... , .-A. -:sU