Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 124, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 May 1915 — San Francisco Visitors Ask About Barbary Coast [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

San Francisco Visitors Ask About Barbary Coast

SAN FRANCISCO. —“Oh, officer, where did it come from? I mean the name ‘Barbary Coast* ” Just ask that question of the first policeman you meet and then watch him squirm and “stall,” for every policeman is asking

the same thing of every other policenaan, and of some persons who are not Now, the “Barbary Coast” as a name for that section suggestive of red lights and French restaurants, dance halls and Chinese orchestras, has long passed unquestioned with us by reason of long usage. Not so, however, with tourists and others here to see the exposition, and all that goes with It They mean to have its derivation, its history and

the reason why—therefore, they pick on policemen. And anything a policeman doesn’t know, he answers anyway with, “Yes, m'am; two blocks up and turn to your right” But tourists are insistent and so policemen are trying to solve the riddle of "Barbary Coast.” “Well, now, ril tell you, ma'am,” explained one' harassed bluecoat to a determined little woman from the middle W r est. "I think it comes from a barber shop.” “Why, are there many barbers there?” “No, ma'am, but they do say you're liable to get 'trimmed' if you go there.” And while a lot of similar explanations are being dispensed by our guardians of the peace, those who know, or claim to, say that “Barbary Coast” was saddled on San Francisco’s tenderloin by seafaring men who likened it to the real Barbary coast of Africa, recognised as the haunt of pirates and a tough place in general. If anyone has a better explanation to offer, please tell it to a policeman, for he wants to know.