the Coney Island of the city, at Ocean Beach, can only be reached 

 by payment of 25c for the round trip, a rather prohibitive price 

 for a considerable number of amusement seekers. 



Saloons 



San Diego has 55 saloons, or one for every 1400 inhabitants. 

 This ratio upholds the reputation of Southern California as a 

 comparatively "dry" section of the state. It is stated on good 

 authority that the laws prohibiting serving liquor to minors or 

 allowing them to remain in saloons are strictly enforced. No 

 liquor is served at the few public dance halls in the city, and 

 no saloons are run directly in connection with the dance halls. 

 Howeve'r, at one dance hall at least, return checks are given at 

 the door and an opportunity is thus offered patrons to frequent 

 saloons in the neighborhood between dances. One public dance 

 hall at least, is under suspicion as the resort of prostitutes. 

 Minors under 16 are forbidden by ordinance to remain in pool 

 and billiard rooms unaccompanied by parents or guardians. Boys 

 and young men frequent these places and the attendance is par- 

 ticularly heavy on Sunday afternoons. The influence of such 

 places is bad. 



Movies 



Regulation of moving picture shows is a question of special im- 

 portance both because of the low price of admission, and their 

 popularity v\'ith children as well as adults. The city has at pres- 

 ent a total of 17 "movies" with a seating capacity of about 8800. 

 There is no public censorship board, such as those in operation 

 in the larger cities of the country, to exclude vulgar or vicious 

 pictures. The only remedy at present is police interference on 

 complaint of citizens. This has not been found satisfactory in 

 other cities. There is no ordinance as in other cities prohibiting 

 the attendance of a minor under a certain age unaccompanied by 

 a parent or guardian. Safety protection for patrons at moving 

 picture shows is looked after by the building department. Cer- 

 tain conditions, however, exist which are not altogether satis- 

 factory. For example, in one picture house, there is a wooden 

 wall betvfc^een the auditorium and the adjoining building which is 

 used as a place of emergency exit. This is apparently in viola- 

 tion of the law. Another picture house has had an emergency 

 exit opening into the kitchen of a dairy lunch — not an ideal ar- 

 rangement. Additional instances of undue carelessness in the 

 matter of fire protection could be cited. The operators' booths 

 need close inspection, both to provide healthful work conditions 

 for the machine operators, and to guard against the not infre- 

 quent fires which catch from the films. Picture houses should 

 not be kept in comparative darkness. The pictures are improved 

 if presented in a fairly well lighted room, and improper conduct 

 on the part of men patrons toward women and girls is thus pre- 

 ■yented. 



The need for additional public recreational facilities in the 

 city is immediate and pressing. Such facilities are required for 



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