The sale of wine and beer plays an important part in the prosperity of the parlor house. Deprived of this adjunct, business falls off to an alarming extent. There is no difference of opinion among owners and madames as to the importance of the sale of intoxicating liquors. Especially is this true in the five-, ten-, and twenty-dollar houses, frequented by a more pretentious type of customer. In such places a small bottle of wine is sold for five dollars. A "round of drinks," namely, a pint of beer served in very small glasses, brings two dollars. Very little wine or beer is sold in the one- or two-dollar parlor houses in New York City at the present time. In the more exclusive parlor houses "circuses" or "shows" are also given by way of stimulating business. These exhibitions are too vulgar and degrading to be described. Suffice it to say that men have been known to spend fifty and seventy-five dollars for such exhibitions. So also, obscene books, photographs, etc., are sold or exhibited. One more fact must be emphasized in connection with business management: alcohol is needed to keep the inmates to their task; but even more essential from the business standpoint are drugs. The girl must be kept gay and attractive; her eyes must look out upon the world of business bright and unfaltering. She must smile and laugh and sing and dance, or she becomes a "has been," a "poor money maker," and so in danger of losing her "job." Is it any wonder that she becomes a drug fiend as well as a drunkard? In the preceding account I have aimed to give certain general characteristics of the parlor house. By way of making the picture somewhat more vivid I shall briefly describe a few houses of each of the three types with which the account deals, namely, the fifty-cent house, the dollar house, the five-and ten-dollar house. A well known place in Worth Street[18] is a fair sample of the cheapest establishment,--a frame building, four stories in height. The investigator who entered at 4.30 P. M., April 12, 1912, picked his way through a basement where a cobbler sat at his work. After climbing two flights of stairs he found himself in a large, loft-like room formerly used for manufacturing purposes. The rooms where prostitution is carried on are partitioned off by means of curtains. The only furniture in the receiving "parlor" are old leather couches and chairs. The curtains over the windows are of dark, heavy material, almost shutting out the light and air. The entire interior is in a condition of decay, a fit setting for the use to which it is put. Three of the five inmates were present, scantily dressed and all claiming to possess health certificates, issued by the house doctor.