"It is remarkable that the authorities of Oakland seem to regard this crib slavery of young girls as part of the legitimate business of the city." Of a third city he says: "There is a district in ----, covering five blocks--a crib district--where the floating population gathers by the hundreds. The girls here number from 100 to 600. "One other similar section of ---- is owned by some very prominent and wealthy citizens, who pay taxes on the property. Their names are known. In the suburbs is a field containing the nameless graves of 451 unknown girls." Many cases are on record of the attempts of missionary workers, some successful and some unsuccessful, to snatch these victims from their owners. One missionary told of an instance where she had been informed that one of five girls confined in a certain room in a house of ill-repute desired to escape. With the help of an honest policeman and two assistants the missionary forced her way into the room. When she found the five girls she was at a loss to determine what to do, because she could not recognize which one wished to escape. She had been informed that the girl she sought would be afraid to indicate her wish. After hesitation the missionary selected one girl and told the detective to seize her. The girl screamed, kicked, scratched and fought her rescuers with the greatest energy, but was carried into the street and into the mission house. As soon as she was inside the house she fell at the feet of the teacher and said, "Teacher, you know I didn't mean what I said. I did not dare to show any desire to go for fear I might be taken back." It happened that the missionary got the girl whom she sought and who desired her liberty. Other attempts at rescue have been less successful. On one occasion a rescue party sought a Chinese girl, whom it was agreed should hold to her mouth a white handkerchief as a signal that she was the one to be taken. When the rescue party entered the place, they saw the girl with the handkerchief to her face, at the soliciting window. Unfortunately, in the excitement of the moment the girl lost her presence of mind, and, waving her handkerchief, cried out, "O teacher!" But a locked door still separated her from her rescuers, and her keepers, suspecting the truth, dragged her back, and she was lost in the house before the door could be forced. Other girls who escaped from the den afterwards told her fate. Her enraged owner kicked her to death in one of the rooms of her slave prison where there was none to defend her. No one was ever punished for this crime. Horrible as these incidents were, they are but the regular accompaniments of slavery. They have been paralleled in all ages and in all countries where slavery has existed. The shame of it is that in America in the twentieth century such slavery should still be tolerated.