JULY 1 IN THE "DRY" UNITED STATES

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 293, 6 September 1919, Page 3

JULY 1 IN THE "DRY" UNITED STATES

PASSING OF JOHN BARLEYCORN A QUIET NIGHT New York, July 1. The dnnk fiend had no triumphant departure yesterday night. He just fizzled out. The most false prophets of all time were those who foretold that last night would be the gayest in the, history of too ootmfcry (writes the New York correspondent of the London "Times"). As far as New Yorlt was concerned, a stranger not knowing what the occasion, was would havo noticed little which could have given him the impression of a night different from any other. Of a great historic event marking the inauguration of a new. era there wape practically no visible evidences. Broadway, -. l'oimd about Forty-Second Street, which is the amusement centre of the city, at midnight/ was nothing liko so crowded as, and certainly muoh more orderly, than, on a typical election night, 'l'here were a few salf-ooiiscioua youths, with a"few young Bailors, rollicking on the corner of Forty-Thud Street, who probably felt nothing like so intoxicated as they wished to appear. Across the road a stout voluble lady in a striped gingham frock . was reiteirating. for tiio dozenth time in a (stacked treble that as for herself she never took it, and wouldn't miss it. ■ In the' bara and cafes old habitues wero 'standing, consuming drinks at a steady rate with the air of doing what seemed to them a duty, but they were all the type of men who would We been there any niglit. The only unusual thing was the amount they drank. At Murray's, a well-known bar in FortySecond Street, the bartenders refused to serve'drinks requiring- muoh preparation, as they could' not keep pace with tile demand.' • Prlccs as Usuav A traffic policeman on Williamsburg Bridge, which carries the traffic to the Long Island summer resorts, told me ■ about 1 o'clock in the morning, that , - since 3 in tho afternoon he had seen enough liquor go past his point "to float the British Navy." Contrary to the general belief prices were not appreciably higher towards midnight and clcsm only a little above the figure which obtained during the last few days ■. As the stroke of 12 sounded, it was noticeable that every one stopped what he was doing and waited expectantly for something to happen. But nothing did then. There were no cheers to be heard in the streets, no syrens blown, nor any other demonstration made. Or the Pennsylvania roof, where I was the time, a few people could be;seen to raise their glasses to their lips as if U' salute to the departing figure of Johi; Barleycorn, but that.was all; then re- , sumeu tho consumption of the content* of the little group's of bottles purchased' before midnignt, which they were allowed till 1 o'clock to consume. Reports from the provinces indicato • that the other great oitiea spent the last day of the old regime in the same way ; as New: York. Milwaukee had prepared- . several demonstrations which failed to materialise, Boston' was unmoved, and , ' Chicago apathetic. Only in Washington apparently; did anything very mucin out ■ of the ordinary tako place. The nearest approaoh to formal celebrations were to be seen on the roof gardens and other 3 supper resorts. There large numbers sat \ and made merry till 1 o'clock, tho usual . closing hour. The managers agreed that ' a good doal more than usual was drunk 1 by their guests, particularly by tho f women, but although there was more ' chatter and the laughter was noisier than . usual, there is no record of anything unseemly [having occurred. '

Very Little Drunkenness. Drunkenness, considering the occasion, was conspicuous by its absence, Ebth in the streets and in the restaurants. In two hours I only saw two men who could reasonably J he described as intoxicated. ' r ' : 'Mng further from a night of km- ■ -' Surrounded by inebriated dancers, Ol publio orgies, which many people have been picturing during the last few days, is difficult to conceive. To see anything very unusual it was necessary , to go to the wine merchants' and grocers' shops, most of which were swept , bare this morning. Early in tine evening most of suoh places'had queues outside, made up of people who thought retail establishments would shut at 8 o'clock, the usual closing hour. The fear that they would not be served in time was tho cause of mild disorder in two or three instances. The police were called by the manager of a large grocers' on Thirty-Fourth Street, who feared that the- pressure of the crowd would burst in (his plate-glass windows. At another place the crowd had to bo marshalled by constables after apparently trying to carry tho shop by "storm. The truth is that much more liquor was bought last night than was drunk. In uptown quarters during the evening nearby every other citizen on the street had a parcel containing one or more bottles Y under his arm, carried 6omotimes furtively, sometimes with the air of a man asserting his rights. There was (hardly a motor-car which crossed the principal bridge carrying roads to tho environs of ' Washington which had not a certain amount of cargo, and some were laden with-cases of wine and whisky. It was quite impossible for the police to stop . and examine every car. Bars Closed for Good. ' , As for the future every hotel of any standing in New York has closed its bar for good. And this, although the Attor-ney-General announces that the administration, whilft proposing rigorously to enforce the law, will countenance without prejudice the salo of beer containing not ■ moro than 2J per cenii. of alcohol unless tho Courts decide it to be intoxicating and also "non-intoxicating wines." Tho hotel managers met yesterday afternoon and practically unanimously decided to ceaso to sell any sort of liquor to guests As one manager saidi "Some of tho largest hotels in the country have made good without the aid of liquor. In any case we have too much at stake to risk being involved in trouble with the law." At least threa of the leading hotels in New York have arranged to convert their bars into soda fountains, where all sorts of "soft" drinks and 'ice-cream will be dispensed. j Wine merchants as'a vrhole'wil! continue to sell beer, and anything else permitted by the terms of the AttorneyGeneral's announcement, according to ft circular issaed by their trade association. Saloons aro also remaining open. The city is not. therefore, , entirely "dry," which is some small consolation for the thirsty ones. But there is no doubt that they are in the minority, and whilo the shoe will not begin to pinoh for Eome time yet, there seems every reason to suppose that the country will scthlo down eventually to tho new'order of things. So far it has certainly been nothing like the upheaval generally anticipated.