Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-06-16

that is to say only drink to be drunk on the
premises is served here, and also its pub
lie" bar and "bottle and jug" entrance.
At the latter the workmen fill their pals OF
beer, or the dinner jugs are brought TO De
filed. There is no law in England against
selling liquor to minors, at least II there Is
it is one that is more honored in the bresch
than the observance, and at all times az tne
'bottle and Jug" entrance may be seen little
toddlers with beer cans almost as big as
themselves, who have been sent out 10
''fetch the beer"
OF course there are large bars in London
that are very similar to an American saloon.
Spiers and Pond have several scattered over
London, and these have none of the usual
attributes of the public house. There is one
long bar gorgeous in glass and mirrors, and
behind it a row Of black-frocked, white-col-
Jared and white-capped barmaids. The most
famous OF these bars are the Criterion, In
Piccadilly; the Gaiety, in the Strand; the
Fifth Avenue, and the Holborn Viaduct.
They also run nearly all the bars at the
various London stations, and these bars are
conducted on the same principle. Other
well-known bars are the st. james hall, In
Piccadilly; the Grand" in the Strand,
and Romano's, also in the Strand. None
of the large hotels in London have bars, and
if you want a drink in hotel you must
have it served in the smoking room.
QUESTION OF LOCALITY.
Now as to what they drink that varies
with the locality. In the West End, in
fact in all the territory west of Temple Bar,
in the large bars the drink is whisky and
beer, and occasionally brandy and soda.
The latter used to be the almost universal
drink of the ''swell division" but in late
years it has given place to Scotch or Irish
whisky. The whisky is never drunk neat
as with you, but is invariably mixed with
either cold water, soda water, or apollinaris
or Polly This may possibly be another
reason why drinking does not do so much
harm. With you the whisky has such
good start of the water that it never gets a
chance drinking.
Sherry, and rarely port wine, is also
drunk, but the most popular drink is beer
and whisky. There is no pushing of the
bottle over the counter here with polite
request to help yourself and an inquiry to
follow if you wouldn't like towel also.
You must name the quantity you desire,
and this is apportioned to you according to
the price you are willing to pay for it. Two
pence, 8 pence, pence or 6 pence being
shortly "2,'' "3, "'4' or ''6'' o'whisky.
In the public house bars, whether east or
hCSl OAR. DccE, hTl duu
stout, gin, whisky or rum, 'ot or cold, are
the favorite tipples, and the regular topper
generally selects the liquid he desires to
get full on according to the state of his
finances. He may possibly begin on whisky
or gin, and finish up on beer or 'arf and
'arf, of which latter he can, of course, get
more for his money, although the effect is
not so great.
PROGRESS OF TEMPERANCE.
Many people will tell you that temper
ance is making great strides in England. 1
believe it is among certain classes of the
population. There is not nearly so much
drinking among the middle and upper
classes as there used to be, but fail to see
much difference among that class of the
population for whom temperance legislators
strive most to leglslate for. The great mass
of the workers who support the public
houses, and whose earnings go to swell the
budgets of successive ChancelIors OF the
Exchequer by the largest returns from beer
aud spirits, are all boozers from the word 60,
and you might as we'll try and rob the
tigress of her cub as make any serious at
tempt to "rob the poor man of his beer"
True there are cocoa rooms and tearoOms
and all the various aids to temperance
scattered over the metropolis, and thev all
pay good dividends But they are mere
islands in the great ocean of booze which
them on every side.
MACLEOD.