The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1895-11-08
OLD ENGLISH ALE HOUSE.
Strangely I'm Contrast with the Mod
ern BarrOOm.

view 1OTk lTlDune.
Within a short distance of Cooper Union
there has stood for forty years an ale house
which has scarcely a single characteristic
in common with the New York barroom. So
transported direct from England and put
down in it's present situation. 1t is, in every
respect, an average English inn, and its
customers are principally composed of
Englishmen. n passerty might easily miss
the old House at Home" as 1t is called,
for there is nothing to indicate its nature
but the above title over the door, and al
most obliterated by age.
When the door is opened the visitor seems
to step at once into England. The floor is
scanty quantity which is used In saloons,
but a thick covering, which makes footballs
iansr lima inaudr6le; Nothing tn but d,a ale is sold.
Home and IL Is invariably served in pew
ter mugs. Some of the mugs are fifty years
time. Back of the barroom is a large sit
ting room, which is crowded during the
evening with customers People who come in
are expected to sit down and quaff l~eisurely
their ale. A man who walks in. and. after
rapidly swallowing his beer. rushes out
again, is looked upon with undisguised con-
a clay pipe may be taken by the customer
counter
The pewter mugs are extremely capacious
and very deceptive in the quantity they APP
parently hold. They grow wide toward the
bottom, and to empty two or three filled
VII ait . a uedNy TASK on the Capabilities
of the average New Yorker. The English
men who frequent the place will drink mug
after mug of "arf and arf' without any APP
parent difficulty, and trouble of any kind is
rarely experienced in the old-fashioned bar
room. Nearly all the patrons of the place
SO there for a quiet smoke and chat for two
or three hours, and disorder is almost I'M
known. There is no restraint in the cold
House at Home When a man has ordered
his beer and filled his pipe the usual rule is
TO enter into conversation with the man who
is nearest to him.
All around the wall hang pictures whose
colors are dingy and obscured by age. A
curious feature which Immediately strikes
the observer is the number of clocks in the
room. There are four large. old-fashioned
eating exactly the same time. The place
is kept by and Irishman named NcSorlev.
and indeed the place is known to the ma
jority of all its freuuenters as .McSorley's."
The old man Is strongly opposed to innova-
lions OF any kind. and his contempt for the
modern gorgeously fitted up saloon is some
thing remarkable. The old man derives
much qualification from the various ex-
pressions of astonishment which are Mt
tered by newly landed Englishmen enter
ing his place for the first time.
While the reporter was there a fireman
from one of the English liners came rolling
in. As soon as he got fairly inside the door
he looked around with his mouth wide open.
and then rubbing his eyes to make sure he
was awake. said: "Wot I must be in hold
Hensland, or helse were ham II" Owing to
it's dingy appearance and absence of signs
the place is not widely known. and the same
faces are generally seen there every even
ing.