New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-05-03
RAINES HOTELS GLOOMY.
FIRST DAY OF THE ENFORCEMENT OF
THE NEW LAW.
THE REAL HOTELS AND REPUTABLE c1y,es NOT
AFFEcTEDZPoLIcE sERGEANTs BE.
sIEGED WITH QUESTIONS


AFFEcTED-vPoLICE sERGEANTs BE-
sIEGED WITH QUESTIONS
Murky skies drizzling rain. and a chilling
wihd only accentuated the despondent mood NJ
the traificker In liquor yesterday The ordinary
dispenser OF rum Is not man OF broad knowl-
euse UT student OF standard authors. and
'''e'eio'e' Longfeilows lines about the cold and
drearS days. so applicable to the case of everv
saioonkeeper yesterday. were in all proba blIty
not recalled and TO the disconsoIate proprietor
OF the Ranes law hotel was not youchsafe fed the
cream OF hope contained in that classic Il
was the first Sunday Of rigid enforcement NJ
'he faines law as il stands amended The CON-
"as' with the previous Sunday was marked A
week ago the city was thronged with visitors
anu saudy with the trappings Of soldiers and
''e ar was fuli OF sunshine while the n,ush-
room haines law hotels had their doors thrown
Wioe open and prospered nightly Yesterday
' Hfee's were deserted. dark and gloomy.
Inc Ranes law hotels had their doors stou,lv
boarded up and within the propre,or "a,
mourniully musng over the new order that
Drought blight and gloom. In all the streets
Dluecoated guardians OF the peace sought shell
Ter from the whirng gusts OF rain and peered
WIN Dfight eyes and penetrating gaze from the
sh"iter to see that place was operating IN
defiance of the law
OPEN UNTIL ! O'CLOCK
one gieam of hope came TO the saloon men
carry N the day. Chief Conns Interpretation
Vi 'he aw allowing saloons TO keep open until
oe'o'h sunday morning was looked upon as
the forerunner Of better things This hone was
crushed however, when the day force OF police
came on There was no mistaking the business
IKE aspect and stern decision OF the police.
They had received their orders from the pra
cinct commanders who. in turn. had received
their orders from Chief Conlin the previous dav
Every saloonkeeper was warned In punctili.
Gus manner, and the way in which the warn
ing came left no doubt to the earnestness
Oh the message. The result was a universal
regard OF the law. Even those sa loon keeners
VINO are known as the stubbornest fighters and
fertile OF resource to evade the law saw no
alternative, and gloomy closed up. Up the
Bowery, where the Ranes law hotels have
thrived like weeds in corntied: In the Ten
derloin' where the growth Of the Rsines law
hosiery has amazed every one and in every
district which has been won't 10 assume an air
of cheer on Sunday through the workings Of he
old Kaines law, there was nothing Yesterday but
bariicaded doors. The blow sweeping thor
ough and complete The growth OF the Raines
law hotel was rapid and of the mushroom order.
Its annihilation was practically instantaneous.
So rigorous the amendments that not even
the problem of test presented and
the saloon men. recognizing the inevitable. sub
mitted sullenly.
POLICE SERGEANTS KEPT BUSY.
The police stations became bureaus Of In.
formation before the day ended. The sergeants
on duty, each OF whom had received a copy Of
the regulations and had been thoroughly drilled
in the intrcaces of the law, found their
grasp of the subject entirely inadequate TO meet
the torrent Of questions with which they
beseged through the day. All day long. at al
most every station, there was continuous
stream of visitors who prOpounded various ques-
tions the officer in charge To the provisions
of the law. The sergeants answered these queS-
tions to the best of their ability. and from the
inquiries it evident that many saoonkeep-
ers had only vague idea OF the details OF the
new law.
The disposition Of the saloonk.epers seemed to
be to obey the law. and not evade II in any par
ticular The most noticeable difference be-
tween the conditions yesterday and those whca
had existed for the last twelve months was IN
the so-caed Ranes law hotels. They were
tightly closed. and the familiar sign, Dining
Room Now Open" which has been sign that
the bar was running usual, was removed
from the windows. One OF the familiar places
along the Bowery which had thrived under the
old law, and which was closed yesterday. was
that run by Steve" Brode, near Grand-st.
The large hotels were rot affected by the new
order of things. Uptown In the hotel district
to guests and obeying the law otherwise 10 the
letter The clubs were not materially affected
by the new order OF things either. Only forty
clubs in the city have secured tax certificates.
although eighty have applied for themi Those
clubs which were organized prior to March 23.
1896 were running usual yesterday, whether
they had tax certificate or not. as the law ex-
pressly exempts them from police inspection.
The clubs who suspended Yesterday were Of the
mushroom order, which sprung up under the
old Raines law and which died when the old
law died The reputable clubs. such as the
Union League the Republican the Lotos. and
others have either received tax certificates or
have filed applica tions for them. So far as could
he learned none of these clubs had modined
tbair sunday rules yesterday.
Detectives Herllhy and keating. or the East
cixty-seventh-st. station, devoted themselves
during the day to finding out whether the part-
lions in hotels where liquor was being sold were
as thick AS they should be under the amend
ments In their rounds they carried with them Q
gimlet and tape measure. In the afternoon
tbev noticed that at No. East Sixtieth-st.
George Iuhring who keeps saloon and restau-
rant was selling beer in the restaurant section.
The saloon was closed but the detectives thought
tho wall was rather thin SO they got 10 work
with their gimlet found that the wall was thin.
opd tho restaurant in consequence too near the
saloon and arrested Luhring. He was later
bailed out. .
sixty-SiX.