The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-12-04
THE BARREL-HOUSE WAR
DRAM SHOP PROPRIEToRs ORGANIZE
FOR sELF-PROTECTION.
saloon Men the AggressOrs-SOup
Rooms to Be AboIished-Cheap-
ness of whisky.


| singular warfare is on in this city. 1t
| is between the regular saloon keepers and
| the barrel-house men. 1t is war in which
the former would like to exterminate the
| latter. 1t is a war in which the barrel
house keepers will likely triumph, for they
have gained a foothold which they will
probably maintain. The regular saloon
keeper has found his business greatly inter
fered with by the "cut-price" liquor dealer.
| This does not apply to the heightened bar
| rooms down town. but to the saloons of the
outskirts and the lower grade of saloons in
the central portion of the city, the dive,
and, possibly, the roadhouse.
The recent circular denouncng the barrel
| house, which was scattered broadcast about
the city, is said by the barrel-house keep
| ers to have originated with the regular
loon men. In retaliation the barrel-house
men say that so per cent. of the saloon keep
ers of Indianapolis buy their liquors from
the barrel houses. 1t is certainly true that
| some saloon keepers buy from barrel houses,
| for several barrel houses have men cut So
Letting trade all the time from the regular
saloon keepers.
'Why should we not do better by our
asked barrel-house man recently. I'VE
supply the saloon man, and he gets 10 cents
drink for the same goods we sell for
| cents. Now, 1 have local agent who is
| engaged all day soliciting orders from sa
| loon men, His expenses are great. He goes
| into a saloon and sells two or three gallons
| of whisky. To do this the saloon man ex-
| poets him to spend 30 or 40 cents Then,
| when it is delivered, he has to spend more,
and sometimes again when the bill is col
| lected. Cf course, the saloon man has to
| pay for all this money spent in his place.
He probably pays 81 a gallon for the liquor.
You can see that this would cut the value
of the liquor dangerously close to the $1.1O
| government line by the time make a lit
tie profit. He charges his customer 10 cents
a drink for these goods. We can sell
better quality of goods at cents and make
| a small profit. In the course of day, how
ever our larger volume of business makes
the total profit much larger than that of the
| average saloon
The barrel house is a queer institution.
Five years ago there were scarcely half a
dozen in the city. In the old days Of the
| old Union Station there was one on South
Illinois street which did a large business,
with strangers comiHg in and going out of
| the city. But 1t dealt almost exclusively in
bottled goods. All kinds of liquors of a
cheap quality were put up in bottles and
handed out to the purchasers in any guam
| tity desired, from a 10-cent bottle to jug.
| In that day there was little rivalry between
the barrel house and the saloon. Few peo-
pie thought of taking drink in barrel
| house. The bar feature was unimportant,
Beer was not handled in some of them, ex-
| cept the bottled product.
THE BARREL HOUSES GROWTH.
But all is now changed. While the bottle
| and jug trade is still as important a part
of the business as ever, it is by no means
the most important. Barrooms and bar
tenders have been added and the low price
of drinks attracts hundreds of customers
who formerly did their drinking in the reg
ular saloon And with the barroom added.
| the barrel house has felt obliged to keep
pace with the saloon, and has added lunch
| counter. Most Of them serve hot soup all
| day free to customers. The partakers of the
| soup are obliged to buy drink, and they
| may then fill themselves to the extent OF
| one liberal bowl.
The barrel-house barroom has proved a
great attraction to young countrymen, who
are led there by the cheapneSS of the goods
| They are not particular as to the quality
| In fact, all whisky tastes alike to them
can get the required amount for less money
| in barrel house, that is where they seek
it. This class of trade, is source of great
| revenue to the barrel-hOuSe keepers.
| Another class of trade is laboring men and
| negroes. They congregate about the barrel
| houses on days when they are not at work
| and on Saturday nights Saturday night
| they made more welcome than at any
other time, for they usually have their
| weeks wages in their pockets, and frequent
/ ly it is left with the barrel-house man. The
worst class is attracted by the free soup.
viii iii make M ie the barrel house its boarding
| house. For cents quart of beer and a
| big bowl of soup can be purchased Two
| or three of these day will satisfy not
| overparticular man. and if he can beg or
/ steal 10 or Is cents a day he is comfortable.
| The barrel-house man treats his custom
| ers with the utmost contempt, rarely ever,
| unless it is on Saturday night, uelgnlns 10
notice them he seems TO ptai NE t1ie ~ I e+
| them see that he realizes 1t. And strangely
| enough, this is the best way to win their re,
| spect and hold their trade. In the parrel
| houses there are all manner of legends
| posted on the walls which purport to ex,
| it is therefore unnecessary that he should
| enter into any communication with MS GUS
! toners In one East Washington-street
hts. Its good goo ill EN- up again Treat US
right and we will be with you ;, We We, will
treat you t0 well as I'VE koT trade or
| travel" I'm God we trust; all others must
| pay cash. and then, to crown them all
the following verse:
81 cannot live always; ] ask not to stay
| Among these kegs and bottles Wthout get
| ting pay; .,. - e..
| So bear in mind, you have nothing to fear;
| Eat drink and be merry, but no credit
| here
| ON THE SYNDICATE ORDER.
| In place of the half dozen barrel houses
that existed as many years ago, there are
now no less than thirty-four, and two more
are about ready to begin an existence. The
barrel house men are Emil Mantel, who
operates three establishments; Isaac Meier,
who has two L. Sector, who has one OPP
posite the courthouse and one on Indiana
| avenue; Moses Woolf, opposite the court
house on Washington street; Hugh Whiting,
| opposite the courthouse on Delaware street;
Solomon Binzer, opposite the courthouse on
| Washington street; Wolf Sussman, Illinois
and Merrill streets; Louis Sussman, about
to open on Washington, between Alabama
and New Jersey; Louis Rappaport South
Illinois street, near Merrill; Joseph Grun-
| valid, two on Massachusetts avenue; Guen-
ther Alabama street and MASSACHUSETTS,
avenue and West Washington street;
| Trattner, West Washington street, near
Senate avenue; b. Kaufman son, west
/ Washington street, between senate avenue
| and Missouri street; Mayer Levy, ~ west
| Washington street, Abram JACOBS, south
| Illinois street. near Pogue's run, ana west
| Washington street, near West; Clener,